There has been another bomb attack on an Indian city,Benares. Innocent people have lost their lives and families have lost their loved ones. The only word that comes to my mind when I think about those who commit such violence is SICK. Their pathological obsessions should be listed among the most lethal diseases of our country, alongside AIDS and hunger.
But the english or as I call it,Elite press has got it all wrong this time.I read some artciels in the past few days in National dailies...nad came to the conclusion that Indian press is finally fallen in the NeoCon
Vs Multicultural trap.and in the process they have messed it up.
To get down to the point,I reject the major arguments of the the Elite press straightaway. That Indian Muslims have a tendency to align with global Islam then with the Indian state :Nonsense.Now what the hell is global Islam.The muslims of Saudi Arabia as different from the muslim living in Jharkhand as camels are from goats. The Man who first provided the theory for global Islam was Huntington and the man who put that theory in practise was Osama bin Laden. So at one level the argument about global Islam is a mere acknowledgement of the fact that Huntington and Osama share not just their all American education but also a Weltenschaung ;a worldview.
The articles raise this whole issue to create an appropriate backdrop for the latest bombings. It then links the benaras issue with the cartoon protests in India through the trope of the Fatwa issued by some tosser in UP cabinet. Then the articles builds a case agianst the Indian muslim(about 130 million people)not responding ,
pointing out the fact that Shabana Azmi and hubby Javed are good examples to look upto. Does he really think the illiterate millions of muslims who go around doing menial jobs ,trying to feed their families really have the time to articulate the politically correct positions taken by sweet Shabana and poetic Javed ,give me huge giant break man!Fill your airtime and your column space with those who are also just saving their skins because if they don't fingers will soon point at them too. Like they were pointed at Dilip Kumar wao was called an ISI agent.
Now I will go on an on about this but I wont because I have still lot to say anyways. The official culprits for the bomb are once again Kashmiri militants. The Let. But I want to say that Kashmir problem is not a religious one,it is an ethnic one with an international dimension. If Indian Muslim theory ( to hell with the global version) was even vaguely right then the average Ali or Firoz from Jaunpur or Bareily would have already crossed the LOC long ago along with the young Kashmiris. The thing is that the average muslim boy is just as worried about his girlfriend's missed call or his salary bonus as is any hindu or christian boy .It is a pathetic attempt to give Kashmir a religious color and in turn to implicate every muslim living within the Indian territory a close ally in the distant struggle.I have my own views on the Kashmir problem but here I am just proving the banality of linking the bombings in Benaras with the Indian muslim identity.
Now my other argument against this sort of coverage is a bit more indirect and critical. I have just mentioned that a global religious identity based on religion is a abusrd notion,but I am not completly rejecting it either. Islam is indeed a global religion because of the simple fact muslims live across the globe.From manhattan to mathura road and mangolia. And based on this fact a global Islamic identity is emerging ( thanks to Al Jazeera and BBC) but not of the kind that the articles claims it to be:a cultural one. Its not a shared culture but a faith based brotherhood/sisterhood,and it is not unique to just Islam. When the sikhs in france are banned from wearing turbans or when there is wrong depictions of Hindu/christian gods ,national identities hold no water. Those sikh kids in Paris have nothing in common with sikh lads on the dusty fields of Jallundhur except the fact that they are both sikhs. So why should Indian Sikhs come out in support of French Sikhs(most of them are french or candian citizens).The thing is that when a Indian muslims comes out decrying Prophets cartoons they are not responnding to the global call given by some global Muslim leader( the Elite would obviously put the face of Ayotollah or worse Osama on it) but he/she is responding to the personal injuury inflicted by his/her beloved prophet. And that stands true for all faiths. Remember the protests against 'Jo bole So Nihaal'.Its just that Islam is right now the 'in' this,the stakes obviously depend on the oil economics.
And most of the violent protests happened in major cities like Bombay and Lucknow and not in small towns like Bareily or Gorakhpur. Indicating the presence of mass mobilizers(with Mobile phones) in organising such mass media events ,complete with posters decrying the Danish cookie. Also ,since Muslims are spread in more regions then other religious groups in other parts of the world and also have a a huge presence in India, there are bound to be more such cross national incidents in this community then in any other. But for Gods sake don't link it with vicious violence being perpetrated by select group of mercenaries who have already played on such mentality for too long.
Now finally a word for thos in the elite press ,who are busy setting the national interest for the New india( Incidentaly National Interest was the first NEO CON magazine in the US in 1960s that promoted the neo con agenda at a public level ).The Indian elite is at the moment split between the Neo conservative agenda and the other ( alreadly a bore in the west) -the Multicultural agenda. This elite cant decide which one to propogate because India lacks the military power to be a Neocon power( though all attempts are on to kill the bleak remanats of the Non aligned regime) nor does India have a history of civil strife( as seen in US where buses had different seats for black and whites).We Indians 'travel together' in jam packed blue line buses which doesn't even differentiate between a muslim or a hindu before driving over them.
And this journey will have speed breakers but the great Indian bus will chalk out its own course and the journey has just begun. My advice to the 'Indian Elite gab' is to abandon both Neo-con as well as multi-cultural agendas,find a fix that is unique to our country not borrow ideas from jounals in the west. About the AuthorAasim Khan Its my fortnightly column. I write about politics and society. It has an opinionated air about and I like to add a slight provocative tone to it. Mos...Read Morefirst published:March 09, 2006, 18:13 ISTlast updated:March 09, 2006, 18:13 IST
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This text is an outburst and that I want to make clear at the beginning.And I request everyone to put on milding shades since outbursts are like UV version of everyday banter.To rub it in,I must also make it clear that I am not a tactical salesman for 'Ray Bans', authentic or otherwise ,so plz don't fall for any cynical thoughts that might cross your mind. Here we go.
