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New
Delhi, 31
March
2004
On
the anniversary of the Iraq invasion our thoughts turn to turmoil in
the world and the writings of Fredrick Nitzsche, the German
philosopher who said emphatically years ago that as long as human
nature does not change the times will pass from one turmoil to
another. He was clear that despite more and more schools of divinity
springing up, human nature was constant in that the venom of hate,
greed and distrust will never go away or overcome love and
compassion especially among Leaders who hanker for power. He lived
in Hitler’s Germany and so had a lot to study and glean from. This
philosophy is now confirmed in the larger picture of the world as
one travels along Iraq, Kashmir, India’s North East, Israel, the
Middle East, 9/11 and more recently Madrid. The same philosophy now
seems evident in the Indian political scene as we go into elections.
Our
colleague has just returned from a five-day programme of
spirituality and meditation at the most modern and well managed Brahmakumari Ashram
in the hills of Mount Abu in Central India (hence the philosophical
mood!).
Thirty
leading Americans, Australians and Brazilians of diverse ages who
were close friends met to celebrate the 60th birthday of
an Australian Brahmakumari in the unusual manner of vegetarianism,
celibacy, meditation and discourses. The method of Raja Yoga to
connect with God or the Supreme Being is taught to bring solace to
the mind. The Brahmakumari system has a following of over 700,000
all over the world and was started by a rich Sindhi merchant in
Hyderabad (Sindh) and Karachi in 1936 and was shifted to Mount Abu
in 1961. It has flourished since and runs global centers and a very
modern hospital at Mount Abu. The Indian Army despite criticism
sends soldiers there for short courses.
Whether
it is Nazism, Communism, Capitalism, Hindutva, Islam or any
other ism that the world may coin “some ism“ will always keep us
busy from achieving Utopianism. Since 9/11 the scourge of terrorism
has hit the Western World –– a phenomenon that the Eastern world
and Israel had been suffering for long. The West may cloak the
reasons in polite terms, but we believe that it is the ‘Clash of
Religions’ and the ‘Disparity of Wealth’, between the West and
the downtrodden nations of the East that has exacerbated the
problem.
One
year after Iraq was invaded and Afghanistan intruded by USA and its
rich partners, the game of the West led by USA is the quest for oil
and oil wealth, the same wealth that made Muslim nations like Saudi
Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Brunei and such so rich. We post a piece by
Robert Frisk to show how a religious leader of Hamas like Sheikh
Yassin propagated killings and was himself assassinated by Israelis
to cause more hatred.
India
is seeking the help of Israel in Defence and security matters. Now
we learn from the media that the CISF Chief KM Singh and the Airport
Security Chief T K Mitra are in Israel to learn how to combat
terrorism!
The
Killing Of Sheikh Yassin
Chilling Implications Of This State Killing
By Robert Fisk
March 23, 2004
It
doesn't take an awful lot of courage to murder a paraplegic in a
wheelchair. But it takes only a few moments to absorb the
implications of the assassination of Sheikh Yassin. Yes, he endorsed
suicide bombings –– including the murder of Israeli children.
Yes, if you live by the sword, you die by the sword, in a wheelchair
or not. But something went wrong with the narrative of the news
story yesterday –– and something infinitely more dangerous
–– another sinister precedent was set for our brave new world.
Take
the old man himself. From the start, the Israeli line was simple.
Sheikh Yassin was the "head of the snake" –– to use
the words of the Israeli ambassador to London –– the head of
Hamas, "one of the world's most dangerous terrorist
organisations". But then came obfuscation from the world's
media. Yassin, the BBC World Service Television told us at
lunchtime, was originally freed by the Israelis in a "prisoner
exchange". It sounded like one of those familiar swaps –– a
Palestinian released in exchange for captured Israeli soldiers. And
then, later in the day, the BBC told us that he had been freed
"following a deal brokered by King Hussain (of Jordan)".
Which was all very strange. He was a prisoner of the Israelis. This
"head of the snake" was in an Israeli prison. And then,
bingo, this supposed monster was let go because of a
"deal". Sheikh Yassin was set free by no less than that
law-and-order right-wing Likudist Benjamin Netanyahu when he was
Prime Minister of Israel. King Hussain wasn't a "broker"
between two sides. Two
Israeli Mossad secret agents had tried to murder a Hamas official in
Amman, the capital of an Arab nation which had a full peace
agreement with Israel. They had injected the Hamas man with poison
and the late King Hussain called the US President in fury and
threatened to put the captured Mossad men on trial if he wasn't
given the antidote to the poison and if Yassin wasn't
released.
Netanyahu
immediately gave in. Yassin was freed and the Mossad lads went
safely home to Israel. So the "head of the snake" was let
loose by Israel itself, courtesy of the Israeli Prime Minister
–– a chapter in the narrative of history which was conveniently
forgotten yesterday. Which is all very odd. For if the elderly
cleric really was worthy of state murder, why did Mr Netanyahu let
him go in the first place? It was not a question that anyone wanted
to ask yesterday.
But
there was something infinitely more dangerous in all this. Yet
another Arab –– another leader, however vengeful and ruthless
–– had been assassinated. The Americans want to kill Osama Bin
Laden. They want to kill Mullah Omar. They killed Saddam's two sons.
The Israelis repeatedly threaten to murder Yasser Arafat. It's
getting to be a habit.
No
one has begun to work out the implications of all this. For years,
there was an unwritten rule in the cruel war of government versus
guerrilla. You can kill the men on the street, the bomb makers and
the gunmen. But the leadership on both sides –– government
ministers, spiritual leaders –– were allowed to survive.
Now
all is changed utterly. Anyone who advocates violence is now on a
death list. So who can be surprised if the other side also breaks
the rules?
With
all their own security, Bush and Blair may be safe, but what about
their ambassadors and fellow ministers? Leaders are fair game. We
will not say this. If, or when, our own political leaders are gunned
down or blown up, we shall vilify the killers and argue a new stage
in "terrorism" has
been reached. We shall forget that we are now encouraging this
all-out assassination spree.
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