Noticias de Rupia | Nouvelles de Roupie | Rupiennachrichten | новости рупии | 卢比新闻 | Roepienieuws | Rupi Nyheter | ルピーニュース | Notizie di Rupia | PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھاتا | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی | DefensebriefsIntellibriefs Translate to: Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape Bookmark and Share Add to Technorati RSS feed: | RUPEE NEWS | October 9th, 2008 | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی | اخبار روپیہ |
Can Obama use his diverse background to build a better world? Barack Obama wants us to execute "Change we believe in". However he is regurgitating the Neocon agenda in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Carpet bombing Afghanistani civilians with Daisy Cutters did not eliminate the opposition to occupation, it fueled the resistance. The Obama rhetoric on Osama Bin Laden and against Pakistan displays a lack of understanding of the region. His Vice President knows Pakistan well and needs to be applauded for his visionary strategy of tripling the aid to Pakistan. Obama is whisper away from sanity. Even though he has the best advice in America, he keeps on spouting Neocon claptrap. Is Bush stealing Obama’s war on Pakistan?
America’s Secret war in Pakistan-MSNBC uncovers Marines with long beards and without uniforms
Obama’s Afghan Iraq mirror images policies contradict each other. Barack Obama wants to bring about "change that we believe in". However he is spouting rhetoric against reminiscent of George W. Bush's false accusations against Iraq. A cacophony of Republicans voices say the same thing. Obama's harranague on this subject simply mimics the "W" war mongering. Threats: Obama’s Kabul indoctrination: Venom against Pakistan.
War drums in the Gulf, Hindu Kush & the Khyber Pass. Today Barack Obama is crying at the tone and the decibel level of the rhetoric against him. However he is using the same type of rhetoric against the Pakistani--portraying them as bad, duplicitous and evil--charges that he himself faces. If Barack Obama had any vision, he needs to show it, not only about bipartisanship on Capital Hill. If Barack Obama is the statesmen and wants to talk with all those that disagree with America, then he cannot stop at the Hindu Kush. Barack Obama needs to learn from history and not repeat the Mossadagh episode that turned all Iranians against the Stars and Strips.
McCain,Obama Afghan bluster on Pakistan overtaken by events. The US, Taliban and the Karzai government are talking in Saudi Arabia facilitated by Nawaz Shairf, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. These antagonists are trying to sovle the problems facing Afghanistan and come up with a government of national unity to replace the Norhtern Alliance dominated non-Pakhtun government in Kabul. Karzai the biggest drug baron in Afghanistan
* Seven Years in Afghanistan by Gary Leupp
* The War Spreads to Pakistan by Gary Leupp
* UK Brig. Smith: “We’re not going to win this [Afghan] war”
* People hate Karzai support Taliban: Afghan Senator Ahmadzai
Its over before the lady sings! Impact of Obama on GWOT. One of the consequences of the the aerial drone bombing in Pakistan and the intrusion into Pakistani territory is the growing Anti-Americanism in Pakistan. Iran is already Anti-American already and has been for several decades. Pakistanis have traditional been Pro-American. The elite and the urban areas are still Pro-American. The villages have been ambiguous or pro-American. Now at least two provinces are solidly Anti-American and even the elite has been pushed into positions that cannot be considered good for America. By humiliating the Pakistan Army, constantly bombing the territory and violating the airspace of Pakistan, huge sections of Pakistani society now share the Iranian point of view. If this drone bombing continues, the fire of Anti-Americanism now solidly encompasses the land between the Euphrates to the Indus. This is not good either for America or for Pakistan. Certainly it is not good for the world.
A Shift Toward the Center (of Fascism)? Obama's bluster has emboldened the current US machinery (which he opposes), to bomb Pakistan and send in the marines, some of them out-of-uniform. Is it McCain Guiliani, Lieberman vs Obama, Lugar & Biden? Barack Obama and John McCain have to stop demonizing the Pakistanis who have been allies of the USA for the past six decades--otherwise they are no better than the Neocons who own the media and regurgitate nonsensical Islamphobia on a routine basis. Bush & Obama both war mongers. Barack wants a different war?
Obama visited Pakistan: Didn’t learn anything! 30,000 FATA residents who fought with the CIA to defeat Russia are now dead. 300,000 of the same Pakhtuns who sacrificed 2 million for the sake of the Stars and Stripes are refugees in their own country. What is compelling them to shoot at the choppers that only a few years ago were considered birds of mercy during the earthquake. Risk of another war: How many more American Crusades?
Obama threats kills Pakistani stock market. Billions lost. Foreign capital leaves in respone to Obama claptrap. All this does not auger well for America and its policy in West Asia. Obama blows hot and cold on Pakistan again!
Pakistan-Iran ties: Shifting sands, tectonic shift or Anti-US axis? Pakistan and Iran are working on the Iran-Pakistan pipeline without India. Iran is also providing Pakistan with 1000 MW of electricity. Iran is also going to help Pakistan build power plants. Small steps that may grow into lasting relationship.
Pakistanis to USA: We want “Friends Not Masters”. Pakistan is moving towards Iran, and if this relationship is consecrated as an alliance, the US access to Central Asia will be blocked for generations.
as de Rupia | Nouvelles de Roupie | Rupiennachrichten | новости рупии | 卢比新闻 | Roepienieuws | Rupi Nyheter | ルピーニュース | Notizie di Rupia | PAKISTAN LEDGER | پاکستاني کھاتا | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی | DefensebriefsIntellibriefs Translate to: Page copy protected against web site content infringement by Copyscape Bookmark and Share Add to Technorati RSS feed: | RUPEE NEWS | October 9th, 2008 | Moin Ansari | معین آنصآرّی | اخبار روپیہ |
Friday, October 10, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Gandhi's racism
It is doubtful if The Reverend Martin Luther ever heard about Gandhi’s support for all the British wars, and that Gandhi was the self-proclaimed “Recruiter in Chief” for the Empire sending thousands to be used as cannon fodder.
Undoubtedly, Martin Luther King was one of the greatest heroes of our time. He accomplished more than any of his contemporaries. Martin Luther King lived during troubled times. He was in search of truth and find a mentor in Thoreau. He was a Christian minister so he did believe in Jesus Christ.
Martin wanted to keep up the family tradition, so he decided to become a minister. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 and then went to Crozer Seminary to become a minister. It was at Crozer that Martin learned about the Disneyland version of Gandhi. He must have learned that Gandhi was an important leader in India. It is very doubtful if Dr. King did any depth study of Gandhi’s action in South Africa.
GANDHI ON BLACKS AND RACE RELATIONS (Zulus and Kaffirs were African tribes in South Africa)
“A general belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than the savages or natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir.” (Reference: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Government of India (CWMG), Vol I, p. 150)
Regarding forcible registration with the state of blacks: “One can understand the necessity for registration of Kaffirs who will not work.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, p. 105)
“Why, of all places in Johannesburg, the Indian Location should be chosen for dumping down all the Kaffirs of the town passes my comprehension…the Town Council must withdraw the Kaffirs from the Location.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, pp. 244-245)
His description of black inmates: “Only a degree removed from the animal.” Also, “Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals.” - Mar. 7, 1908 (Reference: CWMG, Vol VIII, pp. 135-136)
The Durban Post Office: One of Gandhi’s major “achievements” in South Africa was to promote racial segregation by refusing to share a post office door with the black natives.
Sergeant Major Gandhi: Learn how Gandhi became a Sgt. Major in the British Army and eagerly participated in the 1906 British war against the black Zulus.
Gandhi and South African Blacks: Gandhi wrote extensively about his experiences with the blacks of South Africa. He always termed them “Kaffirs” and his writings reveal a deep-seated disdain for these African natives
If Dr. King had known about about the Zulus (African tribe) and the Kaffirs (African tribe), he surely would have voiced his concern.Gandhi condones Zulu massacres and defends the British. Aug 4 1906
Dr. King may not have read Time Magazine and the explosive stories about Mr. Gandhi’s personal life. The sex life of Mr. Gandhi, and his failures as a politician
Dr. King probably knew only about the propoganda clips of Mr. Gandhi and never really new the man. The myth of Mohandas K. Gandhi debunked. He gets an “F” on South Africa, Salt Match, Non-Violence, and independence
Dr. King on moral high ground condemned wars. He would have been shocked to find out that Gandhi supported the British wars extending the British empire.Which war did Mohandas Gandhi support. All of them. There wasn’t a war that the prophet of Non-Violence did not support. He was Sergeant Major in the British Army and won a medal for his war duties
Dr. King was probably unaware about Gandhi’s open racism.Gandhi’s racism. The truth behind the mask. Behold Sergeant Major Gandhi who supported the British during the Boer war, Zulu rebellion. Behold the prophet of peace who worked to stratify the South African society.
Dr. King did not know that Gandhi did not bring the British Empire down.
Dr. King would have been appalled if he knew that Gandhi insisted on calling Hitler his “friend” and that his advice to the Jews was horrible piece of Anti-SemitismGandhi’s letter to his friend Hitler.
Dr. King would have been horrified if he had known about Mr. Gandhi’s personal fetishes.Sex life of Mohandas Gandhi, his failures and sexual perversion
Martin Luther probably would be appalled if he knew about what Gandhi said about Africans and blacks in South Africa.
The halo is rusted, tilted and falling down-under the sunlight of truth. Mohandas Gandhi’s admirers do not confront embarrassing facts about their favorite saint. His critics, by contrast, gleefully keep on reminding us of a few facts concerning the Mahatma which seem to undermine his aura of wisdom and ethical superiority. One of the decisive proofs of Gandhi’s silly lack of realism, cited by both his Leftist and his Hindutva detractors, is his attempted correspondence with Adolf Hitler, undertaken with a view to persuading Germany’s dictator of the value of not attacking more countries. Gandhi was absolutely content with Hitler keeping the territories that he had already conquered. His advice to the Jews was the most horrible example of anti-Semitism in this century.
The American author Henry David Thoreau pioneered the modern theory behind this practice in his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”. The driving idea behind the essay was that of self-reliance, and how one is in morally good standing as long as one can “get off another man’s back”; so one doesn’t have to physically fight the government, but one must not support it or have it support one (if one is against it). This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience. In the essay, Thoreau explained his reasons for having refused to pay taxes as an act of protest against slavery and against the Mexican-American War.
Early uses of the term
Thoreau did not coin the term “civil disobedience,” nor did he ever use it. However, after his landmark 1848 lectures were published in 1849, the term “civil disobedience” began to appear in numerous sermons and lectures relating to slavery in the United States. Early examples of these include:
The Gospel Applied to the Fugitive Slave Law [1850]: A Sermon, by Oliver Stearns (1851);
“The Higher Law,” in Its Application to the Fugitive Slave Bill:… by John Newell and John Chase Lord (1851);
The Limits of Civil Disobedience: A Sermon…, by Nathaniel Hall (1851);
The Duty and Limitations of Civil Disobedience: A Discourse, by Samuel Colcord Bartlett (1853).
Thus, by the time Thoreau’s lectures were first published under the title “Civil Disobedience,” in 1866, four years after his death, the term had achieved fairly widespread usage.
Some articles on Gandhi
http:/rupeenews..com/wp-admin/edit.php?s=gandhis+racism&post_status=0&author=0&m=0&cat=0
Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity
By G. B. Singh Reviewed by Baldev Singh
“Truth comes out breaking the walls of a fortress” is a Punjabi saying. For the lovers of truth G. B. Singh has exploded the Gandhi myth - apostle of peace, emancipator of untouchables and liberator of India by peaceful means from the British yoke - by publishing his labor of love, Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity. G. B. Singh studied Gandhi for over twenty years collecting Gandhi’s speeches, writings and other documents, which the promoters of Gandhi left out intentionally to create a twentieth century messiah by fusing Jesus Christ and Vishnu. The oppressors - the proponents of colonialism, slavery, racism and casteism - have imposed their own version of history on the victims through manipulation, deception and hypocrisy. For example there is holocaust museum in the capital of United States in the memory of six million Jews who fell victim to the atrocities of Nazis in World War II. It is commendable and such museums should be built in every capital in the world to remind people of the heinous crimes of the Nazis. But why not a museum about the genocide of native Americans or a museum about slavery in the capital of United States? It takes moral courage to look into the face of truth! In order to avoid the obligation to intervene in Rwanda, the Western powers led by President Clinton put pressure on the United Nations Security Council not to characterize the mass murder of Tootsies as genocide.
