Invitation to the Terrorists

Yesterday I posted (here) my observations of the lip service security checks carried out at the Bangalore soft spots. And today I see something more stupid.
Apparently, there will be tougher screening of US bound passengers from some 14 countries (see here).
My observation: Can't this be done without giving any publicity? This is like telling the thieves, please use other doors, this door is securely shut.
Mr. Terrorist, please do not board planes from Pakistan or the 13 other countries in the list. Try a different route.
What rubbish!

Kapil Dev da jawab nahi!

Among all the reactions I saw on TV last night on the Lahore day light terror attack, the one by Kapil Dev made sense the most. He talks the way he used to play. Neat and from the guts.

We should help Pakistan to become a peaceful country, but we can help them only if they want to help themselves.

These are not his exact words, but you get the idea.

It was obviously a recorded interview, spliced in between live news. You could see the interview excerpts rolling past even before Kapil actually spoke. The text "Kapil still wants to play in Pakistan" irritated me no end. That's not what he was saying. He said something to this effect:

If the Government of India asks me to play I will play in Pakistan. If the government says don't play, I will not. The politicians should take wise decisions. We are like soldiers in uniform. Once we wear Indian colours we do what is told to us.

Or something similar. TRP ratings. It does strange things to people.

Obama sending out the right signals

Obama is making all the right moves. So far ...

If what Guardian says is correct and Obama is actually in the process of drafting a letter to open up direct contact with Iran, he is sending out two important signals:


a) A majority of terrorists are Muslims, but all Muslims are not terrorists.
and
b) The world needs all help to neutralize terrorism.

Pakistan and Afghanistan is the hub of most terror attacks now (and by many accounts, of all future ones too). Iran provides a good access route to Afghanistan. Though I do not believe that Iran will open up access routes into Afghanistan the way Pakistan did, a friendly Iran is better than an hostile one.

My other posts on terrorism:

http://churn-news.blogspot.com/2008/11/real-terrorists.html

http://churn-news.blogspot.com/2008/11/countering-terrorism-simple-solution.html

The Definition of India

Ever since the Mumbai terror attacks, I have been scanning the newspapers and surfing the Internet and TV channels to watch out for one single news. And dreading it.

Fortunately. Not one. Not one incidence of hate crime.

Post-9/11 there were incidents of hate crimes all over America.

But in India post 26/11 there is not one.

Obviously we have learnt from our mistakes in the past. There was a surge of hate crimes all over India after Indira Gandhi's assassination (which were politically motivated, of course).

But this time there were no such thing.

That, my dear friends, is India.

A Joke, Convincing Proof and Pakistan

A man once took out an advertisement in a leading newspaper in which he offered a huge sum of money if anyone can convince him that 2 + 2 = 4. His friends were stunned. What is wrong with him? When told that it can be easily proved, he smiled and said, "You can prove it. Yes. But can you convince me?"

This was one of the silly jokes that I heard when I was a kid. Turns out that it is not that silly after all.

India, America, Britain, Russia (at least 4 countries when I counted last) and people within Pakistan (Kasab's father, Nawaz Sharif) have been pouring evidence that the Mumbai attack was launched from Pakistan's soil. And what does Pakistan day, "Yeah! You can prove it. But you cannot convince me!"

And to deflect the whole situation, there is huge cry of war. Fighter planes are displaying their antics over all major cities in Pakistan. This is a country which was on its knees a few weeks ago with a begging bowl for an IMF assisted bailout. The IMF needs to do an audit to check what is happening to the aid amount. Perhaps, it is being burnt as aviation fuel in the silly aircraft exercise.

Now, this is my prediction:

If this continues, Pakistan will meet the same fate as Iraq. There will come a day when all other countries will get fed up with the terror attacks from Pakistan and hit back hard at the root.

The tragedy: the ordinary people of Pakistan who can't be bothered less will be affected. Iraq's tragedy was avoidable, Pakistan's will not be.

