REST IN PIECES

It has been more than thirty years that India and Pakistan have been at loggerheads at each other. Well, it started more than 65 years ago when Pakistani soldiers masquerading as mujahideens entered the newly formed State of India, trying to wrest as much territory of Jammu & Kashmir as they could. The newly formed Indian army, fought those who were their comrades in arms till a few weeks ago ... and prevailed. Though not after conceding a large part of Indian territory. There were a few years of relative tranquillity (if you can ever call it that between the two armies) and then came the summer of 1965, when the Pakistani army tried the same in the Rann of Kutch and through British intervention was awarded almost 1,000 sq km.

Gen Ayub Khan took over the reins of Pakistan and decided to enter Indian territory again  on August 5, 1965, followed by Indian soldiers crossing the line of control on Independence Day, 1965. Pakistan’s Operation Gibraltar had failed earlier in Kashmir, but now War was declared between the two countries. Notwithstanding the failure of Operation Gibraltar, Pakistan launched Operation Grand Slam on September 1, 1965 with the aim at capturing the strategic town of Akhnoor, near Jammu. The Indian Army crossed the International Border on September 6, 1965 and War was officially declared. Some major battles were fought, including the Battle of Asal Uttar. The War however was going nowehere with both countries occupying captured territory, India more than Pakistan. With American, Soviet and United Nations intervention, the War finally ended on September 23, 1965. The War was over but the animosity grew between the two belligerent nations.

A few years later the events after the democratic victory of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and the awami League of East Pakistan in the elections of 1970 led to a major crackdown by West Pakistan on their Eastern citizens. Operation Searchlight was launched in East Pakistan after Sheikh Mujib was arrested. Over 10 million refugees fled into India and more than 3 million East Pakistanis were massacred. The refugee camps in India turned into training grounds for the Mukti Bahini. Meanwhile the genocide continued in East Pakistan and the Pakistani leadership refused to listen to Indian or other international voices on stopping the atrocities. Finally, on December 3, 1971 Pakistani Air Force jets entered Indian air space and bombed eleven air fields and War was on once again. Thirteen days later 93,000 Pakistani soldier surrendered and were taken prisoner and the new State of Bangladesh was born.

Pakistan could not digest this humiliation. India had helped carve a chunk of their territory and that was unacceptable. The Pakistani establishment conveniently forgot what they had done in 1947-48! A few years later, the Kahmisr problem started and has continued ever since.

Akin to the 1947-48 strategy, Pakistani soldiers dressed up as mujahideen and local Kashmiri freedom fighters, infiltrated Jammu & Kashmir and started a war, in keeping with the doctrine of bleeding India with a thousand cuts. The policy of subterfuge continued even in 1999 during the Kargil War when Pakistani soldiers were instrumental in entering Indian territory and the Pakistani Army refusing to take back the bodies of the soldiers who had died fighting for their Nation. Of course, the lies and the subterfuge came out in the open eventually, as it was bound to.

Bombay was shockingly attacked by a bunch of terrorists and suddenly the phrase “non State actors” started making the rounds. The Pakistani establishment had nothing to do with them and were as vulnerable to terrorism as India was and were trying their best to curb this scourge, even in their own country. They forgot to mention that they had managed to created a Frankenstein that got horribly out of hand. (Reminds me of Bindranwale, Prabhakaran, et al).

The Americans managed to track down and kill Osama Bin Laden and hastened to bury him at sea the same night. (That is a whole different story and deserves some investigation since it seems to be shrouded in controversy and cover-up, much like the 9/11 World Trade Centre bombings.) The former Director General of the ISI proudly made a public statement that it was a victory for the ISI to have managed to shield Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan for nine years. This despite the fact the Pakistani Government, the Pakistani Army and the ISI had continued to “help” coalition forces to hunt down Osama Bin Laden and denied having anything to do with the Al Qaeda.