The making of Gandhi myth stared in South Africa by white Christian clergy. Rev. Joseph J. Doke, a Baptist Minster was the first to write the biography of M. K. Gandhi. Soon many other European and American clergymen and writers rushed in to make their input. John H. Holmes, a Unitarian pastor from New York praised Gandhi in his writings and sermons with titles like: Gandhi: The Modern Christ, Mahatma Gandhi: The Greatest Man since Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ji: Reincarnation of Christ and Gandhi before Pilate. Romain Rolland, French Nobel Laureate in literature looked at Gandhi not only as a Hindu saint, but also another Christ. He wrote Gandhi’s new biography in French. The English translation of this book opens with: He is the One Luminous, Creator of All, Mahatma. Impressed with lavish propaganda about Gandhi in the West, the Hindu propaganda machine came into action and it churned out a plethora of literature to elevate Gandhi to the status of twentieth century Hindu god - “The seventh reincarnation of Vishnu, Lord Rama,” proclaimed Krishnalal Shridharni. Portraits of Gandhi depicted him as Hindu avatar and Christian saint. The Indian government under Prime Minister Indra Gandhi financed one-third the cost of the production of the movie “Gandhi” for the portrayal of Gandhi as “an absolute pacifist.”
The Christian clergy had an ulterior motive in building the Gandhi myth. They thought that by elevating Gadhi to a 20th century messiah and then converting him would open the flood gate for evangelizing Hindu masses. Little did they realize that Gandhi hoodwinked them with his insincere statements about Christianity? He was a die-hard Hindu, a true believer and defender of the caste order - the essence of Hinduism?
Gandhi apologists indulged in gross deception by claiming that Gandhi’s Satyagrah in South Africa was in the defense of the rights of native people. Nothing could be further from truth than this bald lie. How could Gandhi, a diehard supporter of the caste system think of the welfare of African blacks he regarded lower than the Untouchables of India - slightly above the animal level? His Satyagrah was for the better treatment of Indians, who, according to Gandhi were treated the same way as savage Kaffirs (native people) were. In his stay of twenty years in South Africa, he had no social contacts with the Kaffirs, as he did not see any common ground with them in the daily affairs of life. He was horrified when he was lodged with “natives” in the same jail ward. He did not like wearing the same clothes with label “N” born by the natives, nor he liked their food and sharing lavatory with them. It was the jail experience, which brought out his racism in the open. ” Kaffir and Chinese prisoners are wild, murderous and given to immoral ways. Kaffirs are as a general rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animal.”
He proclaimed that the British Empire was for the welfare of the whole world and he accepted the superiority and predominance of white race. But he reminded the white people that upper caste Indians share with the Europeans a common heritage - the blood of the noble Aryan race. According to him it is Aryan blood, which is responsible for the advancement of human civilization. He suggested to Rev, Doke to civilize the Kaffirs by converting them to Christianity and by infusing Aryan blood into their race. He told the white colonists that the preservation of racial purity (Apartheid) was as important to the Indians as to Europeans.
He urged the colonial authorities to raise a volunteer militia of Indians to fight for the Empire. He told the Natal authorities that it would be a “criminal folly” if they did not enlist Indians for the war. He was rebuffed with sarcastic and derogatory comments about the fighting ability of people like Gandhi. However, his persistence persuaded the authorities to form a volunteer ambulance corps of Indians under the command of Sergeant-Major Gandhi during the Boer War and Zulu Rebellion. He urged the Indian community to show their loyalty to the British Empire by raising funds for the War. He reminded them that they were in South Africa due to the courtesy of the Empire. It is not for us to judge whether the Kaffir revolt is justified or not. We are co-colonists with whites of this land whereas the black savages are as yet unfit to participate in the political affairs of the colony.
He was a mean spirited parochial Hindu. Sergeant- Major Gandhi selected only Gujrati Hindus as his assistants, three Sergeants and one Corporal in spite of the fact the ambulance corps (20-24 men) was made up mostly of non-Gujratis with substantial number of Muslims.
The Russian Revolution of 1914 spurted national movements against colonial rule. The British brought Gandhi back to India to sabotage Indian national movement against British rule. The congress Party dominated by Gandhi was set up under the patronage of the British authorities. The “apostle of peace” urged the Indian people to support the British by enlisting in the army during World War I. In his letter he wrote to the Viceroy in1930, he said, ” One of his reason for launching the Civil Disobedient Movement is to contain the violence of revolutionaries.”
On the advice of white promoters of Gandhi, black clergy and civil rights leaders traveled to India to seek Gandhi’s advice about solving the problem of segregation and civil rights of blacks. How little did they know that Gandhi regarded the black people slightly above the animal level? Moreover, they were ignorant of the fact that caste system was originally imposed, as racial discrimination (Varna Ashrama Dharma) similar to the Apartheid system, on the black natives of India by their Caucasian conquerors. But later on due to emergence of new racial groups due to miscegenation between the two groups, Varna Ashrama Dharma evolved into caste system tied to hereditary occupations. Untouchabilty is as integral a part of Hindu faith as anti- Semitism of the Nazis. It is noteworthy that not a single black leader met Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - M. A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees from London University and Bar-at-Law from Grey’s Inn, London - who was the undisputed leader of the Untouchables at that time. Gandhi propaganda machine manipulated the visit of black leaders, as it did not want them to find truth about Gandhi’s views on the caste system. “I believe in Varnashrama (caste system) which is the law of life. The law of Varna (color and / or caste) is nothing but the law of conservation of energy. Why should my son not be scavenger if I am one? He, Shudra (lowest caste) may not be called a Brahmin (uppermost caste), though he (Shudra) may have all the qualities of a Brahmin in this birth. And it is a good thing for him (Shudra) not to arrogate a Varna (caste) to which he is not born. It is a sign of true humility.”
In 1921, Gandhi delivered violent speeches inciting racial hatred against the British. During bloody demonstrations and riots against the visit of Prince of Wales, William Francis Doherty, an American citizen working in Bombay was murdered. Gandhi personally got involved in the cover up of this gruesome murder through bribery and intimidation, as he was concerned that the details of this murder would tarnish Gandhi’s image in the West.
It is a cruel joke and one of the biggest fabrications of the twentieth century that Gandhi won Indian freedom without spilling a drop of blood. The truth is that it was the devastating effect of World War II that forced the British government to dismantle its Colonial Empire. Moreover, it was Gandhi and his Hindu dominated Congress party that engineered the partition of the country on communal lines, as the Muslim dominant states stood in the way of high caste Hindus to set up their Ram Raj (mythical Hindu kingdom) based on caste ideology. Additionally, the Partition of India in 1947 is one of the major upheavals of the twentieth century. In the State of Punjab alone, 11-12 million people lost their homes and hearths where their ancestors had lived for centuries. May be as many as one million people perished in the communal frenzy and thousands of young women were kidnapped while Gandhi was reciting the murderous sermons from his favorite scripture - Bhagvad Gita. He kept insisting up to the last moment that the country would be partitioned only over his dead body!
The ascetic in loincloth used to sleep in buff with naked young girls to perform experiments to test his celibacy. Dr. Sushila Nayar told Ved Mehta that she used to sleep with Gandhi as she regarded him as a Hindu god. The man, who had taken vow of poverty, demanded and got even in jail the same comforts enjoyed by British high officials in India.
The “apostle of peace,” who counseled a Jewish delegation” to oppose the evil of Nazism by “soul force” - by committing mass suicide, was all praise for annexing Kashmir by armed aggression.
He told his Sikh followers that rusty sword is useless in the age of Atom Bomb. The development of nuclear weapons by India - a country that ranks among the poorest in the world and is near the bottom of human development index chart of the United Nations - exposes the real face of the “absolute pacifist” and the nation that calls him “father.” After all didn’t lord Krishna tell Arjana during the battle of Mahabharata “Victory is truth.”
Although, the Indian people have started peeking at the man behind the mask of divinity, there is no let up in the perpetuation of Gandhi myth in the West, especially the United States.
G. B. Singh rightfully deserves the accolades for bringing out the truth about Gandhi from Gandhi’s own mouth.
http://www.sikhsundesh.net/gandhi.htm
Undoubtedly, Martin Luther King was one of the greatest heroes of our time. He accomplished more than any of his contemporaries. Martin Luther King lived during troubled times. He was in search of truth and find a mentor in Thoreau. He was a Christian minister so he did believe in Jesus Christ.
Martin wanted to keep up the family tradition, so he decided to become a minister. He graduated from Morehouse College in 1948 and then went to Crozer Seminary to become a minister. It was at Crozer that Martin learned about the Disneyland version of Gandhi. He must have learned that Gandhi was an important leader in India. It is very doubtful if Dr. King did any depth study of Gandhi’s action in South Africa.
GANDHI ON BLACKS AND RACE RELATIONS (Zulus and Kaffirs were African tribes in South Africa)
“A general belief seems to prevail in the colony that the Indians are little better, if at all, than the savages or natives of Africa. Even the children are taught to believe in that manner, with the result that the Indian is being dragged down to the position of a raw Kaffir.” (Reference: The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, Government of India (CWMG), Vol I, p. 150)
Regarding forcible registration with the state of blacks: “One can understand the necessity for registration of Kaffirs who will not work.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, p. 105)
“Why, of all places in Johannesburg, the Indian Location should be chosen for dumping down all the Kaffirs of the town passes my comprehension…the Town Council must withdraw the Kaffirs from the Location.” (Reference: CWMG, Vol I, pp. 244-245)
His description of black inmates: “Only a degree removed from the animal.” Also, “Kaffirs are as a rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animals.” - Mar. 7, 1908 (Reference: CWMG, Vol VIII, pp. 135-136)
The Durban Post Office: One of Gandhi’s major “achievements” in South Africa was to promote racial segregation by refusing to share a post office door with the black natives.
Sergeant Major Gandhi: Learn how Gandhi became a Sgt. Major in the British Army and eagerly participated in the 1906 British war against the black Zulus.
Gandhi and South African Blacks: Gandhi wrote extensively about his experiences with the blacks of South Africa. He always termed them “Kaffirs” and his writings reveal a deep-seated disdain for these African natives
If Dr. King had known about about the Zulus (African tribe) and the Kaffirs (African tribe), he surely would have voiced his concern.Gandhi condones Zulu massacres and defends the British. Aug 4 1906
Dr. King may not have read Time Magazine and the explosive stories about Mr. Gandhi’s personal life. The sex life of Mr. Gandhi, and his failures as a politician
Dr. King probably knew only about the propoganda clips of Mr. Gandhi and never really new the man. The myth of Mohandas K. Gandhi debunked. He gets an “F” on South Africa, Salt Match, Non-Violence, and independence
Dr. King on moral high ground condemned wars. He would have been shocked to find out that Gandhi supported the British wars extending the British empire.Which war did Mohandas Gandhi support. All of them. There wasn’t a war that the prophet of Non-Violence did not support. He was Sergeant Major in the British Army and won a medal for his war duties
Dr. King was probably unaware about Gandhi’s open racism.Gandhi’s racism. The truth behind the mask. Behold Sergeant Major Gandhi who supported the British during the Boer war, Zulu rebellion. Behold the prophet of peace who worked to stratify the South African society.
Dr. King did not know that Gandhi did not bring the British Empire down.
Dr. King would have been appalled if he knew that Gandhi insisted on calling Hitler his “friend” and that his advice to the Jews was horrible piece of Anti-SemitismGandhi’s letter to his friend Hitler.
Dr. King would have been horrified if he had known about Mr. Gandhi’s personal fetishes.Sex life of Mohandas Gandhi, his failures and sexual perversion
Martin Luther probably would be appalled if he knew about what Gandhi said about Africans and blacks in South Africa.
The halo is rusted, tilted and falling down-under the sunlight of truth. Mohandas Gandhi’s admirers do not confront embarrassing facts about their favorite saint. His critics, by contrast, gleefully keep on reminding us of a few facts concerning the Mahatma which seem to undermine his aura of wisdom and ethical superiority. One of the decisive proofs of Gandhi’s silly lack of realism, cited by both his Leftist and his Hindutva detractors, is his attempted correspondence with Adolf Hitler, undertaken with a view to persuading Germany’s dictator of the value of not attacking more countries. Gandhi was absolutely content with Hitler keeping the territories that he had already conquered. His advice to the Jews was the most horrible example of anti-Semitism in this century.
The American author Henry David Thoreau pioneered the modern theory behind this practice in his 1849 essay Civil Disobedience, originally titled “Resistance to Civil Government”. The driving idea behind the essay was that of self-reliance, and how one is in morally good standing as long as one can “get off another man’s back”; so one doesn’t have to physically fight the government, but one must not support it or have it support one (if one is against it). This essay has had a wide influence on many later practitioners of civil disobedience. In the essay, Thoreau explained his reasons for having refused to pay taxes as an act of protest against slavery and against the Mexican-American War.
Early uses of the term
Thoreau did not coin the term “civil disobedience,” nor did he ever use it. However, after his landmark 1848 lectures were published in 1849, the term “civil disobedience” began to appear in numerous sermons and lectures relating to slavery in the United States. Early examples of these include:
The Gospel Applied to the Fugitive Slave Law [1850]: A Sermon, by Oliver Stearns (1851);
“The Higher Law,” in Its Application to the Fugitive Slave Bill:… by John Newell and John Chase Lord (1851);
The Limits of Civil Disobedience: A Sermon…, by Nathaniel Hall (1851);
The Duty and Limitations of Civil Disobedience: A Discourse, by Samuel Colcord Bartlett (1853).