Note: The picture used here belongs to Laura. To see more pictures by her, please visit her gallery.

Predictions For 31st December 2009

You may call this wishful thinking.
I call it prediction.

By 31st December 2009 ... Yes 31st December 2009 (not 2008)

1) The economic crisis turned out to be a damp squib. It recovered faster than what was predicted by the pundits. It was predicted that the recession will last the whole of 2009 and then some more. By the mid-2009 the things turned around. Economists are now predicting another 4 years of prosperity. So I guess we should look forward to a disaster soon!

2) There are indications that the environmentalists were wrong after all. Turned out that there is no conclusive evidence of a global warming. Looks like this is earth's natural cycle. Besides, scientists have discovered that the trees - with all the excess carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere - have actually grown taller and bigger. As a result, the excess CO2 has been neutralised by the oxygen produced by these trees. Man must therefore take care not to destroy trees. Governments all over the world have hailed this discovery and have promised to dedicate at least 30# of their country's land to maintain forests.

3) Pakistan's latest flirtation with democracy has ended. Midway through 2009, Nawaz Sharif was made the president. He was successful in reining in ISI to a large extent and most of the terrorist camps in Pakistan were being dismantled. However, the Army has now overthrown the civilian government in a coup. Obama and other world leaders have severely criticized the Pakistan Army. The Indian Army has increased its presence on the border.

4) India has been nominated as one of the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

5) UK has abolished Pound Sterling as its currency and has adopted the Euro. The integration of European Union is now complete.

6) Nadal becomes the first man since Rod Laver to win the Tennis Grand Slam.

I think that much is sufficient. I will revisit this post on 31st December, 2009 to see how much off I am.

7) I almost forgot ... I will get 25,000 visitors a day to my blog. Ok! Ok! This is not a prediction. This is just a dream ;)

If you wish to add your prediction, please leave a comment. I promise to send you a mail on 31st December 2009, if you leave an e-mail. Thanks.

Note: The picture used here belongs to 'CJLUC'. To see more such pictures visit his/her gallery.

Terror Manufactured In Pakistan

In the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan is a small town called Darra Adam Khel.

This place is famous for manufacturing fire arms. I am sure this place supplies arms to the terrorists. This place needs to be shut down.

I have extracted this from the best seller Himalaya by Michael Palin (He is English and I do not think is related to Sarah Palin; but I could be wrong). This was written in year 2004.

"Darra High Street, described by Geoffrey Moorhouse as 'the noisiest street in the world', runs for almost a mile and is filled with the roar of horn-blaring, gear-changing trucks punctuated by the cackle of gun-fire. You never quite know where the shots are coming from. As I cross the street a preoccupied figure in white robe pops out of a shop behind me, raises an AK-47, blasts a few rounds into the air, shakes his head and disappears inside again to make adjustments. Seeking relief from the din, I walk into a small arcade running at right angles off the main street. It is, to all intents and purposes, an arms mall, consisting of everything from workshops to carpeted rooms where you can select the weapon of your choice while taking tea with the management. In one establishment an earnest, bespectacled young man sits cross-legged, fashioning a trigger for a mini-Kalashnikov using pliers and a small hammer. Next door to him an older, bearded man scrutinizes a freshly made Mauser like a scholar bent over sacred texts. The equipment may be low-tech but the standard of plagiarism is extremely high. Originally confined to making copies of the British Army's great standby, the Lee Enfield .303, Darra's retailers now offer brand-name pump-action rifles, revolvers, automatics and quite probably rocket-launchers. One man proudly shows me a James Bong pen that can fire real bullets (he proves this to me by stepping out into the street and loosing it off.)"

Can't this be shut down? I mean what kind of country is this where weapons are manufactured and sold openly.

Evidence or no evidence, fire arms can be used for only one purpose - killing people. I am sure the Pakistan Army does not buy their arms from Darra Adam Khel!