Anyway, anything happened anywhere around the world that had Pakistani connections, was now conveniently dubbed to have been carried out by the infamous non State actors. Pakistan did not know who they were, where they were operating from, who they were targeting, etc. And of course, there was no blessings to these non State actors from the establishment or the Army or the ISI. Respective Prime Ministers and other Pakistani leaders have expressed their sympathies about the activities and results of the activities of these non State actors.

Of course, no one in the world believes them, except their own convoluted and screwed up minds. Pakistan has been declared a rogue State and no one wants to do any business with them. Well, not no one. There are the Somali pirates, the Yemeni insurgents, and other such motley groups.

If the Pakistani Government wants to wash the soot off their faces, I have a solution for them. Maybe they will not listen, because the last person to see what is good for them when things are rapidly going South, is the person himself. Anyway, at the risk of being ridiculed by the Pakistani establishment, I will be bold enough to continue to make the suggestion.

1.     The Pakistani Government (the Army will take a lot more convincing) should immediately launch a global public relations exercise aimed at telling the world that they are tired of these non State actors ruining the good name of Pakistan.

2.     They should immediately solicit the help of everyone who is willing to help to solve this menace to Pakistani society and the countries that are affected by these non State actors who use Pakistan as their base.

3.     They should welcome the Indian Armed Forces and the coalition Armed Forces to immediately destroy all the bases these non State actors use and neutralise all the leaders.

4.     They should immediately hand over all the people that various Governments around the world want – Hafiz Sayeed, Maulana Masood Azhar, Lakhvi, Dawood Ibrahim, including all those other people who are supposedly “not living in Pakistan”.

5.     At the end of this exercise – which should not take more than a couple of weeks – the Pakistani Government should call an international press conference and declare that they have rid their country of all non State actors. Further, that anyone wanting to use Pakistani soil for “non State activities” will be summarily caught and executed.

If the Pakistani establishment actually believes that these rogues are non State actors, then there will be no repercussion at all – either in Pakistan or anywhere around the world. From what the Pakistani Government maintains, these individuals and groups are ruining the reputation of Pakistan and Pakistanis. A couple of weeks is all that will take to get back the good reputation that Pakistan and Pakistanis crave. It is as simple as that. These are non State actors, without a State or country and no country will raise a hue and cry about their elimination. Why should Pakistan and Pakistanis take the blame for these roguish elements who fight under no flag but their own?

That is unless the Pakistan Government is indulging in subterfuge once again and is hoodwinking the rest of the world by stating that these are non State actors, when they are actually the un-uniformed covert wing of the Pakistani Army and establishment, trained to fight their dirty wars.

If Pakistan does not eliminate them, the country will soon be resting in pieces, much like the non State actors who try and destabilise the world ... and are ending up doing the same thing to Pakistan itself.

An Open Letter to Juvenile Rapist Lovers

Dear Sir/Madam,

Allow me the first congratulate you on your steadfastness and courage in standing up to the majority of Indians who are baying for vengeance. A lynch mob stands outside your door and yet you have vehemently maintained that the juvenile, even if he was a rapist and the most violent at that in the Nirbhaya episode, deserved a lot more understanding and empathy. I salute you.

Now that the first phase of the judicial process is over, one of the rapists committed suicide in custody, four have been sentenced to death by the trial court and the juvenile given the harshest punishment available to be meted out to a juvenile ... three years. Not in a jail mind you, because a jail is not conducive for reform for the impressionable mind of the juvenile, but in a reform home where he will be ostensibly well looked after, watch Katrina Kaif and Kareena Kappor gyrating on television extolling the viewer about their respective jawanis or telling them to join their two hearts with the strongest adhesive on Indian retail shelves. So what if another actress shakes her famous hips declaring that she has become talli. I suspect the juvenile will get pizzas from Dominos, an occasional Happy Meal from McDonalds or a bucket of KFC’s finest. After all hunger is not the best way to proceed on a path of self realisation and transform into a paradigm of virtue at the end of three years.