Thus, by the time Thoreau’s lectures were first published under the title “Civil Disobedience,” in 1866, four years after his death, the term had achieved fairly widespread usage.
Some articles on Gandhi
http:/rupeenews..com/wp-admin/edit.php?s=gandhis+racism&post_status=0&author=0&m=0&cat=0
Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity
By G. B. Singh Reviewed by Baldev Singh
“Truth comes out breaking the walls of a fortress” is a Punjabi saying. For the lovers of truth G. B. Singh has exploded the Gandhi myth - apostle of peace, emancipator of untouchables and liberator of India by peaceful means from the British yoke - by publishing his labor of love, Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity. G. B. Singh studied Gandhi for over twenty years collecting Gandhi’s speeches, writings and other documents, which the promoters of Gandhi left out intentionally to create a twentieth century messiah by fusing Jesus Christ and Vishnu. The oppressors - the proponents of colonialism, slavery, racism and casteism - have imposed their own version of history on the victims through manipulation, deception and hypocrisy. For example there is holocaust museum in the capital of United States in the memory of six million Jews who fell victim to the atrocities of Nazis in World War II. It is commendable and such museums should be built in every capital in the world to remind people of the heinous crimes of the Nazis. But why not a museum about the genocide of native Americans or a museum about slavery in the capital of United States? It takes moral courage to look into the face of truth! In order to avoid the obligation to intervene in Rwanda, the Western powers led by President Clinton put pressure on the United Nations Security Council not to characterize the mass murder of Tootsies as genocide.
The making of Gandhi myth stared in South Africa by white Christian clergy. Rev. Joseph J. Doke, a Baptist Minster was the first to write the biography of M. K. Gandhi. Soon many other European and American clergymen and writers rushed in to make their input. John H. Holmes, a Unitarian pastor from New York praised Gandhi in his writings and sermons with titles like: Gandhi: The Modern Christ, Mahatma Gandhi: The Greatest Man since Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ji: Reincarnation of Christ and Gandhi before Pilate. Romain Rolland, French Nobel Laureate in literature looked at Gandhi not only as a Hindu saint, but also another Christ. He wrote Gandhi’s new biography in French. The English translation of this book opens with: He is the One Luminous, Creator of All, Mahatma. Impressed with lavish propaganda about Gandhi in the West, the Hindu propaganda machine came into action and it churned out a plethora of literature to elevate Gandhi to the status of twentieth century Hindu god - “The seventh reincarnation of Vishnu, Lord Rama,” proclaimed Krishnalal Shridharni. Portraits of Gandhi depicted him as Hindu avatar and Christian saint. The Indian government under Prime Minister Indra Gandhi financed one-third the cost of the production of the movie “Gandhi” for the portrayal of Gandhi as “an absolute pacifist.”
The Christian clergy had an ulterior motive in building the Gandhi myth. They thought that by elevating Gadhi to a 20th century messiah and then converting him would open the flood gate for evangelizing Hindu masses. Little did they realize that Gandhi hoodwinked them with his insincere statements about Christianity? He was a die-hard Hindu, a true believer and defender of the caste order - the essence of Hinduism?
Gandhi apologists indulged in gross deception by claiming that Gandhi’s Satyagrah in South Africa was in the defense of the rights of native people. Nothing could be further from truth than this bald lie. How could Gandhi, a diehard supporter of the caste system think of the welfare of African blacks he regarded lower than the Untouchables of India - slightly above the animal level? His Satyagrah was for the better treatment of Indians, who, according to Gandhi were treated the same way as savage Kaffirs (native people) were. In his stay of twenty years in South Africa, he had no social contacts with the Kaffirs, as he did not see any common ground with them in the daily affairs of life. He was horrified when he was lodged with “natives” in the same jail ward. He did not like wearing the same clothes with label “N” born by the natives, nor he liked their food and sharing lavatory with them. It was the jail experience, which brought out his racism in the open. ” Kaffir and Chinese prisoners are wild, murderous and given to immoral ways. Kaffirs are as a general rule uncivilized - the convicts even more so. They are troublesome, very dirty and live almost like animal.”
He proclaimed that the British Empire was for the welfare of the whole world and he accepted the superiority and predominance of white race. But he reminded the white people that upper caste Indians share with the Europeans a common heritage - the blood of the noble Aryan race. According to him it is Aryan blood, which is responsible for the advancement of human civilization. He suggested to Rev, Doke to civilize the Kaffirs by converting them to Christianity and by infusing Aryan blood into their race. He told the white colonists that the preservation of racial purity (Apartheid) was as important to the Indians as to Europeans.
He urged the colonial authorities to raise a volunteer militia of Indians to fight for the Empire. He told the Natal authorities that it would be a “criminal folly” if they did not enlist Indians for the war. He was rebuffed with sarcastic and derogatory comments about the fighting ability of people like Gandhi. However, his persistence persuaded the authorities to form a volunteer ambulance corps of Indians under the command of Sergeant-Major Gandhi during the Boer War and Zulu Rebellion. He urged the Indian community to show their loyalty to the British Empire by raising funds for the War. He reminded them that they were in South Africa due to the courtesy of the Empire. It is not for us to judge whether the Kaffir revolt is justified or not. We are co-colonists with whites of this land whereas the black savages are as yet unfit to participate in the political affairs of the colony.
He was a mean spirited parochial Hindu. Sergeant- Major Gandhi selected only Gujrati Hindus as his assistants, three Sergeants and one Corporal in spite of the fact the ambulance corps (20-24 men) was made up mostly of non-Gujratis with substantial number of Muslims.
The Russian Revolution of 1914 spurted national movements against colonial rule. The British brought Gandhi back to India to sabotage Indian national movement against British rule. The congress Party dominated by Gandhi was set up under the patronage of the British authorities. The “apostle of peace” urged the Indian people to support the British by enlisting in the army during World War I. In his letter he wrote to the Viceroy in1930, he said, ” One of his reason for launching the Civil Disobedient Movement is to contain the violence of revolutionaries.”
On the advice of white promoters of Gandhi, black clergy and civil rights leaders traveled to India to seek Gandhi’s advice about solving the problem of segregation and civil rights of blacks. How little did they know that Gandhi regarded the black people slightly above the animal level? Moreover, they were ignorant of the fact that caste system was originally imposed, as racial discrimination (Varna Ashrama Dharma) similar to the Apartheid system, on the black natives of India by their Caucasian conquerors. But later on due to emergence of new racial groups due to miscegenation between the two groups, Varna Ashrama Dharma evolved into caste system tied to hereditary occupations. Untouchabilty is as integral a part of Hindu faith as anti- Semitism of the Nazis. It is noteworthy that not a single black leader met Dr. B. R. Ambedkar - M. A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, M.Sc. and D.Sc. degrees from London University and Bar-at-Law from Grey’s Inn, London - who was the undisputed leader of the Untouchables at that time. Gandhi propaganda machine manipulated the visit of black leaders, as it did not want them to find truth about Gandhi’s views on the caste system. “I believe in Varnashrama (caste system) which is the law of life. The law of Varna (color and / or caste) is nothing but the law of conservation of energy. Why should my son not be scavenger if I am one? He, Shudra (lowest caste) may not be called a Brahmin (uppermost caste), though he (Shudra) may have all the qualities of a Brahmin in this birth. And it is a good thing for him (Shudra) not to arrogate a Varna (caste) to which he is not born. It is a sign of true humility.”
In 1921, Gandhi delivered violent speeches inciting racial hatred against the British. During bloody demonstrations and riots against the visit of Prince of Wales, William Francis Doherty, an American citizen working in Bombay was murdered. Gandhi personally got involved in the cover up of this gruesome murder through bribery and intimidation, as he was concerned that the details of this murder would tarnish Gandhi’s image in the West.
It is a cruel joke and one of the biggest fabrications of the twentieth century that Gandhi won Indian freedom without spilling a drop of blood. The truth is that it was the devastating effect of World War II that forced the British government to dismantle its Colonial Empire. Moreover, it was Gandhi and his Hindu dominated Congress party that engineered the partition of the country on communal lines, as the Muslim dominant states stood in the way of high caste Hindus to set up their Ram Raj (mythical Hindu kingdom) based on caste ideology. Additionally, the Partition of India in 1947 is one of the major upheavals of the twentieth century. In the State of Punjab alone, 11-12 million people lost their homes and hearths where their ancestors had lived for centuries. May be as many as one million people perished in the communal frenzy and thousands of young women were kidnapped while Gandhi was reciting the murderous sermons from his favorite scripture - Bhagvad Gita. He kept insisting up to the last moment that the country would be partitioned only over his dead body!
The ascetic in loincloth used to sleep in buff with naked young girls to perform experiments to test his celibacy. Dr. Sushila Nayar told Ved Mehta that she used to sleep with Gandhi as she regarded him as a Hindu god. The man, who had taken vow of poverty, demanded and got even in jail the same comforts enjoyed by British high officials in India.
The “apostle of peace,” who counseled a Jewish delegation” to oppose the evil of Nazism by “soul force” - by committing mass suicide, was all praise for annexing Kashmir by armed aggression.
He told his Sikh followers that rusty sword is useless in the age of Atom Bomb. The development of nuclear weapons by India - a country that ranks among the poorest in the world and is near the bottom of human development index chart of the United Nations - exposes the real face of the “absolute pacifist” and the nation that calls him “father.” After all didn’t lord Krishna tell Arjana during the battle of Mahabharata “Victory is truth.”
Although, the Indian people have started peeking at the man behind the mask of divinity, there is no let up in the perpetuation of Gandhi myth in the West, especially the United States.
G. B. Singh rightfully deserves the accolades for bringing out the truth about Gandhi from Gandhi’s own mouth.
http://www.sikhsundesh.net/gandhi.htm
Monday, October 02, 2006
An American Fall: A rapist, a pedophile, a murderer has no religion!
An American Fall
A rapist, a pedophile, a murderer has no religion!
By
Moin Ansari
“The season of mists mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of maturing sun”.
Lord Tennyson wrote an ode to Autumn. However if he was alive today, he would be ashamed of this fall.
This week my homeland, our sweet land of liberty was rocked by several despicable events of pedophilia, murder and violence. From the corridors of Congress, to the corridors of schools; from the steeples of our churches, to the cross-roads of our inner-cities, evil men violated innocence. This Fall will be remembered as a fall when we failed to protect our children. This fall our stars and stripes should be at half-mast. This week, America the beautiful got a scar on her beautiful face. This fall, our statue of liberty had a tear in her eyes.
These are not isolated incidents. From columbine to Central park, our society is plagued by violence and murder. We seem to be numb to the fact that more than 100,000-500,000 women are raped in our country each year. More than 10,000 humans are killed in our land every year. More than one million Americans are incarcerated of which 100,000 are women. These jailed women and men face additional violence on a daily basis. We are 5% of the world’s population but have 25% of the world prison population. All these factors point out to a deterioration of our society. Pedophilia is rampant on the internet, and even in our churches. This violence has no religion. Defining the religion of a criminal is non-productive, and displays latent bigotry. A criminal is a criminal.
It is time, that our Rabbis, Priests and Imams spoke out against this onslaught on our youth. The perpetuators of these and other crimes against other humans were not Christian rapists, Jewish violators, or Islamic killers. These thugs, murderers, killers and rapists have no religion, they are simply rapists, murderers, terrorists, and thugs period
Thousands of our military people have come back in body bags from Iraq and Afghanistan. Afghans and Iraqis have killed hundreds who are innocent. Sinhalese Buddhists fought tooth and nail against Hindu Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Ugandan Christian and Congolese Christians fought pitched battles against each other. However our media did not designate their religion. Only Muslim criminals and murderers were labeled by their religion.
This fall we continued the open hunting season on patriotic American citizens. This fall we continue to torture and jail people without trial, all in the name of freedom. This fall, some of the stars on our flag lost a bit of their twinkle. This fall we continued to defy the teachings of Jesus, Moses and Mohammad in the name of “war”. This fall, our founding fathers turned in their graves. This fall the halo on our land tilted a bit.
God Bless America! and Long Live America
A rapist, a pedophile, a murderer has no religion!
By
Moin Ansari
“The season of mists mellow fruitfulness, close bosom friend of maturing sun”.
Lord Tennyson wrote an ode to Autumn. However if he was alive today, he would be ashamed of this fall.
This week my homeland, our sweet land of liberty was rocked by several despicable events of pedophilia, murder and violence. From the corridors of Congress, to the corridors of schools; from the steeples of our churches, to the cross-roads of our inner-cities, evil men violated innocence. This Fall will be remembered as a fall when we failed to protect our children. This fall our stars and stripes should be at half-mast. This week, America the beautiful got a scar on her beautiful face. This fall, our statue of liberty had a tear in her eyes.