So, who are the customers? Do I need to spell that out too?

Note: The picture used here belongs to Renxx Gmdr. To see more of pictures visit his gallery.

His Name Is Tukaram Ombele

First I would like to thank all those who commented and send me e-mails for the list of martyrs I published here.
If you notice I have listed the names in alphabetical order. That was deliberate as they all went down saving lives. Ranks don't matter here - in death foot soldiers and officers are the same.

As I drew up the list I just could not get Assistant Sub Inspector, Ombele's first name. That irked me a lot. I finally got the name in today's Times Of India (but not their web page at the time of this posting). Turns out that he was the bravest of them all. The sole terrorist who got arrested is courtesy Tukaram Ombele. He hung on to the terrorist's AK47 even after taking the bullets. That provided enough time for the other policemen to nab the terrorist.

But did you get to see the state funeral of Tukaram or any of the 14 martyrs on the TV. Except the officers, of course? A shame that. I have nothing against the officers but every one of those who died took the bullets in their chest, not in their back. All went beyond the call of duty and yet the TV news channel focused on a few state funerals. I don't even know if the others got a state funeral. If that is not evidence of a TRP-hungry clan, then what is?

Note: The picture used here belongs to Ilker. To see more such pictures please visit the gallery.

Lessons From Hotels In Belfast

About 6 years ago, I had an occassion to visit Belfast. We were staying at a hotel not very far from Hotel Europa. We were told during our stay that the hotel was target of many a terrorist strike.

What amused us most was we had to press a calling bell to gain entry into our hotel. The receptionist would pop up from within, take a good look at us and then press a button releasing the lock to let us in.

The situation at work was no different. Even during normal hours the front door of the offices were all shut. The same press-the-calling-bell routine had to be repeated there too.

We used to find this quite funny then. And at times frustrating when the door would not promptly open. The IRA threat had more or less been nuetralised by then. Why are the people so paranoid? We use to wonder.

I can now put my amusement down to my insensitivity to the plight of the Belfast citizens. Today that comes back to haunt me. It is time similar security measures are applied to our hotels.

Our hotels work on the ancient principle of "Atithi Devo Bhava" (Guest is God). Time to tone down the hospitality a bit. Be polite but be vigilant. I am sure no one will mind.

Countering Terrorism - Simple Solution

Not surprisingly the solution to countering terrorism lies with the the ordinary citizens. The Army, the NSG, The Marine, The Police are what we could be termed as corrective measures. They are the cure. The prevention lies with us and in this simple question:

How well do you know your neighbours?

When a new neighbour moves in do you go and meet them? How many times have you invited them for a cup of tea? Have they responded likewise? Do you know your neighbours by name? Those bunch of college students who have recently moved in, are they the normal boisterous kind or do they keep to themselves? Has your neighbour suddenly turned the quiet type?

You see, before a strike, the terrorists will need to recce the area. Invariably, one a group of them will move into a neighbourhood and stay there for at least a month if not more. So, the solution lies there. Deny these terrorists a platform to launch their mission.

It is not possible for the police or the security forces to keep an eye on every one of us. We need to help ourselves. Neighbourhood watch is an excellent way of countering terrorism.

Note: The photo used here belongs to Laura Shreck. To see more of her photographs visit her gallery.

Mumbai Martyrs - We Salute You

Those who died in their line of duty saving lives of others. I salute you. Your death will not go in vain.

Ambados Pawar, Constable
Ashok Kamte, Deputy Inspector General
Chander, Commando, NSG*
Dudgude, Sub Inspector
Gajendra Singh Bisht, Hawaldar, NSG
Jaywant Patil, Constable
Hemant Karkare, Inspector General of Police
M.C. Chaudhary, Constable
Nanasaheb Bhonsle, Assistant Sub Inspector
Ombele, Assistant Sub Inspector
Prakash More, Sub Inspector
Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Major, NSG
Sushant Shinde, Police Inspector
Vijay Khandekar, Constable
Vijay Salaskar, Police Inspector
Yogesh Patil, Constable

* Commando Chander's death during the operation was indicated in the news on Friday, but I cannot find any more reference thereafter. The newspapers and news channels talk about 2 NSG deaths. Could someone please confirm my list. It has 3 NSG commandos.

