EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 11-8-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. Babu Ravindran, Edavalath House, Tellicherry-670103
Coram: Eight members attended. Dr. Sadanandan could not attend as he was not well.
Subject: Facts in Unbiased Free Thinking.
Dr. Mohammed Abdulla: I would like to raise an important point that occurred to me. It can be elaborated later if necessary. That is the basic question whether free thinking is at all possible unless the mind itself is free? I find that the mind has to be first freed of all thoughts before free thinking can become possible. For that, meditation would be necessary. Generally, chanting of Mantra may help to reduce the flow of thoughts that disturbs and clears the mind to make it free. Mantra has got that capacity.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Thought is not separate from environment. Is there any thought at all unconnected with environment?. I mean the environment, internal as well as external. Therefore thought is always there. The mind is never free of it.
Dr. Thomas: It is generally an autocratic mind which has adamant thoughts that always wins. Stalin was an autocrat while Trotsky was democratically minded. Stalin could manipulate and kill Trotsky to captured power for himself. Then he killed all the members of the Trotsky family. A set or fixed mind succeeds compared to a free thinking mind.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Yes. That is ‘Macbeth Strategy’. There is struggle for power, capture of the power, and then retention of the power. That is the technique.
Dr.Thomas: But now it is difficult to fool people like that because of the media and the resulting instant publicity.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: What actually is bias? What is meant by being biased? How can anybody decide whether some thought or action is biased? What is bias for one may be fair and unbiased for another.
Dr.Sankarankutty: By the quality of thought itself we are all biased. So says J.K.
Dr.Thomas: I found an example yesterday. Our Administrative Officer and Manager were having an argument yesterday on an unimportant matter. I was noticing it quietly. Each vehemently held to his own opinion and went on talking agitatedly without making even a smallest attempt to hear the other point of view.
K.V. Kunhikrishnan: Bias means prejudice. One can hold one’s own view. There is nothing wrong with it. But if he is aware of his own prejudices, and is willing to hear the other point of view, and also willing to change his opinion if he is wrong then he is not biased.
Sankarabkutty: Mantra sounds have significance; it is supposed to open the channels to the Chakras or the vital points in the body. The ancients had found out great truths subjectively and communicated them in forms that others could understand. For example, they knew the steps of evolution of man from the form of fish (animal in water), through the stages of tortoise (animal on water as well as land), pig (animal on land), Man-Animal, Small short man, and then Man. This they told out to others in the form of the story of Dasavathara(Ten Incarnations). The epics and legends are not mere superficial facts of life narrated. But they contain several profound truths. Naked truth cannot be easily exposed. They will be misunderstood and are therefore given in legends. There is an interesting story why Truth is called naked. Truth and Falsehood are sisters. They went together for a bath in the nearby river. Falsehood got out of the river first and seeing the nice, clean and colourful dress of Truth, wore them and left immediately. When Truth came out of the river her dress was not to be found. The tattered, worn out dirty dress of Falsehood was lying on the bank. She would not wear it and therefore had to go naked. Thus formed the expression ‘Naked Truth’. This is an example how myth is developed. When language is difficult and insufficient to express truth, myth develops and comes to the rescue.
Prof. Richard Hay: The bias and prejudice of the dominant holds control. The saying that might is right holds even today. See the result of the Iraq invasion. Tony Blair has the cheek to say in British Parliament that he was right in being a party to it. And the opposition could not counter! Facts do not count. The more powerful always decide what is right for all.
Dr.Thomas: Britain is trying to hold on to their might as long as possible.
Dr. Abdulla: Earlier, spiritual power prevailed over the world; but now material and physical power has supremacy.
Prof. Hay: Compared to the materialist world of thought, there has been clear deterioration on the spiritualist world.
Prof. Sankarankutty: In the evolution scale there has been a time when one who had the power to heal, the medicine man, counted and controlled all others. But later the mighty took over.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
book release on 14th july 2009
The report on Book Release:
Thalassery 14-7-09
The premises of the New Cosmopolitan Club, Thalassery, Kannur Dt., Kerala, bore witness to a small but beautiful function when the book entitled ‘Ruminations and Reminiscences ay Eighty Plus’ authored by Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, Chairman and Convener of Ekkentros Forum was formally released by the celebrated novelist and short story writer in Malayalam Sri. M. Mukundan, President of the Kerala Sahitya Academy. Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University received the first copy of the book.