These are not isolated incidents. From columbine to Central park, our society is plagued by violence and murder. We seem to be numb to the fact that more than 100,000-500,000 women are raped in our country each year. More than 10,000 humans are killed in our land every year. More than one million Americans are incarcerated of which 100,000 are women. These jailed women and men face additional violence on a daily basis. We are 5% of the world’s population but have 25% of the world prison population. All these factors point out to a deterioration of our society. Pedophilia is rampant on the internet, and even in our churches. This violence has no religion. Defining the religion of a criminal is non-productive, and displays latent bigotry. A criminal is a criminal.
It is time, that our Rabbis, Priests and Imams spoke out against this onslaught on our youth. The perpetuators of these and other crimes against other humans were not Christian rapists, Jewish violators, or Islamic killers. These thugs, murderers, killers and rapists have no religion, they are simply rapists, murderers, terrorists, and thugs period
Thousands of our military people have come back in body bags from Iraq and Afghanistan. Afghans and Iraqis have killed hundreds who are innocent. Sinhalese Buddhists fought tooth and nail against Hindu Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Ugandan Christian and Congolese Christians fought pitched battles against each other. However our media did not designate their religion. Only Muslim criminals and murderers were labeled by their religion.
This fall we continued the open hunting season on patriotic American citizens. This fall we continue to torture and jail people without trial, all in the name of freedom. This fall, some of the stars on our flag lost a bit of their twinkle. This fall we continued to defy the teachings of Jesus, Moses and Mohammad in the name of “war”. This fall, our founding fathers turned in their graves. This fall the halo on our land tilted a bit.
God Bless America! and Long Live America
Monday, September 18, 2006
New Pope New directions?
NEW POPE, NEW DIRECTIONS?
A rational logical rebuttal to Islamphobic comments of the Pope
I would like to comment on the Pope’s recent message denigrating the prophet Muhammad and misinterpreting Islam and misunderstanding jihad (self control). Unfortunately his "apology" was not a real apology.
1) John Paul II was the embodiment of the love of Jesus and he endeared people to him and Catholicism. Praying to the common God and joint prayers were a fantastic manifestation of our common humanity. Any other direction will alienate Muslims, Christians and Jews away from each other.
2) Arab armies never conquered or stayed in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, or Bangladesh, where 80% of all Muslims reside. Arab armies did reach the Indus, but Mohammad bin Qasim quickly withdrew. The conversions for a vast majority of Muslims (who now live in Asia)was by Sufis and traders and by example and because Islam was LOGICAL and simple...pray to one God.
3) In the 7th century, Arab armies comprised of less than 25,000 able bodied men as soldiers, out of a population of 50,000. It is a physical impossibility to spread Islam to millions with such a small army or by force of arms. Muslims could not have spread Islam through the sword from Arabia to Morocco and destroyed the Byzantine and Roman empires, if Islam did not have grass level appeal based on "Arianism" (unity of God), which was never actually eliminated even though Emperor Constantine had imposed trinity at the Council of Nicea in 325AD.
4) The idea of holy war or jihad (which is about defending the community or at most about establishing rule by Muslims, not about imposing the faith on individuals by force) is also not a Quranic doctrine. The doctrine was elaborated much later, on the Umayyad-Byzantine frontier, long after the Prophet's death. In fact, in early Islam it was hard to join, and Christians who asked to become Muslim were routinely turned away. The tyrannical governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj, was notorious for this rejection of applicants, because he got higher taxes on non-Muslims. Arab Muslims had conquered Iraq, which was then largely pagan, Zoroastrian, Christian and Jewish. But they weren't seeking converts and certainly weren't imposing their religion. http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311787.php
5) But there have been many schools of Islamic theology and philosophy. The Mu'tazilite school maintained exactly what the Pope is saying, that God must act in accordance with reason and the good as humans know them. The Mu'tazilite approach is still popular in Zaidism and in Twelver Shiism of the Iraqi and Iranian sort. The Ash'ari school, in contrast, insisted that God was beyond human reason and therefore could not be judged rationally. (I think the Pope would find that Tertullian and perhaps also John Calvin would be more sympathetic to this view within Christianity than he is).As for the Quran, it constantly appeals to reason in knowing God, and in refuting idolatry and paganism, and asks, "do you not reason?" "do you not understand?" (a fala ta`qilun?)
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311787.php
6) The idea of holy war or jihad (which is about defending the community or at most about establishing rule by Muslims, not about imposing the faith on individuals by force) is also not a Quranic doctrine. The doctrine was elaborated much later, on the Umayyad-Byzantine frontier, long after the Prophet's death. In fact, in early Islam it was hard to join, and Christians who asked to become Muslim were routinely turned away. The tyrannical governor of Iraq, al-Hajjaj, was notorious for this rejection of applicants, because he got higher taxes on non-Muslims. Arab Muslims had conquered Iraq, which was then largely pagan, Zoroastrian, Christian and Jewish. But they weren't seeking converts and certainly weren't imposing their religion.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311787.php
7) Did the Pope have selective amnesia about tolerating the holocaust, sprinkling holy water on the marching Nazi soldiers, directing the crusades, supporting the ethnic cleansing of native Americans, supporting conquistador invasions, administering the Spanish inquisition, encouraging colonialism to civilize the natives, and finding quotes in the Bible to support slavery.
7) Finally, that Byzantine emperor that the Pope quoted, Manuel II? The Byzantines had been weakened by Latin predations during the fourth Crusade, so it was in a way Rome that had sought coercion first. And, he ended his days as a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/09/15/18311787.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Crusade
8) Emperor Manuel II Paleologos of the Byzantine Empire did not agree with the Vatican. He wrote the quote during the siege of Constantinople.
9) The propaganda against our prophet has been waged for centuries, and Muslims keep growing. The more they send crusades, the more Islam grows.
10) [2:62] Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians-- any who believe in God and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve. '
11) This is one of the best responses that I have seen: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/spiritual-niggers-islam_b_29663.html
May God forgive the sins of the Pope and may he find enlightenment. God Bless him.
GreenPeaceIslam
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
POST DISASTER PLANNING? PREVENT THE DISASTER AFTER THE CALAMITY
POST DISASTER PLANNING?
PREVENT THE DISASTER AFTER THE CALAMITY
By
Moin Ansari
The Pakistani nation and the American Pakistani has risen up and is working to rebuild Pakistan. Reams of eulogies written about the spirit of volunteerism will not be enough to describe the effort that was put together to fill up entire warehouses. Each and every Pakistani and Pakistani American has been helping. Disasters have a life cycle. We have moved beyond the rescue, are now in the relief and should be moving into the rehabilitation soon.
According to disaster experts, we have to watch the life-cycle of disasters:
disaster-before-the disaster, (lack of preparedness)
then there is the disaster, and then there is (lack of planning)
the-disaster-after-the-disaster (lack of vision, preparedness, and planning)
Pakistan has faced the first two. Today we are moving towards the post-disaster issues. I was watching Imran Khan last night on one of the best TV shows on Television (Capital Talk with Hamid Mir). Imran Khan emphasized harnessing the spirit de corps and spirit of our youth volunteers into a formal structure. I suggested it in my last note. We could possibly emulate Peace Corps.
As the government of Pakistan gets its legs and the government reemerges in Muzaffarabad, we will begin setting up "tent cities". According to news reports:
Land measuring more than 400 kanals near Haripur has been identified as one of the better sites for setting up a tent city to accommodate quake affected families but one question that is agitating the minds is whether the villagers from far-off places such as Balakot, Kaghan, Garhi Habibullah, Bakot, Jabori, Battagram and Allai valley in the NWFP would be willing to leave their mountain abodes and live in a small tent in unfamiliar surroundings.
Chief minister Akram Durrani and his ministers have identified Haripur as a comparatively better place for establishing the tent city owing to a host of reasons. A major reason was its moderate and bearable winter climate compared to the colder Abbottabad and Mansehra districts. Kohra Mera in Abbottabad along with Havelian have also been mentioned as possible sites for the proposed tent cities.
As the "tent cities" go up, we have to be cognizant of various factors.
The tents will not last through the winter.
Putting up quake affectees in tents for longer periods appears unrealistic
We have to prepare for the dissolution of the tents. I did some research, and discovered that most of the tents being sent will not provide protection from the elements. We have to find innovative and creative solutions. One such solution is offered by Nader Khilil who was awarded the prestigious Agha Khan Award and has been providing California-code-approved earthquake proof temporary housing solutions to the tsunami victims or India and Indonesia, but also to Siberia, Guatimala. An emergency structure can be put up on two days. It is very low cost and used mud, barbed wire, sandbags, lime and some cement. Volunteers can be trained in a matter of days. A complete video program is available from the website of http://www.earthlight.org/khalili_interview.html
AJMA is partnering with a dedicated team to transfer the technology to Pakistan and provide mentoring to a team of volunteers to build the "Rumi Pods". We are seeking volunteers to help us prevent the disaster after the calamity.
PREVENT THE DISASTER AFTER THE CALAMITY
By
Moin Ansari
The Pakistani nation and the American Pakistani has risen up and is working to rebuild Pakistan. Reams of eulogies written about the spirit of volunteerism will not be enough to describe the effort that was put together to fill up entire warehouses. Each and every Pakistani and Pakistani American has been helping. Disasters have a life cycle. We have moved beyond the rescue, are now in the relief and should be moving into the rehabilitation soon.
According to disaster experts, we have to watch the life-cycle of disasters:
disaster-before-the disaster, (lack of preparedness)
then there is the disaster, and then there is (lack of planning)
the-disaster-after-the-disaster (lack of vision, preparedness, and planning)
Pakistan has faced the first two. Today we are moving towards the post-disaster issues. I was watching Imran Khan last night on one of the best TV shows on Television (Capital Talk with Hamid Mir). Imran Khan emphasized harnessing the spirit de corps and spirit of our youth volunteers into a formal structure. I suggested it in my last note. We could possibly emulate Peace Corps.
As the government of Pakistan gets its legs and the government reemerges in Muzaffarabad, we will begin setting up "tent cities". According to news reports:
Land measuring more than 400 kanals near Haripur has been identified as one of the better sites for setting up a tent city to accommodate quake affected families but one question that is agitating the minds is whether the villagers from far-off places such as Balakot, Kaghan, Garhi Habibullah, Bakot, Jabori, Battagram and Allai valley in the NWFP would be willing to leave their mountain abodes and live in a small tent in unfamiliar surroundings.
Chief minister Akram Durrani and his ministers have identified Haripur as a comparatively better place for establishing the tent city owing to a host of reasons. A major reason was its moderate and bearable winter climate compared to the colder Abbottabad and Mansehra districts. Kohra Mera in Abbottabad along with Havelian have also been mentioned as possible sites for the proposed tent cities.
As the "tent cities" go up, we have to be cognizant of various factors.
The tents will not last through the winter.
Putting up quake affectees in tents for longer periods appears unrealistic
We have to prepare for the dissolution of the tents. I did some research, and discovered that most of the tents being sent will not provide protection from the elements. We have to find innovative and creative solutions. One such solution is offered by Nader Khilil who was awarded the prestigious Agha Khan Award and has been providing California-code-approved earthquake proof temporary housing solutions to the tsunami victims or India and Indonesia, but also to Siberia, Guatimala. An emergency structure can be put up on two days. It is very low cost and used mud, barbed wire, sandbags, lime and some cement. Volunteers can be trained in a matter of days. A complete video program is available from the website of http://www.earthlight.org/khalili_interview.html
AJMA is partnering with a dedicated team to transfer the technology to Pakistan and provide mentoring to a team of volunteers to build the "Rumi Pods". We are seeking volunteers to help us prevent the disaster after the calamity.
THE TSUNAMI AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
THE TSUNAMI AFTER THE EARTHQUAKE
By
Moin Ansari
The tsunami is the direct result of, and an after effect of an underwater earthquake. This consummates nature’s contrivance and creates the consequences that are felt ubiquitously. As the earth moves, the waves swell up and eliminate everything in their path. The tsunami, after the earthquake moves faster than a jetliner, at hundreds of miles per hour, and forges ahead ruthlessly, a wall of destruction, and devastation. All coastal cities are targets. It does not discriminate. The only escape is to get to high ground.
There is a "tsunami" brewing in the Himalayas!
The world’s tepid response to the agony of the Pakistan is generating a stealth tsunami of deep resentment. and profound exasperation. As people discover the lack or international response, the anger against the apathetic world will germinate and grow not only in the tent cities of Azad Kashmir, but also the slums of Nottingham, the streets of Leeds, and the devastated textile factories of Bradford.