However, as you and your community also keep reminding us, reform homes in India leave a lot to be desired. There are not enough psychologists or psychiatrists, the wardens and guards and the sundry other administration staff often look lustfully at the juveniles under their care, there are cases of sodomy and violence in juvenile homes. Yes a lot needs to be done as far as reform homes are concerned which house juvenile offenders. Not an ideal place for reforms to happen, I hear you say.

Let us start with the most public of cases to hit the Indian psyche in recent years, the juvenile convicted (can juveniles be called convicts?) in the Nirbhaya case. You need to prove your point that juveniles are not criminals and need to be treated with empathy, with understanding, with juvenile gloves. Why throw away an entire life that lies ahead of them just because of one stupid act of stupidity which they committed without comprehending what they were doing? They are like our own children and need to be treated as such so that they can grow up to be responsible adults. Well, Master Juvenile Rapist has a little over two years in which the “system” needs to step forward and deliver what he deserves – understanding and kid gloves.

However, since the “system” will send him to a reform home which might not be the best environment to expect the changes that we expect from him in the next two years and a few months, I have an alternative suggestion that might be a lot more helpful. Why don’t you volunteer to “adopt” him for the remaining period of his “sentence”. Do bring him into your home and turn it into the reform home that the judiciary in its wisdom has sentenced him to.

A few words of caution though.

He is prone to violence. So do not say anything that might turn on the violent streak that he displays. He has been known to insert iron rods through private parts, without remorse.

Be careful with the female members of your family and be careful when you invite members of the female disposition to your house for a get together or a kitty party or a tambola or a Tupperware get together. Our friend is frustrated that the gyrating heroines displayed so blatantly on cinema and television screens are completely out of his reach. To give life to his fantasies, he just closes his eyes and fantasises that the women in his grasp is the woman of his dreams. And once he embarks on this journey, there is no saying where it might lead or how violent this role-play might get.

He is also a history sheeter and has a background of thievery. I can only advise to keep your cupboards locked, but then you will know better having dealt with unfortunate juveniles like him in the past. And thievery for him is not just for jewellery, but for anything that might pay for his next fix – silverware, rugs, items on your mantelpiece. He will take whatever he can lay his hands on, make an effort to sell it, head for the closest supplier to get his fix.

Talking of fix, he has been on drugs for many years. And if he does not get it, his mood swing can be quite unpredictable.

He is of extremely short temper. And it is almost impossible to guage what will tick him off. An extra ladle of daal might do it, a roti burnt, an extra half spoon of sugar in his tea, the heat, the cold, the rain, broken shoelaces, you never know what will tick him off. Just be sure that you or your loved ones are not in direct visual contact with him in a 20 feet radius since he is known to throw objects at anyone in front of him to vent his anger, inflicting blunt force trauma.

Expletives are a part of his vocabulary. If in his more lucid moments links your husband with your daughter, or your son with you, or indeed your son with your daughter, do not mind it. I am sure that with your constant intervention, he will understand the error of his ways and become a person in two and a half years who will only recite verses from the Bhagavad Gita.

I agree entirely with you that our institutions are not in a position to provide the love and care that you could give in your own house. I urge you ardently, for the future of this poor unfortunate Master Juvenile Rapist to come forward, to put your practice where your preaching is, and welcome him into your home.

There are a lot of juveniles in reform homes across India. There are a lot of ongoing cases where juveniles are involved. I also urge you to start a nationwide programme encouraging activists such as you to follow in your footsteps to welcome convicted (again, can I use this term?) into their homes to provide a conducive atmosphere for their mental development.

Meanwhile, we the general public, will try and follow the advice of the lawyer of the four “adults” when he suggests that we should burn our daughters if they dare to step out of the home at night.

Jai Hind. Satyameva Jayate. Mera Bharat Mahaan. India Shining. All these phrases remain just that ... phrases.