The deliberations began with a prayer by Miss Shreesha Chandran which was followed by the Ekkentros Invocation by Dr. A.V. Sadanandan. Prof. Richard Hay welcomed the gathering. Dr. T. N. Babu Ravindran, presiding over the function traced the history of the Forum and its growth over the last eleven years.
Sri. M. Mukundan, the chief guest of the evening was introduced to the audience by Prof. Mohanan Nair. Sri Mukundan dwelt at length on the various themes covered by the author. He said that the mind is both the hero and the villain, and the book is an effort to map its complexities and continuities. He described the present age as the age of ‘indescretions and disasters’ where the rising tide of the cult of the individual has defiled the sanctity of the social values. He also said the book is not one to be just read and kept aside on the shelf, but to be read over again and again.
Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the Guest of Honour, elaborated upon the several facets of philosophy as adventure and an attitude, and made a special effort to highlight the relevance of Jiddu Krishnamurthi’s illuminations on the predicament of modern man.
Sri.K.Balakrishnan, Program Executive, AIR, Kannur hailed the book as a unique reading experience which raises the issues that confront the sensibilities of modern man.
Prof. M.P. Radhakrishnan, described the book as another experiment with questing after the Truth. According to him the book spoke the language of ultimate surrender that emanated from a mature mind.
Prof. K.V. Haridasan, the renowned modern artist, and brother of Sri Kunhikrishnan spoke about the family tradition that spurred scholarly pursuits like this and corroborated Sri Kunhikrishnan’s perceptions.
Finally, the author shared with the audience his perceptions on the making of the book, its content in cyber-world, and the themes that impinged upon the human community at large.
Dr. P.M. Sankarankutty proposed a vote of thanks, and the deliberations concluded with the national anthem.
After the Function of Book Release was over a grand dinner with fellowship was hosted by Mrs. & Prof. Richard Hay for the Chief Guest with the members of the Forum.
Thalassery 14-7-09
The premises of the New Cosmopolitan Club, Thalassery, Kannur Dt., Kerala, bore witness to a small but beautiful function when the book entitled ‘Ruminations and Reminiscences ay Eighty Plus’ authored by Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, Chairman and Convener of Ekkentros Forum was formally released by the celebrated novelist and short story writer in Malayalam Sri. M. Mukundan, President of the Kerala Sahitya Academy. Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the former Vice-Chancellor of Calicut University received the first copy of the book.
The deliberations began with a prayer by Miss Shreesha Chandran which was followed by the Ekkentros Invocation by Dr. A.V. Sadanandan. Prof. Richard Hay welcomed the gathering. Dr. T. N. Babu Ravindran, presiding over the function traced the history of the Forum and its growth over the last eleven years.
Sri. M. Mukundan, the chief guest of the evening was introduced to the audience by Prof. Mohanan Nair. Sri Mukundan dwelt at length on the various themes covered by the author. He said that the mind is both the hero and the villain, and the book is an effort to map its complexities and continuities. He described the present age as the age of ‘indescretions and disasters’ where the rising tide of the cult of the individual has defiled the sanctity of the social values. He also said the book is not one to be just read and kept aside on the shelf, but to be read over again and again.
Dr. A.N.P.Ummerkutty, the Guest of Honour, elaborated upon the several facets of philosophy as adventure and an attitude, and made a special effort to highlight the relevance of Jiddu Krishnamurthi’s illuminations on the predicament of modern man.
Sri.K.Balakrishnan, Program Executive, AIR, Kannur hailed the book as a unique reading experience which raises the issues that confront the sensibilities of modern man.
Prof. M.P. Radhakrishnan, described the book as another experiment with questing after the Truth. According to him the book spoke the language of ultimate surrender that emanated from a mature mind.
Prof. K.V. Haridasan, the renowned modern artist, and brother of Sri Kunhikrishnan spoke about the family tradition that spurred scholarly pursuits like this and corroborated Sri Kunhikrishnan’s perceptions.
Finally, the author shared with the audience his perceptions on the making of the book, its content in cyber-world, and the themes that impinged upon the human community at large.
Dr. P.M. Sankarankutty proposed a vote of thanks, and the deliberations concluded with the national anthem.