The "tsunami" of indignation will permeate in the poverty-stricken cities and villages of South Asia, and the Middle East. This "tsunami" will provide fodder to the insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unless the world wakes up form its slumber, this tsunami will be more devastating to the world because it will be fertilized by the worst evil-doers on the planet.
The international media has refused to cover the Pakistani catastrophe in detail. The BBC, CNN, and Voice of America, which had long monopolized South Asian information, are fast becoming irrelevant in this part of the world. Pakistan is no longer dependent on scraps of news doled out by the world media. With 35 TV channels and hundreds of papers, Pakistanis are seeing the scale of the disaster on local channels. Pakistan society has come together as never before. It is being called the "new nationalism." Within four days 25,000 troops were moved to rebuild broken down bridges and roads. The army and corps of volunteers from all sections of society are working together like a team. "Tent factories" are now creating 5000 tents per day to try to eliminate the dearth of tents. This energy will propel it to different heights in self-reliance. From the ashes of Muzzafarhgarh and Balkot and Bagh, the phoenix will rise.
The earthquake may have buried the story of Pakistan being listed as a target on the axis of evil, but this story will resurface. In the streets of Karachi and Baghdad, this was always known. In the wake of the taped transcript of President Bush in which he named Pakistan and Saudi Arabia next on the list after Iraq, the shell-shocked Pakistani nation is watching with great patience. As soon as the shell shock is over, and some of the people are settled, there will be deep introspection of Pakistani priorities and the world’s response to the quake. The value of American lives in America is known to all. The successful rescue of stranded victims in New Orleans, and Missouri was surely a great advertisement of the efficacy of Bell choppers. Today the dearth of helicopters, and the reluctance of powers who own the helicopters to lend them to Pakistan, is the main logistical challenge faced by rescuers in Pakistan.
Maj. General Farooq Ahmad, the newly appointed Commissioner of Relief Operation, calls the $350 million as peanuts. He was polite but complained about the lack of choppers made available to Pakistan. Pakistan was under multiple embargoes for a decade. The lack of transportation is the direct result of those embargoes. While General Dynamics 75 F-16s may do much for the security of the nation, it is Bell Helicopters, which will be receiving the next "flash" "peoples purchase order" for the acquisition of hundreds of helicopters. This procurement will retire the 7 decrepit machines that are presently owned by Pakistan today.
Five million Palestinians starving in refugee camps germinated the PLO and the PFLP. 3.5 million Afghans in camps created the "Talibaan". Kashmiris are already armed, and trained. They are already incensed at the occupation of Kashmir by India. 700,000 Indian troops were unable keep the Kashmiris down. This is the second time the Kashmirs have been displaced. 200,000 homes have been destroyed. How will these houses be rebuilt? Five million Azad Kashmiris in tent cities, supported by 150 million Pakistanis will make India’s "cross border terrorism" seem like a picnic! It is for this reason that Indian glee over devastation in Pakistani Kashmir was short lived. The Indians fully realized that homeless, hungry, and dislocated Kashmiris could not be good for anyone.
Right after Katrina and Rita, one newspaper said that it is "as if Osama Bin Laden was controlling the weather." An earthquake just hit Azad Kashmir and dislocated five million people. Osama Bin Laden could not have asked for a better present for his recruiting drive. There is early evidence that banned groups, and fundamentalist groups are organizing huge relief operations. Their substantial influence in the tent cities will be responsible for the radicalization of millions of homeless and hungry Kashmiris.
God Help us prevent this tsunami!
By
Moin Ansari
The tsunami is the direct result of, and an after effect of an underwater earthquake. This consummates nature’s contrivance and creates the consequences that are felt ubiquitously. As the earth moves, the waves swell up and eliminate everything in their path. The tsunami, after the earthquake moves faster than a jetliner, at hundreds of miles per hour, and forges ahead ruthlessly, a wall of destruction, and devastation. All coastal cities are targets. It does not discriminate. The only escape is to get to high ground.
There is a "tsunami" brewing in the Himalayas!
The world’s tepid response to the agony of the Pakistan is generating a stealth tsunami of deep resentment. and profound exasperation. As people discover the lack or international response, the anger against the apathetic world will germinate and grow not only in the tent cities of Azad Kashmir, but also the slums of Nottingham, the streets of Leeds, and the devastated textile factories of Bradford.
The "tsunami" of indignation will permeate in the poverty-stricken cities and villages of South Asia, and the Middle East. This "tsunami" will provide fodder to the insurgency in Afghanistan and Iraq. Unless the world wakes up form its slumber, this tsunami will be more devastating to the world because it will be fertilized by the worst evil-doers on the planet.
The international media has refused to cover the Pakistani catastrophe in detail. The BBC, CNN, and Voice of America, which had long monopolized South Asian information, are fast becoming irrelevant in this part of the world. Pakistan is no longer dependent on scraps of news doled out by the world media. With 35 TV channels and hundreds of papers, Pakistanis are seeing the scale of the disaster on local channels. Pakistan society has come together as never before. It is being called the "new nationalism." Within four days 25,000 troops were moved to rebuild broken down bridges and roads. The army and corps of volunteers from all sections of society are working together like a team. "Tent factories" are now creating 5000 tents per day to try to eliminate the dearth of tents. This energy will propel it to different heights in self-reliance. From the ashes of Muzzafarhgarh and Balkot and Bagh, the phoenix will rise.
The earthquake may have buried the story of Pakistan being listed as a target on the axis of evil, but this story will resurface. In the streets of Karachi and Baghdad, this was always known. In the wake of the taped transcript of President Bush in which he named Pakistan and Saudi Arabia next on the list after Iraq, the shell-shocked Pakistani nation is watching with great patience. As soon as the shell shock is over, and some of the people are settled, there will be deep introspection of Pakistani priorities and the world’s response to the quake. The value of American lives in America is known to all. The successful rescue of stranded victims in New Orleans, and Missouri was surely a great advertisement of the efficacy of Bell choppers. Today the dearth of helicopters, and the reluctance of powers who own the helicopters to lend them to Pakistan, is the main logistical challenge faced by rescuers in Pakistan.
Maj. General Farooq Ahmad, the newly appointed Commissioner of Relief Operation, calls the $350 million as peanuts. He was polite but complained about the lack of choppers made available to Pakistan. Pakistan was under multiple embargoes for a decade. The lack of transportation is the direct result of those embargoes. While General Dynamics 75 F-16s may do much for the security of the nation, it is Bell Helicopters, which will be receiving the next "flash" "peoples purchase order" for the acquisition of hundreds of helicopters. This procurement will retire the 7 decrepit machines that are presently owned by Pakistan today.
Five million Palestinians starving in refugee camps germinated the PLO and the PFLP. 3.5 million Afghans in camps created the "Talibaan". Kashmiris are already armed, and trained. They are already incensed at the occupation of Kashmir by India. 700,000 Indian troops were unable keep the Kashmiris down. This is the second time the Kashmirs have been displaced. 200,000 homes have been destroyed. How will these houses be rebuilt? Five million Azad Kashmiris in tent cities, supported by 150 million Pakistanis will make India’s "cross border terrorism" seem like a picnic! It is for this reason that Indian glee over devastation in Pakistani Kashmir was short lived. The Indians fully realized that homeless, hungry, and dislocated Kashmiris could not be good for anyone.
Right after Katrina and Rita, one newspaper said that it is "as if Osama Bin Laden was controlling the weather." An earthquake just hit Azad Kashmir and dislocated five million people. Osama Bin Laden could not have asked for a better present for his recruiting drive. There is early evidence that banned groups, and fundamentalist groups are organizing huge relief operations. Their substantial influence in the tent cities will be responsible for the radicalization of millions of homeless and hungry Kashmiris.
God Help us prevent this tsunami!
WORLD CONSCIENCE ASLEEP? Pathetic international response to 3 million brown Pakistani quake victims!
WORLD CONSCIENCE ASLEEP?
Pathetic international response to 3 million brown Pakistani quake victims!
by
MOIN ANSARI
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101705S.shtml
The internal Pakistani response to the quake has been heroic, superhuman, and "goose bump" stuff of which legends are made of. The fantastic spirit of volunteerism is a case study for the "Harvard Business Review". Within 15 minutes of the falling of the Margala towers, the police and hundreds of good Samaritans were there scraping at the rubble with their bare hands. Within 2 hours the president and the Prime Minster were helping at the site. Hordes of volunteers are collecting supplies from every nook and corner of Pakistan. From dusk to dawn the air force flew 800 sorties, a world record. The mudslide prone, destroyed roads to the most inaccessible areas have been rebuilt several times, and today there are mountains of relief supplies in the remotest of the remote areas in Kashmir manned by thousands of troops and volunteers. Today more than 100,000 Pakistani troops are fanning out in the mountains of Azad Kashmir looking to help Pakistanis.
The international response to the Pakistani quake has been atrocious. The Pakistani state machinery is too polite and too overwhelmed to say anything except "thank you". They are grateful for any scarps that are doled out. The fact remains that the world response to the Pakistani quake has been beyond pathetic. The Pakistani earthquake is a bigger catastrophe than the tsunami. The tsunami countries got over $10 Billion Dollars. While many international agencies and government are "going through the motions", serious efforts have not been made to help Pakistan and Pakistanis. The reasons may be similar to the reasons why the black Katrina victims got little help and white Rita victims got a lot of aid. Racism and Islamphobic bias are at the root of this nonchalance not covered by the media.
The Washington Post did not have a singly story on the earthquake. The NY Times had a story on Muslim charities and the fact that The "mainstream charities" are not getting donations from Americans for the Pakistani quake. The focus of the BBC story was not the inadequate and pathetic international response to the quake victims, but the fact that remote village beyond Bagh in the Northern areas, which are not connected by roads have not been reached.
The US has 8000 helicopters in Afghanistan. Pakistan needs about 200 helicopters and heavy moving equipment to assist the victims. 8 were released and then an additional 4 were released by Secretary of State Rice after the President Mushraraff literally begged her for more moving equipment. The NATO forces in Afghanistan refused to release any choppers. The Japanese teams were so late that they could not save a single life in the schools where 1500 children lay buried.
What makes it more hurtful is the fact that blatant Arab racism is at its worst today. Muslim countries have different scales for white American victims and different values for brown Pakistani lives. Kuwait and Qatar gave the 20 thousand Katrina victims $400 million each. For the 3 million "miskeen" "ajami" Pakistanis $100 million was deemed enough. The Palestinian Authority has not given anything. Egypt gave $50,000.
The good news is that Pakistanis have come together like never before. From America to Australia, and within Pakistan volunteers are everywhere, sending materials and volunteers to the affected areas of Azad Kashmir. Pakistan and Pakistanis will remember the friends.
Before an official request was conveyed, Turkish teams and planes were already airborn. Pakistan well never forget the Turkish "Kurdish" (brotherhood). The British teams in Islamabad got there early and actually saved some lives. Penury stricken Afghanistan spared 4 helicopters, pretty much their entire fleet. Today Pakistan and Pakistanis are working hard to rebuild Pakistan. This is the new slogan.
The lack of international help will have consequences that will ripple to the entire world. When India exploded its nuclear device, Pakistan asked for a "nuclear umbrella" from all the super powers. The Pakistanis were laughed out of Western capitals. Pakistan made the nuclear bombs. Pakistan paid cash for 75 F-16s. Neither the money, nor the planes were ever delivered. This unleashed anti-Americanism in Pakistan that had international consequences. With Chinese help, Pakistan designed and created a FX-17 plane and also bought and indigenously developed missile technology. Pakistanis have elephant memories.
If the international response remains as pathetic as it has been, Pakistan may opt for the Shanghai Five realignment with China and Russia and dump the strategic relationship that President Musharraf has tried to develop with the fair whether friends in the West. Pakistanis see help coming from India, and Israel and the Jewish organizations in the USA. This will be remembered. The word knows that Pakistan cannot be ignored. There is very strong resentment growing in Pakistani minds. The world knows that Pakistan cannot be ignored. Pakistani foreign policy realignment is underway. This will have long term consequences for the world.
=============================================
Pakistan Earthquake relief
Donate Blankets, Jackets or Money
The horrendous Earthquake in Pakistan where more than 50,000 are missing and the toll may reach more than 100,000. Entire villages have been flattened out, and over three million people are homeless. Winter is fast approaching, and they have spent many nights out in the rain and cold.
We are holding a drive to collect "clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, dolls and tents etc.". Pakistan International Airlines has promised to take the materials free of cost to Pakistan. We need your help in collecting
Blankets or clothes should be packed in small neat bundles clearly marked, "male", "female", "jacket", "large" "child" etc.
Please write "From your friends in the USA to our friends in Pakistan" on each packet.
DELIVERY AND SHIPPING OPTIONS: PLEASE VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME?
OPTION ONE: You can take the bundled & labeled packages to the nearest Pakistan International Airlines office (NY) and have it delivered to Pakistan without paying any shipping charges.
