Aphorism: Principles

Life abhors first principles.

Sadanand Dhume can be my wingman any time

All right, may be I am being over enthusiastic, if that be the case pardon me, because he is one of those rarest of rare public intellectual who knows and writes what is wrong with the Pakistan. Now you can read the article yourself, but it can be summarized as following.

Even among those who recognize that Pakistan is in general pain in nether regions, the blame of the unpleasant situation is placed squarely upon Zia-Ul-Haq. Now this is true to a certain extent, he was, without doubt, a fanatic. But to say that Pakistan began its long slide towards frenzy of fanaticism during his regime, is a wholly mistaken notion. Pakistan has proceeded on its journey irrespective of the religious zeal of its ruler. Indeed it was a socialist and moderate Muslim Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who declared Ahmadayya sect unIslamic , it was much before Zia that Pakistani leadership attempted to wrestle Kashmir by fanning flames of fanaticism (which ultimately almost succeeded two decades later as a fallout of rise of Mujahideens).

Nor this ended with Zia. Post Zia, terrorism has been state policy of Pakistan, irrespective of the leader at helm, this includes now departed Benazir Bhutto, moderate daughter of a moderate father.

Therefore problem is not Zia, it is Pakistan. The raison d'etre for Pakistan was the view of leadership, both political as well as religious, of Indian Muslims that Islam is fundamentally irreconcilable with Indic tradition.

The self destructive behavior that Pakistan has indulged in since its founding is nothing but an attempt to purge itself of impurity.

This is the summary of Dhume's article. However while he correctly diagnosis the pathology which plagues Pakistan, his prescription is incorrect. Dhume recommends replacing cultural DNA of Pakistan. However that is impossible because you can not change DNA without changing the beast. If Islam were to be replaced as Pakistan's foundation, there will be nothing to distinguish Pakistan from India, and in due course Pakistan will be re-assimilated within India. The Pakistani leadership realizes this and hence its constant attempt to destroy India.

Ok Now What ?

We are on our way to wrap up lost. The problem for us is we don't know what to watch next. Any ideas ?

Of Love Jihad And Demographics

I have been meaning to comment on what Frog ji wrote earlier. What are my views on “Love Jihad”? The usual caveats apply, I have no data regarding this, what follows is based on hunch and in presence of data this may not longer be true.

 

Even if we concede (and it is a big if because it is not that clear) that some Muslim men are marrying Hindu women in order to convert them, the numbers involved are going to be so minuscule as to be of no relevance. What this issue is about feelings. For many Hindu Fascist conversion of Hindu women evokes the same emotions as the specter of enemy tribes raiding and carrying off women of your tribe. I have to confess, I get bothered about this in my moments of funk. All said and done, however, it is not a matter of concern and in a way similar to worrying about minarets.

 

Having said that far more important is the issue of demographics. Now allow to me reclaim my Hindu Fascist cred here, I don’t wish to live in a Muslim majority nation, nor do, if I happen to have any descendants, wish for them to live in a Muslim majority nation, nor for India to return to fold of Ummah in future. Having said that I do find concern about demographics overwrought, and I say as someone who himself fretted over this. My personal experience suggests that Muslims both of middle class as well as of lower class have concerns similar to others, i.e. prosperity. Sure on average Muslims are more religious than Hindus, but demographics is not their major concern, having said that, the real problem is ghettoization of Muslims, physical as well as mental of both the classes, which isolate those inside from the wider social dynamics.

 

I think if people are serious about cultural nationalism, they should instead focus on breaking the chains which shackle the Hindu conscious.

 

Programming Of Politics

Many liberals (and conservatives such as Sam Tanenhaus) who bemoan the epistemic closure of conservative mind consider proper role of conservatism in politics as a check on excesses of liberalism.

 

To use programming parlance liberalism represents the normal flow of politics, with conservatism as the handler for exceptional conditions.

 

My view is that the ideal politics is reverse of this. It is conservatism which should be the norm and liberalism should exist to renovate what is obsolete and defective.

Exhibition Wrestling

Of course now it has been superseded by more urgent matter of IPL but when for few days in the immediate aftermath of Dantewada massacre Maoist menace was on the front pages, one of the prevailing talking points was Chidambaram as a hard liner on Maoist groups. To me this has all the optics of exhibition wrestling (or Noora Kushti as it is called in Hindi). Chidambaram has been Home Minister for quite some time, yet except for tough talk I am not sure he is done anything of note. What makes it especially galling is that he has been proclaimed as the best home minister ever by the dynasty retainers in the media. All that he has done to tackle insurgency is to propose creation of new bureaucracy with no concrete proposals for its power and coordination with various agencies. Further he continues to state that Maoism is state’s problem (as does many in the media), when it is clear states have been unsuccessful in tackling insurgency. Given all this one can not be faulted for concluding that all this is for public consumption with no intention for follow through as larger and larger swathes of India are lost to Maoists.

Aphorism: Civilization

Civilization is conspiracy of Beta against Alpha and Omega.