There has been another bomb attack on an Indian city,Benares. Innocent people have lost their lives and families have lost their loved ones. The only word that comes to my mind when I think about those who commit such violence is SICK. Their pathological obsessions should be listed among the most lethal diseases of our country, alongside AIDS and hunger.
But the english or as I call it,Elite press has got it all wrong this time.I read some artciels in the past few days in National dailies...nad came to the conclusion that Indian press is finally fallen in the NeoCon
Vs Multicultural trap.and in the process they have messed it up.
To get down to the point,I reject the major arguments of the the Elite press straightaway. That Indian Muslims have a tendency to align with global Islam then with the Indian state :Nonsense.Now what the hell is global Islam.The muslims of Saudi Arabia as different from the muslim living in Jharkhand as camels are from goats. The Man who first provided the theory for global Islam was Huntington and the man who put that theory in practise was Osama bin Laden. So at one level the argument about global Islam is a mere acknowledgement of the fact that Huntington and Osama share not just their all American education but also a Weltenschaung ;a worldview.
The articles raise this whole issue to create an appropriate backdrop for the latest bombings. It then links the benaras issue with the cartoon protests in India through the trope of the Fatwa issued by some tosser in UP cabinet. Then the articles builds a case agianst the Indian muslim(about 130 million people)not responding ,
pointing out the fact that Shabana Azmi and hubby Javed are good examples to look upto. Does he really think the illiterate millions of muslims who go around doing menial jobs ,trying to feed their families really have the time to articulate the politically correct positions taken by sweet Shabana and poetic Javed ,give me huge giant break man!Fill your airtime and your column space with those who are also just saving their skins because if they don't fingers will soon point at them too. Like they were pointed at Dilip Kumar wao was called an ISI agent.
Now I will go on an on about this but I wont because I have still lot to say anyways. The official culprits for the bomb are once again Kashmiri militants. The Let. But I want to say that Kashmir problem is not a religious one,it is an ethnic one with an international dimension. If Indian Muslim theory ( to hell with the global version) was even vaguely right then the average Ali or Firoz from Jaunpur or Bareily would have already crossed the LOC long ago along with the young Kashmiris. The thing is that the average muslim boy is just as worried about his girlfriend's missed call or his salary bonus as is any hindu or christian boy .It is a pathetic attempt to give Kashmir a religious color and in turn to implicate every muslim living within the Indian territory a close ally in the distant struggle.I have my own views on the Kashmir problem but here I am just proving the banality of linking the bombings in Benaras with the Indian muslim identity.
Now my other argument against this sort of coverage is a bit more indirect and critical. I have just mentioned that a global religious identity based on religion is a abusrd notion,but I am not completly rejecting it either. Islam is indeed a global religion because of the simple fact muslims live across the globe.From manhattan to mathura road and mangolia. And based on this fact a global Islamic identity is emerging ( thanks to Al Jazeera and BBC) but not of the kind that the articles claims it to be:a cultural one. Its not a shared culture but a faith based brotherhood/sisterhood,and it is not unique to just Islam. When the sikhs in france are banned from wearing turbans or when there is wrong depictions of Hindu/christian gods ,national identities hold no water. Those sikh kids in Paris have nothing in common with sikh lads on the dusty fields of Jallundhur except the fact that they are both sikhs. So why should Indian Sikhs come out in support of French Sikhs(most of them are french or candian citizens).The thing is that when a Indian muslims comes out decrying Prophets cartoons they are not responnding to the global call given by some global Muslim leader( the Elite would obviously put the face of Ayotollah or worse Osama on it) but he/she is responding to the personal injuury inflicted by his/her beloved prophet. And that stands true for all faiths. Remember the protests against 'Jo bole So Nihaal'.Its just that Islam is right now the 'in' this,the stakes obviously depend on the oil economics.
And most of the violent protests happened in major cities like Bombay and Lucknow and not in small towns like Bareily or Gorakhpur. Indicating the presence of mass mobilizers(with Mobile phones) in organising such mass media events ,complete with posters decrying the Danish cookie. Also ,since Muslims are spread in more regions then other religious groups in other parts of the world and also have a a huge presence in India, there are bound to be more such cross national incidents in this community then in any other. But for Gods sake don't link it with vicious violence being perpetrated by select group of mercenaries who have already played on such mentality for too long.
Now finally a word for thos in the elite press ,who are busy setting the national interest for the New india( Incidentaly National Interest was the first NEO CON magazine in the US in 1960s that promoted the neo con agenda at a public level ).The Indian elite is at the moment split between the Neo conservative agenda and the other ( alreadly a bore in the west) -the Multicultural agenda. This elite cant decide which one to propogate because India lacks the military power to be a Neocon power( though all attempts are on to kill the bleak remanats of the Non aligned regime) nor does India have a history of civil strife( as seen in US where buses had different seats for black and whites).We Indians 'travel together' in jam packed blue line buses which doesn't even differentiate between a muslim or a hindu before driving over them.
And this journey will have speed breakers but the great Indian bus will chalk out its own course and the journey has just begun. My advice to the 'Indian Elite gab' is to abandon both Neo-con as well as multi-cultural agendas,find a fix that is unique to our country not borrow ideas from jounals in the west.
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