After the Function of Book Release was over a grand dinner with fellowship was hosted by Mrs. & Prof. Richard Hay for the Chief Guest with the members of the Forum.
EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 9-6-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. A.V.Sadanandan, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr. Abdulla joined later. Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as he was out of station.
Subject: Facts in Free Thinking
Dr. Sadanandan: In the discussions here now I propose to follow the line of thinking of J. Krishnamurthy. Human mind is the greatest of all mysteries. The status and stature of the human being in this universe is because of its mind. What one is, is his mind and the mind’s activities. The whole developments, progress, and achievements of the human race is because of its mind. Yet our minds are burdened with our day to day existence too. We are unhappy. We struggle, we crave for security, have fears, anxieties and confusion created by our minds. Should we change, if at all it is possible to change, or simply accept our fate to continue in our mediocre existence of struggles to fit into and conform to the social morality and modes? On accepting the fate and modes we are conditioned. We get biased. Our conditioning to the race, religion, class, nationality or organization, is to seek security. Culture, traditions, own experiences in life, memories of hurt, fear and grief, all, weigh down us from having a new avenue in the mind for Free Thinking. We are conditioned, we are biased. The built up idea of ‘me’ is the most restricting, conditioning. The ‘me’ has to be silent for the free thinking to be possible, or to arise.
We live the way we think. Thought is the tool to act. It is the knowledge, experience, feelings as memory that responds to any challenge. The knowledge, intellect, and intuitive faculties through generations of human existence helped the scientific and technological progress that we see today. There is definitely creative and free thinking involved in this. The story of science is the story of human capability to understand facts, and to develop by imbibing newer ideas through free thinking.
But man’s story of progress or failure is largely dependant on his psychological existence. His thoughts, feelings, emotions and sentiments decide his actions. Our inner psychological nature is reflected in our relationship with ourselves and the society at large. What life is, is our relationship with each other. This psychological nature conditions one’s relationship with the society. And this conditioning has tremendous influence in our social well being. This conditioning doesn’t allow one to relate to another freely and gracefully. So, the real problem is lack of true relationship due to one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions. But these are all important factors of one’s being. Do we see these as real facts or illusions? We do not see facts, and our life is an emotional circus. If we could see these thoughts and use them only when required, illusions could be subdued.
Psychologically, when thoughts are seen and one is aware inwardly there can be freedom from thoughts. Then there is free thinking, but what is there to think? Outwardly we build up that with understanding of solid facts and inwardly we uncover layers of illusions to see what is.
Dr. Sankarankutty: It appears from what Dr. Sadanandan has put forward that free thinking is never possible. Even if facts are verified and accepted, the bias of conditioning will still be there. Thinking, any thinking, itself is therefore biased by the conditioning.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Quite true. But if one is aware of the conditioning and the bias, free thinking would still be possible. The illusions are there as fully recognized. But one goes beyond them.
Dr. Sankarankutty: When thought itself is conditioned and one is not conscious of the conditioning, there is no freedom in thinking.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: When we talk of the product ‘free thinking’, we have to take into consideration the raw materials, namely, the brain, experiences, inheritance, present and previous beliefs, decisions already made, and the like. A debating mind can make anything look logical and correct. Therefore a mind like that of justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, though flowery literature, cannot be trusted because of his inconsistent intellectual truthfulness, and attraction to opportunities. Vis-à-vis, Panampally Govinda Menon was, in my opinion, a better debater, and intellectual administrator, full of wit and humor. I compare these two because they were well known debaters and public personalities one time during the same period. We can put some well known personalities in the category of luminaries who are self centered intellectual beings more bothered about their own image and news-making capacity than anything else. I would put Sukumaran Azhikode and Justice Krishna Iyer in this category of public figures.
Free thinking was put to test abrasively during the emergency period of 1975-77. V.P.Ramachandran, the doyen of journalism in Delhi those days was appointed as the censor working for the P.M., Indira Gandhi initially. When he passed a text of news for release without censoring, a junior close to Indira Gandhi reminded him that the PM was interested in censoring that particular text. He censored it accordingly with a light remark jocularly, ‘let the bitch have her way’. This comment was, it appears, promptly relayed back by the junior journalist to Indira with the result that V.P.Ramachandran was sent on transfer to a post with silly responsibility in Madhya Pradesh overnight. Intellectual honesty is always in jeopardy when there is power that is corrupt, and vested with one or few. The streak of a little madness in Nehru runs in Varun also through Sanjay. There was innocence in Achutha Menon, Craftiness in EMS, and popular welfare interest in AKG, all personified.