OPTION TWO: You can deliver to MOIN ANSARI c/A AJMA, 188 Rt. 10 West, Suite 202, East Hanover, NJ 07936) and we will deliver it to PIA to ship. Call 973-463-1260. We are developing a local drop-off points in each county. Or you can deliver to the First Presbyterian Church of Rockaway is a collection point (35 Church Street, Rockaway). Your local mosque is a collection point.
OPTION THREE: Can we impose on you to help us coordinate this collection activates, and hold stuff in your church/basement, and then have them delivered to PIA to ship to Edhi Foundation. PIA Contact: Mr. Arbab Hibatullah (718) 656-4040 Ext.230
OPTION FOUR: We offer to pick up the material and deliver to the Pakistan Airline, so that it can be forwarded. Call 973-463-1260 for help in pickup and delivery
DONATE TO THE CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE
1) Earthquake relief: Consulate General of Pakistan, 12 East, 65th Street, New York, NY 10021, 212 472-4339, http://www.pakistanconsulateny.org
2) American Red Cross (marked Pakistan Earthquake relief) or Pakistan Red Crescent Society
3) UNICEF (marked Pakistan Earthquake Relief)
4) EDHI Foundation (Pakistani relief agency): 45-11 Nation Rd, Corona, NY 11368, 718-639-0633, Fax: 718-505-8001
Pathetic international response to 3 million brown Pakistani quake victims!
by
MOIN ANSARI
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/101705S.shtml
The internal Pakistani response to the quake has been heroic, superhuman, and "goose bump" stuff of which legends are made of. The fantastic spirit of volunteerism is a case study for the "Harvard Business Review". Within 15 minutes of the falling of the Margala towers, the police and hundreds of good Samaritans were there scraping at the rubble with their bare hands. Within 2 hours the president and the Prime Minster were helping at the site. Hordes of volunteers are collecting supplies from every nook and corner of Pakistan. From dusk to dawn the air force flew 800 sorties, a world record. The mudslide prone, destroyed roads to the most inaccessible areas have been rebuilt several times, and today there are mountains of relief supplies in the remotest of the remote areas in Kashmir manned by thousands of troops and volunteers. Today more than 100,000 Pakistani troops are fanning out in the mountains of Azad Kashmir looking to help Pakistanis.
The international response to the Pakistani quake has been atrocious. The Pakistani state machinery is too polite and too overwhelmed to say anything except "thank you". They are grateful for any scarps that are doled out. The fact remains that the world response to the Pakistani quake has been beyond pathetic. The Pakistani earthquake is a bigger catastrophe than the tsunami. The tsunami countries got over $10 Billion Dollars. While many international agencies and government are "going through the motions", serious efforts have not been made to help Pakistan and Pakistanis. The reasons may be similar to the reasons why the black Katrina victims got little help and white Rita victims got a lot of aid. Racism and Islamphobic bias are at the root of this nonchalance not covered by the media.
The Washington Post did not have a singly story on the earthquake. The NY Times had a story on Muslim charities and the fact that The "mainstream charities" are not getting donations from Americans for the Pakistani quake. The focus of the BBC story was not the inadequate and pathetic international response to the quake victims, but the fact that remote village beyond Bagh in the Northern areas, which are not connected by roads have not been reached.
The US has 8000 helicopters in Afghanistan. Pakistan needs about 200 helicopters and heavy moving equipment to assist the victims. 8 were released and then an additional 4 were released by Secretary of State Rice after the President Mushraraff literally begged her for more moving equipment. The NATO forces in Afghanistan refused to release any choppers. The Japanese teams were so late that they could not save a single life in the schools where 1500 children lay buried.
What makes it more hurtful is the fact that blatant Arab racism is at its worst today. Muslim countries have different scales for white American victims and different values for brown Pakistani lives. Kuwait and Qatar gave the 20 thousand Katrina victims $400 million each. For the 3 million "miskeen" "ajami" Pakistanis $100 million was deemed enough. The Palestinian Authority has not given anything. Egypt gave $50,000.
The good news is that Pakistanis have come together like never before. From America to Australia, and within Pakistan volunteers are everywhere, sending materials and volunteers to the affected areas of Azad Kashmir. Pakistan and Pakistanis will remember the friends.
Before an official request was conveyed, Turkish teams and planes were already airborn. Pakistan well never forget the Turkish "Kurdish" (brotherhood). The British teams in Islamabad got there early and actually saved some lives. Penury stricken Afghanistan spared 4 helicopters, pretty much their entire fleet. Today Pakistan and Pakistanis are working hard to rebuild Pakistan. This is the new slogan.
The lack of international help will have consequences that will ripple to the entire world. When India exploded its nuclear device, Pakistan asked for a "nuclear umbrella" from all the super powers. The Pakistanis were laughed out of Western capitals. Pakistan made the nuclear bombs. Pakistan paid cash for 75 F-16s. Neither the money, nor the planes were ever delivered. This unleashed anti-Americanism in Pakistan that had international consequences. With Chinese help, Pakistan designed and created a FX-17 plane and also bought and indigenously developed missile technology. Pakistanis have elephant memories.
If the international response remains as pathetic as it has been, Pakistan may opt for the Shanghai Five realignment with China and Russia and dump the strategic relationship that President Musharraf has tried to develop with the fair whether friends in the West. Pakistanis see help coming from India, and Israel and the Jewish organizations in the USA. This will be remembered. The word knows that Pakistan cannot be ignored. There is very strong resentment growing in Pakistani minds. The world knows that Pakistan cannot be ignored. Pakistani foreign policy realignment is underway. This will have long term consequences for the world.
=============================================
Pakistan Earthquake relief
Donate Blankets, Jackets or Money
The horrendous Earthquake in Pakistan where more than 50,000 are missing and the toll may reach more than 100,000. Entire villages have been flattened out, and over three million people are homeless. Winter is fast approaching, and they have spent many nights out in the rain and cold.
We are holding a drive to collect "clothes, blankets, stuffed animals, dolls and tents etc.". Pakistan International Airlines has promised to take the materials free of cost to Pakistan. We need your help in collecting
Blankets or clothes should be packed in small neat bundles clearly marked, "male", "female", "jacket", "large" "child" etc.
Please write "From your friends in the USA to our friends in Pakistan" on each packet.
DELIVERY AND SHIPPING OPTIONS: PLEASE VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME?
OPTION ONE: You can take the bundled & labeled packages to the nearest Pakistan International Airlines office (NY) and have it delivered to Pakistan without paying any shipping charges.
OPTION TWO: You can deliver to MOIN ANSARI c/A AJMA, 188 Rt. 10 West, Suite 202, East Hanover, NJ 07936) and we will deliver it to PIA to ship. Call 973-463-1260. We are developing a local drop-off points in each county. Or you can deliver to the First Presbyterian Church of Rockaway is a collection point (35 Church Street, Rockaway). Your local mosque is a collection point.
OPTION THREE: Can we impose on you to help us coordinate this collection activates, and hold stuff in your church/basement, and then have them delivered to PIA to ship to Edhi Foundation. PIA Contact: Mr. Arbab Hibatullah (718) 656-4040 Ext.230
OPTION FOUR: We offer to pick up the material and deliver to the Pakistan Airline, so that it can be forwarded. Call 973-463-1260 for help in pickup and delivery
DONATE TO THE CHARITY OF YOUR CHOICE
1) Earthquake relief: Consulate General of Pakistan, 12 East, 65th Street, New York, NY 10021, 212 472-4339, http://www.pakistanconsulateny.org
2) American Red Cross (marked Pakistan Earthquake relief) or Pakistan Red Crescent Society
3) UNICEF (marked Pakistan Earthquake Relief)
4) EDHI Foundation (Pakistani relief agency): 45-11 Nation Rd, Corona, NY 11368, 718-639-0633, Fax: 718-505-8001
Monday, September 19, 2005
Musharraf-AJC meeting should open the floodgates of Jewish-Muslim dialogue
Musharraf-AJC meeting
should open the floodgates for Jewish-Muslim dialogue
I echo the call by the president of the American Jewish Congress, Mr. Jack Rosen and reach out to all Jewish Organizatoins to open the floodgates of dioloague with Muslims, Muslim-Americans, and Pakistani-Americans.
Let us build a better America and a better world.
But tonight represents
only a beginning of what we hope is a long process of dialogue and
engagement. Organizations like ours have a continuing role to play, and we
invite all of you here tonight to to join with us. We would like to
explore with President Musharraf opportunities to bring together
Pakistani, American and Israeli citizens in a dialogue about our shared futures
through a program of on-going exchanges and visits. The more our people
interact with each other, the easier it will be for government leaders
to act. Jack Rosen
In a message dated 9/19/05 7:00:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time, asifalam@aopp.org writes:Subj:Introducing President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan at World Jewry
Sent from the Internet
Date:9/19/05 7:00:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:asifalam@aopp.org
To:editor@aopp.org
Remarks by Jack Rosen
Saturday evening, September 17th, 2005
Marriott Marquis Hotel, New York City
Introducing President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan
Good evening.
This is an unprecedented evening, and we are delighted to welcome not
only our keynote speaker, but more than 60 Pakistani-American leaders
who have joined us. We demonstrate tonight, by example, something that
happens every day in hundreds of communities across the United States -
Muslims, Jews and Christians sharing a meal, talking about our desires
and dreams and even our differences.
President Pervez Musharraf's presence here tonight is the culmination
of two years of preparation. In the summer of 2003, President Musharraf
surprised many people in his own country and across the Muslim world
when he offered a new set of ideas - first in Washington, then at the
United Nations, at the Islamic Summit in Malaysia, and finally in
Pakistan. He told his most important audience, his own community, that the
extremist path to which some Muslims had turned to would bring nothing but
misery and degradation.
He said of the scourge of terror: "The unfortunate reality is that both
the perpetrators of these crimes and most of the people who suffer from
them are Muslims." Then he offered a vision of an alternative, which he
called "Enlightened Moderation." He proposed a new Islamic society
based on pluralism, openness, and tolerance, in order to reach what he
called "socioeconomic uplift - to drag ourselves out of the pit we find
ourselves in, to raise ourselves up by individual achievement and
collective socio-economic emancipation."
Just a few months prior to giving that speech, President Musharraf
broke new ground when he suggested that Pakistan might need to rethink its
refusal to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, although
official diplomatic ties could come only after an Israeli-Palestinian peace
deal.
These remarks came as the Moslem world was being rent by extremist
pressures, amidst cascading violence in the Middle East and dangerously
mounting anti-Semitism. Difficult to say at any time, President
Musharraf's words were all the more courageous coming at the moment they did.
The extremists in his own country and beyond were quick to recognize
the threat to them expressed in his message of hope. Within months,
terrorists in Pakistan made two major attempts on his life, and they very
nearly succeeded. We must ask ourselves: What if the terrorists had
succeeded? What if the vitally important country of Pakistan, with its huge
Muslim population, its nuclear arms, its many extremist factions and
its critical location in the region known as the arc of crisis, had
tumbled into chaos, or gone the way of Iran?
When you think about this, you can see why the terrorists believed it
so important to silence him.
President Pervez Musharraf's decision to be with us tonight is an act
of individual courage, leadership and vision.
Our process that brings him here also began two years ago, resulting
from informal talks we held with Pakistani officials and members of the
Pakistani-American community. This led to an invitation to visit
Pakistan and meet with President Musharraf. In May, I made a quiet trip to
Islamabad with the Vice Chairman of our Council on World Jewry, Mr. Phil
Baum, and with our very fine Director, David Twersky. Because we were
aware of politically sensitive issues involved, we first consulted with
senior officials in Washington and Jerusalem.
Several weeks ago, I spoke with President Bush about this initiative in
Crawford. President Bush said he saw this as an important opportunity
and understood the significance of this step by President Musharraf.
President Bush was enthusiastic about the opportunity.
Since its inception, the AJCongress-Council for World Jewry, working
with Jewish communities around the world, has sought to build bridges to
the Muslim world by pursuing contacts with authoritative, moderate
Muslim political and religious figures in America and around the world.
We approach this mission with sobriety and a hard headedness about the
Jewish cause, with a realism about current conflicts and impending
threats. But we are also driven by the compelling and urgent necessity to
reach out and engage leading individuals in the Muslim world who, by
meeting us at least halfway, can accelerate the process by which the
Muslim world finds its way into a healthy and productive relationship with
contemporary life.
Our dialogue with Muslims starts with an understanding that true
moderation begins with tolerance among peoples. Christians, Muslims, and Jews
come from a shared common heritage, and we are three branches of one
tradition and one set of core values.
We recognize the vital role that mass media and education - in both
public school systems as well as madrasses - plays in teaching and
advocating values of moderation, tolerance and understanding. We need to
ensure that tolerance is more accurately reflected in Muslim media and
education systems, including in Pakistan.
This must be the last generation educated to be hateful of Jews.