Note: The photo used belongs to Michal Zacharzewski. To see his pictures go to his gallery here.

Next Terror Strike - Is Bangalore Ready?

The terrorists have managed to do what they set out to do. Spread terror AND grab world attention. Their strategy has changed. No longer will they hit public places only. You grab world attention by hitting the elite. Like they did in Mumbai.

So what is next? It does not take a genius to predict that there will be copy cat terror strikes. And Bangalore could be the next target. Just as Mumbai is the financial capital of India, Bangalore/Bengaluru is the IT hub. Imagine the impact on India's image in the world if Vidhan Souda, Infosys, Wipro, Leela Palace, Taj, etc., are hit. And what publicity? This is exactly what a terrorist organisation seeks. See here.

I am not sure how well coordinated the terror organisations are. A copy cat strike could be initiated in a haste. If so that will be quickly countered. Or they would wait till it settles down and then hit. In either case we need to be vigilant. As I drove down from my office to home last night I could not see a single police person on the street - unless they are well hidden. Not a single barricade at the entry points to Bangalore (in the past I have seen a kind of traffic blockade near where I live; I could not see that last evening.) I am not sure if Bangalore is prepared. We could also see such copy cat strikes at all other state capitals. Are they ready?

So this is my plan ...
As soon as I complete writing this blog, I am going to send e-mails to the newspapers, chief minister (I think there is a public domain e-mail somewhere) and whoever I can find. Bangalore needs to get ready. And this cannot be a few months of vigilance. It will be for ever. If this is the price we have to pay for prosperity then so be it.

I request all those who read my blog. If you have the clout, please send it to the concerned authorities. If you do no, then forward this message or link to everybody you know. Let us play our part in defending India and saving innocent lives.

Someone asked me what we can do to counter the terrorists. It took me the whole of last night to come up with this answer: we can out think them.

When Terror Tamasha Replaces Cricket on TV

The whole tamasha of showing terror live, the importance given to a handful of terrorists and morose faces on the TV speaking of tragedy is nauseating me. There are panels discussing terrorists and India's response. High ranking officers giving interviews as to what is being done. This is as if in absence of live cricket telecast, the TRP hungry channels have found a new live show.

Yes terrorists have struck us. 100+ people have died. It is tragic. And yes our brave forces are fighting them. That is all to it. A simple "operations are going on ... you will be told when it is over" is sufficient.

We Indians - including me - love tamasha. Life comes to a standstill when India plays cricket. So, it is with these terror attacks. Too much importance is being given. That's what makes us so vulnerable. Let us accept the fact that there will be more such attacks. We need to adopt a touch stance. No negotiations. No compromise. Collateral damages are unfortunate. If there are terror attacks of this type, just blast them away. People will die. It could be me. My family. My kids. But that is the cost of war. And make no mistake, this is war. I go by what Caesar was supposed to have said, "Cowards die many times before their death. The Brave die but once." I see (ab)normal traffic outside my window in Bangalore, as I type this. A few weeks ago there were serial blasts. Do you think the Bangaloreans think about the next blast when they step out of their homes? Nah!

Let's face it. Why do terrorists hit vulnerable targets? To spread terror (duh!) and bring attention to their cause. Our over reaction by giving so much importance every such tragedy only goes to feed these terrorists.

And what about the people who sit in front of TV "horrified" by all this. Come on! You think they care. This is just a show. It is happening to someone else. I am sure we all feel sad for the people who died, the man who has lost his wife, the father who lost his son. But then we move on. Like I did this morning. Checked the news. Blogged. Came to office and done my job. Blogging again. That is an ordinary human being for you. We all do this. We feel the pain only when one of our near and dear one dies.