Twisted facts masquerading as fiction may make our lives worth living. My letter to the Home Minister is a good example, I think. Facts were in fact a little twisted to entertain and titillate the sensitivity of the scores of reading public. Still, even now after over a few months, I get comments from the rank and file of the ‘party’ for the tremendous courage exhibited by me in launching that news story item. Explicit expression of thoughts through pen at the right time may alter the course of our social history. I sometimes wonder how useless the present day communist leaders are, with their lack luster pedantic writings, full of clichés, in their party paper that appeal neither to the intellect nor to the masses. Time alone can prove whether ‘free thinking’ was after all, the right one or not.
The role of visual media and telecommunication has made facts to reach you instantaneously, and hence people are able to give a verdict decisively. For example, in the case of the Karala Governor’s permission to prosecute Pinarayi, instant sms polling showed that 85% of the people who sent sms was in favor of the prosecution. It has therefore become extremely difficult to suppress facts, and information by any government or party. I think that an oligarchic iron curtain, or an iron fisted rule by fascists, or a totalitarian communist governance will not be possible any longer. If the communist party has to survive anywhere, they have to first destroy the media as well as all modern means of communication. Without genuine facts we find that people are not swayed or influenced easily. At present, the party machinery, the PB, and the Government, all are trying to save the career of Penarayi or to save him politically from ‘Banvas’ of fourteen years in court jungles. The present tragicomic situation is the result of globalization which is dooming any dictatorial governance, whether proletarian or not. Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq can be said to be some exceptions; only time can prove what will happen to them in future.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: To illustrate the point of unbiased thinking, the present controversy on the Governor’s permission on the Lavlin case can be a good example. We can understand that politicians are naturally divided according to their party or leanings. But look at the different opinions expressed by legal luminaries and intellectuals! The Governor had said that he gave the permission to protect the interests of the public.
Senior Advocate Ramkumar said that as per Supreme Court decisions in two cases the Governor can take independent decisions against the advice of the cabinet if it is warranted by the apparent bias of the Ministers. Therefore Governor is right.
Sr.Advocate Janardhana Kurup said that there is no provision in the constitution for the governor to take a decision against the decision of the cabinet.
Justice Krishna Iyer also said that the governor has to obey the cabinet. The few exceptions cannot be expanded to suit a different decision in the present case. (Italics mine)
The DG of Prosecution, P.G.Thambi said that Pinarayi should immediately go to the High Court.
The PUCL President P.Chandrasekharan also said that he should go to the court.
Sr. Advocate Kelu Nambiar said that Governor may not be right because he cannot go against the cabinet.
Sr. Advocate Kaleswara Rao said that Governor is right and Government should accept governor’s decision because there are other accused also involved. (unfair to let off Pinarayi alone!)
Former advocate general M.K.Damodaran said that Governor, if he does not agree with the cabinet, should have consulted another legally constituted authority and not any lawyer of his choosing.
These opinions are only some among hundreds. The differences merely show that the matter of giving permission can be argued both ways according to the interpreter’s leanings.
Dr. Sankarankutty: Politicians and bureaucrats are hand in glove and they always escape the arms of the law through loop holes and clever interpretations.
Prof. Hay: It is a fake democracy. Consider the case of Ex-Minister Sukh Ram who had crores of rupees stuffed in his waste baskets! He never got punished, but was again contesting elections with impunity!
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: The interesting part is that in all these discussions and opinions nobody talks of finding the truth. They are bogged down with the technicality of giving permission to prosecute. How can the truth be known unless investigated, prosecuted and tried? After all, prima facie, fraud has happened because others, who were not ministers, are anyway being prosecuted. For all that Pinarayi may be innocent. There should be a way to prosecute without affecting the future or political career of any accused in the meanwhile. The defect of the system lies there.
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 9-6-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr. A.V.Sadanandan, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr. Abdulla joined later. Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as he was out of station.