Demonization of the Jewish people is a scourge that offends people of all
racial and religious backgrounds. It is troubling that anti-Semitism has
reemerged in some quarters in Europe just 60 years after the Holocaust.
This is sparked by extremism. We all have an obligation to eradicate
anti-Semitism from all our societies.
This must be the last generation educated to be hateful of Israel. We
reject the Arab boycott against Israel and we support every effort of
diplomacy and dialogue in the quest for peace and security.
This must be the last generation educated to believe it is acceptable
to denigrate people of other cultures and religions. For our part, Jews
must work to prevent Islam from being attacked with impunity.
Unfortunately, many Muslims believe attacks against Islam are fomented by us.
There exists a conspiracy-theory mindset among many Muslims that seeks to
blame the Jews for the ills of the Muslim world. Jewish leaders must be
more active and visible to prevent attacks against Islam, and Muslims
leaders, in turn, must help dispel unfounded conspiracy theories.
And, finally, this must be the last generation educated to believe that
terrorism is a legitimate means to achieve political ends. Acts of
terror have no place in civilized societies and terrorists can never be
honored as freedom fighters or martyrs.
President Musharraf, you are an important voice in the Muslim world.
You can carry this message to places and people that I, that we, cannot.
President Musharraf's appearance with us tonight is a symbolic act of
his determination to take the struggle forward. But it is not an
isolated one. Following positive reaction in Pakistan to the announcement of
this meeting, he initiated other important steps toward Israel.
Two weeks ago, on September 1, his Foreign Minister, Khurshid Kasuri,
met openly with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom.
Pakistan is taking a stand, supporting the struggle of the Palestinian
people to have a state of their own, but at the same time, affirming
such a state will exist alongside of - and not seek to replace - the
Jewish state of Israel. It has said it will now "engage" Israel, a step
forward from Pakistan's previous policy. President Musharraf recently
praised Prime Minister Sharon as "courageous" for unilaterally disengaging
from Gaza. For its part, Israel has agreed to loosen trade restrictions
for imports of Pakistani products. On Wednesday, President Musharraf
shook hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - something that
would have been impossible even a year ago.
We are proud to be part of this historic drama. But tonight represents
only a beginning of what we hope is a long process of dialogue and
engagement. Organizations like ours have a continuing role to play, and we
invite all of you here tonight to to join with us. We would like to
explore with President Musharraf opportunities to bring together
Pakistani, American and Israeli citizens in a dialogue about our shared futures
through a program of on-going exchanges and visits. The more our people
interact with each other, the easier it will be for government leaders
to act.
Let me share with you some personal information about our special
guest. President Musharraf was born in Delhi in 1943. He spent his early
years in Turkey, where his father served in Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
Beginning his military career in 1964, he rose through the ranks as a
highly decorated soldier and officer, becoming head of the Armed Forces in
1998. The following year he assumed his country's political leadership.
He is married and has a son and a daughter.
He is a critical ally and partner of the United States in fighting
terrorism. Under his leadership, Pakistan's economy is growing, it is
reducing friction with its Indian neighbor, and his country is increasing
its presence on the international stage.
I must tell you many people expressed doubt that tonight would happen.
The gap is too wide; the differences are too stark, they said. I am
reminded of a famous passage from literature that describes the wide chasm
which separates western and eastern cultures:
Oh East is East and West is West and ne'er the twain shall meet.
So it stands, engraved in conventional wisdom, as if decreed by heaven.
But its author, Rudyard Kipling, who wrote as an Englishman in the
Indian subcontinent - the land that includes modern day Pakistan - did not
accept this insight as destiny. Instead, his poem continues:
But there is neither East nor West,
Border nor breed nor birth,
When two strong men stand face to face
Tho' they come from the ends of the earth.
These elegant words remind us that leadership and character are
indispensable to the progress of Man. Mr. President, we thank you for being
here with us tonight, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts on how
the cause of Enlightened Moderation will be carried forward.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my very great honor to introduce to you the
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Honorable Pervez
Musharraf.
=================================================
President Pervez Musharraf Address To The American Jewish Congress
(Full Text Of The President Address)
Honourable Mr. Jack Rosen,
Excellencies,
Distinguished Guests,
Let me start by expressing my personal and my Nation’s grief and condolences over the devastation, loss of lives and human suffering caused by Hurricane Katrina in the south eastern states specially New Orleans.
2. I thank Mr. Jack Rosen for inviting this distinguished gathering under the auspices of the American Jewish Congress. This is a unique occasion. It signifies an endeavour for mutual understanding in a time of uncertainty and fear. The unfortunate events of recent history have created division and tension between the followers of the three great monotheistic faiths --- Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Your invitation card described this event as a historic occasion. For a leader of Pakistan, it is indeed so, and I feel privileged to be speaking to so many members of what is probably the most distinguished and influential community in the United States. I also deeply appreciate that, in arranging this event, the American Jewish Congress has invited members of other prominent organizations and associations representing the spectrum of American society.
3. I always speak my mind candidly. And I always do so with total sincerity. This is what I will do this evening. There is no longer any time for ambivalence or leisurely diplomacy.
4. The world has entered an era where a number of threats - terrorism, political conflicts, proliferation, poverty – have assumed global and catastrophic dimensions. They have to be resolved urgently and with finality. They cannot be merely managed in the hope that they can be resolved later. We can no longer leave these wounds festering. They pose a great danger to the world at large and our future generations.
5. Our world today has been transformed, by the revolutions in communications and information technology, into a global village. People move, interact and affect each other. The good or bad in one region transcend geopolitical boundaries and have a global impact. The homily: “the common heritage of mankind” is now a visible reality. We are jointly responsible for the well-being, progress and prosperity of our peoples – indeed of mankind at large. Each people, nation, and religion must live with each other, accommodate each other, and do no harm to each other. Today, truly, we are our “brother’s keeper”. This is a heavy responsibility – given that our world has great wealth, but also grave poverty; great achievements, but also grave injustice; unprecedented capacity for progress and prosperity, but also the awesome capability to destroy our planet.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
6. The major monotheistic religions of the world – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – share a common heritage and converge on a multiplicity of universal values. Yet, today, our great religions – which should be a source of hope, tolerance and peace – are seen to be pitted against each other. How and why did this happen? Is it possible to reshape the future for the common benefit of humanity – for all of us? These are the questions I would like to address this evening.
7. On this occasion, it is relevant to recall that Jews and Muslims have more similarities and few divergences in their faith and culture. The oneness of God (which Muslims call Tauheed), is common to both Islam and Judaism. The Muslim greeting, Salam O Alaikum (peace be upon you), is akin to the Jewish greeting, Shalom, which also means peace. When I watched the last scene in the famous movie “Schindler’s List”, it concludes with a quotation from the Talmud: “Killing one innocent person is like the murder of humanity and saving one innocent person is like saving humanity”. The identical words appear in the Holy Quran.
8. According to the Holy Quran and our Holy Prophet, Jews and Christians are the “People of the Book”, belonging to the same spiritual tradition. Abraham, Moses and Jesus are among the most revered prophets of Islam. Moses is the prophet who is most frequently referred to in the Holy Quran. Our experiences and histories intertwine in many regions of the old world and most significantly in the Holy Land.
9. The history of interaction between the Islamic and Jewish communities is rich and long. This includes the shining examples of Jewish communities coexisting in harmony within Islamic societies in Cordova, Baghdad, Istanbul and Bokhara, contributing to a rich mosaic of culture and traditions. Many Jewish historians have referred to the days of Muslim Spain as the “golden period”, when Jewish communities flourished intellectually, politically and economically in an environment of religious tolerance and scholarly inspiration. The subsequent wrath of the Inquisition was suffered jointly by Muslims and Jews. Indeed, over the centuries, Jewish communities and Islamic societies from Central Asia to Spain, have not only lived together and shared prosperity, but also suffered together.
10. The past six decades are, therefore, an aberration in the long history of Muslim-Jewish cooperation and coexistence. Many learned studies have been written about the reasons for the hostility and violence that has occurred. I do not wish to dwell on this. Each of us has his own understanding and perception. But, it is relevant to recall that the gulf between the Muslim and Jewish communities arose in what was the bloodiest century in human history, marked by world wars, genocide and mass deportations, in which millions perished. It was in this bloody century that the Jewish people suffered their greatest tragedy – the Holocaust – whose commemoration will be on the agenda of this year’s session of the United Nations General Assembly. It was also in this brutal century that other peoples suffered their greatest tragedies – Palestinians, Kashmiris, Bosnians, Rwandese. We must not forget; but we must forgive. Suffering often engenders anger; but this must be soon replaced by compassion. And, we have witnessed such compassion from the Jewish community. It was Jewish groups in the US who were in the forefront in opposing the ethnic cleansing of Muslims in Bosnia. I am told that the largest contributor to the Bosnian cause was the Jewish-American businessman and philanthropist – George Soros. More recently, in the backlash against Muslims, including Pakistani immigrants, after 9/11, they received legal and other assistance from several Jewish groups. I wish to acknowledge and appreciate this.
11. These noble examples are a source of hope. Hope that we can convert this century into one which will see universal peace, progress and prosperity. This aspiration is achievable but only if we pursue reconciliation and cooperation.
12. There are a host of challenges we all face in common – political, social and environmental. One of the most pervasive threats we confront is international terrorism. The world today is in the grip of terror. Explosives, car bombs, suicide bombers have all added a new destructive dimension to terrorism. Terrorism threatens to destabilize all modern societies. It is anti-progress. It must be rejected. It cannot be condoned for any reason or cause.
13. The people of Pakistan have suffered from terrorism. We continue to suffer because of extremism in our region. We are making our contribution to the fight against terrorism. Our efforts have won international appreciation. Pakistan is participating in international action against international terrorism through police and military action, intelligence sharing and measures to curb terrorist financing.
14. But, I believe, we cannot limit ourselves to fire fighting and local actions against individuals and groups. We should also look for the deeper causes of this malaise and for the motivations that drive individuals to extreme irrational behaviour to commit acts of terrorism. The question that arises is: what pushes a human being to such extremes of desperation that he takes his own life to kill others? I have no doubt whatsoever that any attempt to shy away or ignore the root causes of terrorism is shutting ones eyes to reality and is a sure recipe for failure. Military action or use of force against the terrorists today is not, in itself, the ultimate solution to the malaise. It merely buys us time to implement profound policies to eliminate the phenomenon.
15. A parallel danger lies in fallacious theories and polemical campaigns motivated by prejudice. The postulated clash between civilizations, specifically between Islam and the West, has no basis in history. Civilizations have grown and prospered throughout history, influencing, interacting with and enriching each other. Regrettably, the theory has inspired attempts to turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. There are tendencies to associate Islam with terrorism and even suggestions that this great religion of tolerance, compassion and peace, somehow, denies espousal of these universal values. To my mind this is a hate campaign. In today’s dynamic world, we need, more than ever before, to foster understanding and harmony among societies. Should we tolerate such campaigns in our midst when we demand their rejection elsewhere? Therefore, I strongly support the endeavour to promote interfaith and inter-civilizational dialogue and harmony.
16. However, it is a fact that, today, most of those involved in terrorist acts, as well most of those who suffer the consequences of these acts, are Muslims. Obviously, there is a deep disturbance and malaise within Islamic societies, which has become specially acute in recent years. The reasons are plain to see. Since the end of the Cold War, almost every major festering problem and conflict affects and torments the Islamic world. Palestine has been at the heart of the troubles in the Middle East. In our region, Kashmir has been the source of tension and conflict. The unfortunate history of Afghanistan spawned extremism and terrorism. Turmoil in Iraq causes great concern in the Islamic world and the rest of the international community. These and other political issues, have given rise to a deep sense of anger, desperation and humiliation in the Arab and Muslim populations. It is this political and social environment which breeds terrorism and extremism.
17. At the same time, I do not shy away from pointing to the failure within the Islamic societies to embrace reform, progress and modernity. The Muslim world emerged from decades of colonization, politically, economically and socially stunted. Political independence did not always lead to good governance. Many of us have remained trapped in a time warp, still struggling to reconstruct our political, social and economic systems to respond to the challenges of our times. In Islamic societies, there is a divide between the outlook of the protagonists of modernity and the custodians of orthodoxy. The resultant economic deprivation and social backwardness are also the source of extremism. And extremism creates a fertile recruiting ground for terrorism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
18. If we are to succeed against terrorism and end extremism, we must, therefore, address the root causes. The leaders of today must change the course of events instead of merely reacting to a series of catastrophic events – such as 9/11 and 7/7.
19. First of all, I feel we need to clearly understand that terrorism and extremism are two different phenomena. Each requires a different strategy. Lumping terrorism and extremism together, or behaving as if they are synonymous, is a fallacy. Terrorism has to be met head on with all the force required to suppress and eradicate it. In the case of extremism, the battle has to be won in the hearts and minds of people. It cannot be achieved through the use of force. We must adopt separate short term and long-term strategies to address terrorism and extremism. Such immediate and long-term strategies have to be implemented at three tiers: the global level, the Muslim world level and the national level in the concerned countries.