Consider this scenario:

Terrorists attacked Mumbai. All news channel report it as a normal headline. And then the ticker tape continues below giving phone numbers for people to contact and the newsreaders then go on with their normal reporting. After the flushing is over, the TV channels report the news and that is the end of it.

Let us starve the terrorists. Deprive them of the mileage they get out of this.

The Real Terrorists

This is a rehash of my previous blog but worth it as posts done long-long ago tend to disappear from the public sight.

Even as the NSG flushes out the terrorists and the Mumbai police try to restore normalcy, investigating agencies from all over the world are rushing to India to study the learn lessons and of course help in finding out who did it. This happens every time there is a large scale terror attack. In variably the trail leads to a group, be it Al-Qaeda, or Laskar-e-Toiba or any of the numerous organisations. Most of the time the groups own it up themselves. And then there is a round of condemnation, speeches to wipe out terrorism, promises to follow up the perpetrator, ... till the next attack.

Seeking and attacking the terrorist organisation will not finish them off. One cannot wipe away the organisation. Nor can you recognise a terrorist when he walks past you. He doesn't have red eyes and is not always loaded with ammunition.

The focus is all wrong. And I am sure the FBI, the RAW, the MI, the who's-who-of-the-investigation-world know this. This is what is required.

a) Determine who finances these terrorist groups. Such huge amount of money cannot be floating around. It has to be channelised through banks at some point of time.

b) Determine who sells them these sophisticated arms and ammunition. These are not home made rifles and guns. Must be some arms manufacturing factory. Or it could be army ammunition siphoned out.

c) Is it a country / countries or a group of wealthy people?
d) Freeze the accounts. Close down such factories. Cut off the supply chain.

It is not as difficult as it seems. Certainly more effective than sending armed forces to bombard Taliban in Afghanistan or seeking out WMD. Needs a coordinated effort from all the countries. The world has more or less managed to control the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There is no reason why terrorism cannot be brought down too. Guns and grenades may be easier to make compared to nuclear weapons, but the supply chain is similar. Control the supply chain and the end product will be in control.

It is also high time that all - ALL - countries agree on the definition of Terrorism. I don't care if they are freedom fighters or not. If acts of terror is pursued to meet their goal (such as planting bombs in railway station, taking hostages, blowing up cars in public places ... this can be easily defined) no support can be given by any country. The rest of the world should boycott that country supporting such terror activities. Hint: Next time there is a discussion in the UN and you find any country trying to support armed freedom fight is a terrorist supporting country.

It may not be possible to wipe away the terrorists by killing them but we sure can throttle them to death.

Terrorists Are A Bunch Of Idiots

Many explitives - such as those questioning their parenthood, etc. - come to mind but I choose this - idiot - carefully. What exactly is their game plan? Do they think they can bring a city like Mumbai to its knees? Or do they think because of their repeated attacks, India will suddenly say "Oh! We are so afraid. Take what you want. Leave us alone."? Fat chance! Only a bunch of idiots can think they can frighten the world into submission.

I don't think they even have any goals left. Look for Indian citizens, US citizens, British Nationals and kill? To what purpose? What will they achieve? No idea!

So here is an open message to terrorists. Do what you want to do. Mumbai will soon return to normalcy. We will stand with our heads high and crush you - sooner or later. India and the World will celebrate life while you can go and hunt for soft targets - such as your mothers

Phantom! Save Us From The Pirates!

When I was a kid, long, long ago, Phantom and Mandrake were very popular comics. At least, in India.

The recurring theme of Phantom, of course, are pirates. In fact, the first in the line of Phantom was a victim of piracy. And since then each son (if I remember correctly, one was a daughter - one of the twins; not absolutely sure though) of the 21 generations took the following oath "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons shall follow me."