Subject: Facts in Free Thinking
Dr. Sadanandan: In the discussions here now I propose to follow the line of thinking of J. Krishnamurthy. Human mind is the greatest of all mysteries. The status and stature of the human being in this universe is because of its mind. What one is, is his mind and the mind’s activities. The whole developments, progress, and achievements of the human race is because of its mind. Yet our minds are burdened with our day to day existence too. We are unhappy. We struggle, we crave for security, have fears, anxieties and confusion created by our minds. Should we change, if at all it is possible to change, or simply accept our fate to continue in our mediocre existence of struggles to fit into and conform to the social morality and modes? On accepting the fate and modes we are conditioned. We get biased. Our conditioning to the race, religion, class, nationality or organization, is to seek security. Culture, traditions, own experiences in life, memories of hurt, fear and grief, all, weigh down us from having a new avenue in the mind for Free Thinking. We are conditioned, we are biased. The built up idea of ‘me’ is the most restricting, conditioning. The ‘me’ has to be silent for the free thinking to be possible, or to arise.
We live the way we think. Thought is the tool to act. It is the knowledge, experience, feelings as memory that responds to any challenge. The knowledge, intellect, and intuitive faculties through generations of human existence helped the scientific and technological progress that we see today. There is definitely creative and free thinking involved in this. The story of science is the story of human capability to understand facts, and to develop by imbibing newer ideas through free thinking.
But man’s story of progress or failure is largely dependant on his psychological existence. His thoughts, feelings, emotions and sentiments decide his actions. Our inner psychological nature is reflected in our relationship with ourselves and the society at large. What life is, is our relationship with each other. This psychological nature conditions one’s relationship with the society. And this conditioning has tremendous influence in our social well being. This conditioning doesn’t allow one to relate to another freely and gracefully. So, the real problem is lack of true relationship due to one’s own thoughts, feelings and emotions. But these are all important factors of one’s being. Do we see these as real facts or illusions? We do not see facts, and our life is an emotional circus. If we could see these thoughts and use them only when required, illusions could be subdued.
Psychologically, when thoughts are seen and one is aware inwardly there can be freedom from thoughts. Then there is free thinking, but what is there to think? Outwardly we build up that with understanding of solid facts and inwardly we uncover layers of illusions to see what is.
Dr. Sankarankutty: It appears from what Dr. Sadanandan has put forward that free thinking is never possible. Even if facts are verified and accepted, the bias of conditioning will still be there. Thinking, any thinking, itself is therefore biased by the conditioning.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Quite true. But if one is aware of the conditioning and the bias, free thinking would still be possible. The illusions are there as fully recognized. But one goes beyond them.
Dr. Sankarankutty: When thought itself is conditioned and one is not conscious of the conditioning, there is no freedom in thinking.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: When we talk of the product ‘free thinking’, we have to take into consideration the raw materials, namely, the brain, experiences, inheritance, present and previous beliefs, decisions already made, and the like. A debating mind can make anything look logical and correct. Therefore a mind like that of justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, though flowery literature, cannot be trusted because of his inconsistent intellectual truthfulness, and attraction to opportunities. Vis-à-vis, Panampally Govinda Menon was, in my opinion, a better debater, and intellectual administrator, full of wit and humor. I compare these two because they were well known debaters and public personalities one time during the same period. We can put some well known personalities in the category of luminaries who are self centered intellectual beings more bothered about their own image and news-making capacity than anything else. I would put Sukumaran Azhikode and Justice Krishna Iyer in this category of public figures.
Free thinking was put to test abrasively during the emergency period of 1975-77. V.P.Ramachandran, the doyen of journalism in Delhi those days was appointed as the censor working for the P.M., Indira Gandhi initially. When he passed a text of news for release without censoring, a junior close to Indira Gandhi reminded him that the PM was interested in censoring that particular text. He censored it accordingly with a light remark jocularly, ‘let the bitch have her way’. This comment was, it appears, promptly relayed back by the junior journalist to Indira with the result that V.P.Ramachandran was sent on transfer to a post with silly responsibility in Madhya Pradesh overnight. Intellectual honesty is always in jeopardy when there is power that is corrupt, and vested with one or few. The streak of a little madness in Nehru runs in Varun also through Sanjay. There was innocence in Achutha Menon, Craftiness in EMS, and popular welfare interest in AKG, all personified.