20. In the immediate context, terrorism, as I said, has to be confronted with force all over the world. Intimate cooperation and coordination of intelligence and squeezing the underworld funding of terrorists and extremists organizations will facilitate counter terrorism operations to a large degree.
21. At the same time, to ensure success, it is essential, together with the use of force, to promote the resolution of the political disputes, which are exploited by terrorists to justify their criminal actions. Among these political disputes, may I be allowed to say clearly that the Palestinian and Kashmir disputes are ripe for resolution. One can draw satisfaction from the fact that visible signs of movement are appearing towards an end to both these disputes. We ought to put our collective weight behind a push for their final solution. Secondly, for the long term, the socio economic revival of the Muslim world, focusing particularly on education and poverty alleviation, will also erode the core of terrorism and extremism.
22. I have strongly advocated reform, social and economic progress and rejection of extremism in Islamic societies. In parallel, I have emphasized that the international community, particularly the West, must facilitate the resolution of outstanding problems, in particular the problem of Palestine. I have described this two-pronged approach as Enlightened Moderation. Regardless of the nomenclature, this dual approach responds to the realities of our historical and political circumstances, which cannot be wished away.
23. The strategy of Enlightened Moderation, at the global and Muslim world level, will also help to end extremism. Domestically, religious bigotry, hate campaigns and confrontational tendencies have to be curbed. This has to be done through bold, determined, well thought out and indigenously applicable strategies. The misuse of religion to spread militancy, hatred and violence has to be suppressed. An international discourse as well as national debate in affected societies, on religious harmony must be initiated. In the Muslim world, I feel we need to initiate a serious discourse to promote an understanding of the true Islam. We must then project its real essence to the world.
24. I would like to say with pride that today Pakistan is perhaps the only country which is actively confronting and addressing the issue of terrorism and extremism through well-considered and comprehensive separate strategies. The results are already visible on the ground. We are determined to persist with and sustain this effort until we gain complete ascendancy over the terrorist and extremist segments within our national fabric.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
25. I would be remiss if, while addressing the American Jewish Congress, I did not express my views on the Israeli-Palestinian problem. I do not have an iota of doubt that this lies at the heart of terrorism in the Middle East and beyond. In view of its global impact, it is incumbent on the international community - specially the West and the US – to ensure a peaceful resolution of the dispute. Both parties involved – the Israelis and the Palestinians - must shun confrontation and pursue peace and reconciliation.
26. Israel rightly desires security. This will remain incomplete until the creation of an independent and viable Palestinian state is assured. Israel must come to terms with geopolitical realities and allow justice to prevail for the Palestinians. The Palestinians’ desire for freedom and nationhood is as intense as that of any other people. They want their own independent state.
27. We see hope in recent events. We have welcomed the Israeli decision to pull out of Gaza. The peace process, as set out in the “Road Map”, must be pursued as agreed. We hope Israel will also soon withdraw from the West Bank. This will set the stage for the establishment of the independent state in Palestine. By respecting Palestinian aspirations, Israel will attain its legitimate desire for assured security. I am convinced that peace in Palestine, that does justice to both the Israelis and the Palestinians will bring to a close the sad chapter in the history of the Middle East. It will revive the historical ties between Islam and Judaism. It will extinguish the anger and frustration that motivates resort to violence and extremism. What better signal for peace could there be than the opening of Embassies in Israel by Islamic countries like Pakistan?
28. There will remain the difficult “final status” issues to be resolved. None is more sensitive than the fate of the Holy City of Jerusalem (which we call Al-Quds al-Sharif). It is a city that is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims. It was the first Qibla of Islam. The first edict of Caliph Omar when he entered Jerusalem, over fourteen centuries ago, was to annul the five hundred years of exile of the Jewish people. He invited them to return and build their homes in the Holy City. For durable peace and harmony between Israelis and Palestinians – indeed between Israel and the Muslim world – it is such a gesture of reconciliation and realism that is required of Israel. Any final settlement should respect the international character of Jerusalem as well as international law and the resolutions of the Security Council.
29. I have always believed that the courage required to compromise and reconcile is far greater than that required to confront. I appeal to Israel to show that courage. I appeal to the American Jewish Congress, and the entire Jewish Community, to use their considerable influence to put an end to the Palestinian dispute once and for all and to usher in a period of peace and tranquility in the Middle East and perhaps the whole world. Failure is no longer an option.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
30. Let me conclude with a word about the prospects of Pakistan’s relations with Israel. Pakistan has no direct conflict or dispute with Israel. We pose no threat to Israel’s security. We trust that Israel poses no threat to Pakistan’s national security. But, our people have a deep sense of sympathy for the Palestinian people and their legitimate aspirations for statehood. In response to the bold step taken by Prime Minister Sharon to withdraw from the Gaza, Pakistan decided to initiate an official contact with Israel. Our Foreign Ministers met in Istanbul through the good offices of our Turkish friends. As the peace process progresses towards the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, we will take further steps towards normalization and cooperation, looking to full diplomatic relations.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
31. We can remain mired in old prejudices and keep the world hostage to the politics of perennially defining and redefining the enemy, or we can move forward with courage and reach out to work for the rebirth of history and a new future of peace, harmony, mutual respect, dignity and shared prosperity. We can lose this opportunity to narrow vision and a failure to see humanity in each other. The responsibility to make the right choice is in our hands. May God guide us all to make the right choice.
COMING TO TERMS WITH THE ROOTS OF AMERICA
COMING TO TERMS WITH THE ROOTS OF AMERICA
Feel free to place your response on Moin's blog.........http://greenviewsusa.blogspot.com/
America is great, not because of Cruise Missiles, but because of the greatest library system in the history of mankind, the Library of Congress and its tributaries. The USA is powerful not because of our 15 well armed and well trained divisions of soldiers, but because of the millions of books available in bookstores all over our land.
Our defences are impregrnable not because of NRA guns, but because we are literate and have the ability to discern right from wrong. Traditionally we have had the moral authority, becuase we have defended the right cuases. Fantasies based on the origins of the country are folklore of almost every nation. What befuddles most intellectuals is that the most powerful nation on earth with access to the best research on the planet and, still worship some of the made up "fairy tales" as if they were the incarnation of God, and the ideas have been delivered to humanity from some divine parchment.
Serious criticism of the constitution and it faults have been pushed under the rug. The elimination of the Native Americans, the disenfranchisement of women, the subjugation of slaves and other serious issues are overshadowed by the Lewis and Clark expedition and the Lousiana purchase. Minority cultures and contirbutions are latent. Black contributions and Chinese labor is still not recognized as valuable to this land. There is almost no discussion of the fact that our constitution and our republic is and synthesis of diverse cultures--Christian, Jewish, Islamic, "Native American" and others.
Over the past 25 years, I have been amazed at the lack of critical discourse about the founding fathers, and our history.
As Lawrence Gladstone eloquently discuss the constitution, she only discusses the racial aspect of our shortcomings. It is a fact that our Senate and our Congress were loosely based on the "Indian Confederation" which gave equal rights to each tribe. A through discussion of the formation of our values, our bill or rights and our constitution can be found in the writings of John Locke, Ibn Haytam, Ibn Tufail, and the Magna Carta which after all was derived from the Shairiah Laws in vogue in Muslim Spain. Where else would people have the insight to have a head of state that was removable? As John Maksudi eloquently describes it, British common Law is based on The Judeo-Christian-Islamic jurisprudence that has it's origins in the Halakah and the Shariah.
Inclusiveness is part of our strength. We must include the demonized communities into our Stars and Stripes, and we must include the disenfranchised and the poor into our sweet land of liberty. While facing the challenges of 911 we fell into the trap of listening to bigots and those who had an agenda against certain peoples. It is amazing that the 911 commission did not include one Muslim in its authorship! If the report is flawed, or we were unable to hear the chorus of voices around the world, in the error of our ways in Iraq, all we needed to do was to raise the decibel level of some of our best citizens on the planet. All the 911 commission had to do was to open a few pages from the writings of a Muslim American--an American that has been an ambassador and an advisor to President Nixon
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://web.mit.edu/mitmsa/www/NewSite/libstuff/Crane/crane.gif&imgrefurl=http://web.mit.edu/mitmsa/www/NewSite/libstuff/Crane/cover.htm&h=145&w=150&sz=14&tbnid=w_0scQRCMlsJ:&tbnh=87&tbnw=90&hl=en&start=6&prev=/images
As Benjamin Franklin said, "we can all hang together or we can hang separately." Until and unless America can begin to understand the true origins of our constitution and until and unless we stop doling out fairy tales to our population about our constitutional beginnings, we will be unable to gain our true potential.
The White Washing of American History
by Lawrence Goldstone
Conventionalwisdom in publishing these days holds that, in order to be commercial,any book on the founding of the United States has to be "a story oftriumph," an 18th century "Seabiscuit." Muddying the picture bysuggesting, for example, that slavery had a lot more to do with theforging of the Constitution than is generally assumed creates a storyof failure. Failure does not sell. Americans certainly have been treated to a number of rosy portrayals ofthe framers in recent years, although they follow two distinct andoften opposing streams. First and most obvious is what academicsdismissively refer to — generally in a sentence with "McCullough" in it— as popular history. Popularizing, it is said, stresses portraitureinstead of analysis and presents a superficial, distorted, uncriticaland usually Pollyannaish view of forces and events. But the secondtype, in which academic historians tend to overpower human history withtheory and detail, yields distortions of its own and leads to adifferent and perhaps more insidious sort of superficiality. Insome of the most intellectually penetrating contemporary studies of themaking of the Constitution, for example, even preeminent scholars suchas Jack Rakove and Bernard Bailyn have chosen to focus on the clash ofpolitical ideologies rather than compromises spurred by base economicself-interest. Although their analyses are often superb, by ignoringpractical realities and human frailty, the United States can appear tobe a nation of citizen-philosophers standing around village greens intricorn hats discussing John Locke, as much a caricature as updatingParson Weems. Sanitizing American history in this fashion inevitably de-emphasizesdisagreeable topics, especially the most disagreeable of all, slavery.Although a number of contemporary works have cast a fresh eye onWashington's or Jefferson's attitudes and opinions with respect toslaves, most historians still seem unwilling to face the overwhelminginfluence that slavery exerted, both directly and indirectly, on ourmost sacred national institutions. Dealing with slavery merely as partof an overall theoretic analysis distances the people from theinstitution, consigning slavery to the periphery, an anachronisticquirk. Butslavery was no quirk, nor was it simply a peculiarity of the times,accommodated by the North for the sake of union. It was rather one ofthe fundamental determinants of American life. For the rice growers ofSouth Carolina and the tobacco planters of Virginia, slavery shapedtheir politics, their economies and, most important, their view ofthemselves, while in the North, the institution provided immense profitopportunities that shippers and merchants exploited ceaselessly. Nordid slavery exist in shadow. Slavery was as unpleasant and repugnant atopic in 1787, as much a stain on American honor, as it is inretrospect today. Inthe debates in the Constitutional Convention, more than one Northernerlamented the conditions under which "wretched Africans" lived and died,but they chose to suppress their distaste for tactical advantage. WhenGouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania and Rufus King of Massachusettsdelivered long, lacerating speeches denouncing slavery, begging theirfellow delegates not to encourage perpetuation of the slave trade byincluding three-fifths of the slaves in apportionment calculations,their Northern colleagues overwhelmingly voted them down.Certainly it is more comfortable to read accounts that deify theframers, but deification is dangerous, particularly now. Our nation iscurrently engaged in an unabashed campaign to instruct people aroundthe world on how to live. We sent the citizens of Iraq off to write aconstitution, and then tried to tell them what it should say. If we aregoing to dictate to others what their constitutional process should be,then we should be willing to look a little more honestly at our own. Thisreappraisal ought not be confined to government or academia but shouldinclude the ultimate rulers of the United States — average citizens. Ifwe as a nation fail to appreciate the torturous and tortuous process offorming a Constitution, we will continually blunder when trying todemand that other countries do it our way. TheAmericans who drafted the Constitution were fully formed human beings,with aims both petty and grandiose. They could be alternatelysophisticated or naive, manipulative or gullible. The legacy theybequeathed us was one of struggle against their own prejudices,self-interest, greed and shortsightedness in pursuit of freedom andself-rule. Ultimately, through war, rancor and bitterness, and in whatwould certainly have been a surprise to many of those very framers,their highest visions were realized. That is triumph enough for me. Lawrence Goldstone is the author, most recently, of "Dark Bargain: Slavery, Profits and the Struggle for the Constitution" (Walker, October 2005).© Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times
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Moin Ansari
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973-568-9330 home
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