Some of the comics involved high sea piracy with gun toting, helicopter flying pirates. This was all good fun. as the idea of pirates in the 20th/21st century was quite, well, anachronistic. Every time a ship was seized by the pirates, Diana (his beautiful wife) would be on it. Phantom would then sneak in and thrash the hell out of the pirates, each with a skull mark on his jaw. Good fun.

Looks like Somalia pirates have read Phantom in great detail. And decided that piracy makes good business after all. No competition, no regulations, easy target.

But how did the Somalians start off with piracy? There has to be a reason. Phantom cannot be one of these. As I googled I found my favourite theory of Chaos coming to life. I was surprised by what I read. So, in the true tradition of story telling ...

Once upon a time, US launched a war against terror. At that time Somalia was limping back to some sort of normalcy. Ismalic courts promised to end the lawlessness. However, as usual, without understanding the social context, the Islamic court received bad press in the west. Following the equation, Islam = Al Quaeda = Terrorism, US sponsored invasion of Somalia by Ethiopia. The rule of Islamic courts was destroyed. Lawlessness promptly returned. I am not sure if Al-Qaeda had a presence in Somalia or not, but now it certainly has. Exactly opposite of what was intended. Some of the Somalian Warlords saw opportunity in sea. High sea piracy is a manifestation of this lawlessness.

You just have to google to check out the numerous articles supporting the above story.

Even Phantom will not be able to solve this problem. His methods are similar to the war on terror. Use violence to crush violence. This does not work. Terror is a symptom. Need to address the root cause.



Did you like this post? Then perhaps you would also like my other articles on terrorism!

The Liquidity Crunch May Actually Do Some Good

Ok. Liquidity crunch is bad and there is a global slowdown and there is a threat of recession looming large - some say it is already on us. But I see a silver lining in these very dark clouds.
Terrorism thrives on funds flow. At least that has been my hypothesis. See Suicide Bombings in Pakistan and NATO attacks I really hope that the liquidity crunch hits them real hard. If the liquidity crunch results in wiping out terrorism it is worth going through the recession-pain.
Note: The picture used here belongs to Agata Urbaniak. Visit gallery for more pictures.

NATO To Attack Afghan Opium Labs

I would not call this exactly gloating. But yes I am happy. On 21st September 2008, here, I wondered why no one is focusing on throttling the supply chain of the terrorists.

Obviously, what I could think in the comfort of my house, the operators in the field - those whose work is trying to wipe out terrorism - would have thought of it too.

Well, here is the evidence. Cutting off drug money to Taliban will definitely bring them to the knees. I hope this is the beginning of the end. Cut off all the funds (find bank balances next and the arms suppliers) and you would see terrorism reduced to "once upon a time ..."

Note: The picture of opium poppies used here belongs to Trent Webb. To see more such photographs please go here.

Suicide Bombing in Pakistan

I could replace Pakistan with any other country and the headline would be true - if not today, then tomorrow. The only thing that is different is that the conduit has become the target. Much like drugs.

The reaction is always the same: "We will not rest till the last terrorist is removed from the land." This is not going to work. The focus is misdirected. The terrorist is the last link. No amount of security beef-up can stop individuals from striking terror.

Who funds these terrorists? How do they get the constant supply of arms and ammunition? It is almost as if there is a parallel economy running. From the production to distribution - the scale cannot be small. I am sure the entire supply chain can be located in matter of months, if not days. After all, this is not cottage industry. What is required is to throttle the supply chain. How difficult can that be? If bank accounts of all known sources are frozen, will that not make a difference?

And if I can think of all this sitting in the comfort of my house, can't those who are in the thick of the action think of this? I am sure they are aware of this. Then why don't I see headlines that go: "All terror accounts frozen" or "Prominent industrialist arrsted for funding terror" or "company closes down after terror scandal"?