Twisted facts masquerading as fiction may make our lives worth living. My letter to the Home Minister is a good example, I think. Facts were in fact a little twisted to entertain and titillate the sensitivity of the scores of reading public. Still, even now after over a few months, I get comments from the rank and file of the ‘party’ for the tremendous courage exhibited by me in launching that news story item. Explicit expression of thoughts through pen at the right time may alter the course of our social history. I sometimes wonder how useless the present day communist leaders are, with their lack luster pedantic writings, full of clichés, in their party paper that appeal neither to the intellect nor to the masses. Time alone can prove whether ‘free thinking’ was after all, the right one or not.
The role of visual media and telecommunication has made facts to reach you instantaneously, and hence people are able to give a verdict decisively. For example, in the case of the Karala Governor’s permission to prosecute Pinarayi, instant sms polling showed that 85% of the people who sent sms was in favor of the prosecution. It has therefore become extremely difficult to suppress facts, and information by any government or party. I think that an oligarchic iron curtain, or an iron fisted rule by fascists, or a totalitarian communist governance will not be possible any longer. If the communist party has to survive anywhere, they have to first destroy the media as well as all modern means of communication. Without genuine facts we find that people are not swayed or influenced easily. At present, the party machinery, the PB, and the Government, all are trying to save the career of Penarayi or to save him politically from ‘Banvas’ of fourteen years in court jungles. The present tragicomic situation is the result of globalization which is dooming any dictatorial governance, whether proletarian or not. Iran, South Korea, Afghanistan, Iraq can be said to be some exceptions; only time can prove what will happen to them in future.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: To illustrate the point of unbiased thinking, the present controversy on the Governor’s permission on the Lavlin case can be a good example. We can understand that politicians are naturally divided according to their party or leanings. But look at the different opinions expressed by legal luminaries and intellectuals! The Governor had said that he gave the permission to protect the interests of the public.
Senior Advocate Ramkumar said that as per Supreme Court decisions in two cases the Governor can take independent decisions against the advice of the cabinet if it is warranted by the apparent bias of the Ministers. Therefore Governor is right.
Sr.Advocate Janardhana Kurup said that there is no provision in the constitution for the governor to take a decision against the decision of the cabinet.
Justice Krishna Iyer also said that the governor has to obey the cabinet. The few exceptions cannot be expanded to suit a different decision in the present case. (Italics mine)
The DG of Prosecution, P.G.Thambi said that Pinarayi should immediately go to the High Court.
The PUCL President P.Chandrasekharan also said that he should go to the court.
Sr. Advocate Kelu Nambiar said that Governor may not be right because he cannot go against the cabinet.
Sr. Advocate Kaleswara Rao said that Governor is right and Government should accept governor’s decision because there are other accused also involved. (unfair to let off Pinarayi alone!)
Former advocate general M.K.Damodaran said that Governor, if he does not agree with the cabinet, should have consulted another legally constituted authority and not any lawyer of his choosing.
These opinions are only some among hundreds. The differences merely show that the matter of giving permission can be argued both ways according to the interpreter’s leanings.
Dr. Sankarankutty: Politicians and bureaucrats are hand in glove and they always escape the arms of the law through loop holes and clever interpretations.
Prof. Hay: It is a fake democracy. Consider the case of Ex-Minister Sukh Ram who had crores of rupees stuffed in his waste baskets! He never got punished, but was again contesting elections with impunity!
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: The interesting part is that in all these discussions and opinions nobody talks of finding the truth. They are bogged down with the technicality of giving permission to prosecute. How can the truth be known unless investigated, prosecuted and tried? After all, prima facie, fraud has happened because others, who were not ministers, are anyway being prosecuted. For all that Pinarayi may be innocent. There should be a way to prosecute without affecting the future or political career of any accused in the meanwhile. The defect of the system lies there.
Facts in Free Thinking
EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 12-5-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, IRS(Retd), Patikkal, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr.abdulla and Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as both were out of station.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan:
We had briefly touched upon this subject in our tenth anniversary proceedings but had no opportunity or facility to discuss the subject in detail.
Fact is a casualty in today’s world. A stage has come when we cannot rely on any information whatsoever that we come across in the media. They are manipulated by personal or group interests. As our Forum stands for free unbiased thinking, we have a stake in the premises based on which we think, and the premises are facts. The first requisite for free thought is the correctness of facts and a respectful commitment to facts. The other requisites are of course, clear logic, understanding the other, and willingness to change one’s opinion.
The main requirement is getting the facts. When we have direct knowledge, facts are clear and self evident. For example, when I tell you that I am old, you see straight that I am old. Nobody will deny. But when I say that I am over eighty, it can only be a reliable belief to you because it is not in your direct knowledge. There is no proof. That is why I have to produce my birth certificate to get enhanced pension on crossing the eightieth year. In day to day life we believe and rely on so many doubtful facts without evidence that the conclusions arrived at are very often widely off the mark. So, what is the remedy? Doubting anything and everything till authentic proof is obtained is no remedy, and is neither practical. But a healthy skepticism has to be maintained while having an open mind. Those who do not have an open mind cannot be unbiased.
Facts are generally elusive. It has different perspectives. There are different versions to the same set of facts. But the deliberate distortions of facts have to be recognized and discarded diligently.
Those who do not have an open mind can never find out the truth. Anybody who is wedded or committed to a dogma can never be free thinkers because he has already surrendered his mind/brain to fixed ideas. He will accept as facts only what suits his blind beliefs To avoid conflicts we need free thinkers. Future leaders have to be free thinkers who can influence the ideologists to change and be free. This is not to discount any dogma or ideology, or to say they are wrong or right. But the necessity to have open minded people in this age is very important. merely tolerating the other point of view is not enough. One must fully understand and respect the opposite point of view also. Then there cannot be any violent conflict. Facts have a most important function here.
When I was a student of sixth and seventh standard we had two Newspapers in Malayalam. The Mathrubhoomi and the Kerala Patrika. All people believed whatever was published in those papers, and rightly so because there were no contradictions or differences in facts. Facts were never disputed because non-verified facts were never published. Of course there were deliberate distortions like those by Sanjayan for the sake of humourous writings that used to appear in Kerala Patrika. The 8th column of the paper was reserved for him. What I mean is that things have changed so much that today we do not know on what to rely and what not. This is not to blame anybody, but only to highlight the pitiable helplessness of the readers.
Today if you read four newspapers you will get four versions of the same small incident. Everything seems to be distorted and politicized. It is difficult to get at the truth and form any opinion. Truth is always hidden somewhere. And even to find the truth of a very small incident you may have to appoint a commission and wait for several years! Most Newspapers can be read only as fiction not as facts.
There is a book called Flat Earth News by Nick Davies, a journalist. He cites a typical example of how a false news is sensational. A news item was published in the Fleet Street Journal saying that a five year old boy was caught by a rowdy gang and tried to kill him by hanging by neck on a tree and that he somehow managed to escape. Most of the prominent papers like the guardian, Times, Mail and Evening News went on repeating it. Newspapers did not stop there. They published features about the atrocities that have increased in the city and the terror that have been unleashed.
But it appears that the real truth was only that a twelve year old girl tried to walk a boy of five like a dog by tying a leash around his neck and in the process he got some bruises on his neck! Nick Davies compares this with the vide coverage to the news that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. According to him only ten percent of the news published by newspapers are verified and authenticated. The rest are second hand news as handed out by interested public relation people or governmental agencies.
Once something has happened it has become the past. It has become the history. Unfortunately it has become “his story’, and not my story. My story is different, I claim. Everybody claims his story, his version, to be true. Of course it depends on one’s perspective. But if there is compassion, understanding, truth will emerge. A willingness to find truth may help. Capacity for discrimination is important. For recognizing facts from fiction the only thing one can rely on is one’s own direct intuitive perception and understanding without bias or preconceived notions. Too much stress has been made on logic and reasoning, which, although have helped man in scientific development, are actually only instruments for verification of intuitively obtained ideas.
I think, an open mind and willingness to understand the other point of view can help to sift facts from fiction.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: I first thought that free thinking was unbridled thinking without caring for facts or anything else. If free thinking is on its own considered a virtue facts are of no relevance. One goes on thinking of various aspects of a case from different angles till a conclusion emerges. Then naturally the decision based on incorrect facts will also be incorrect. The importance of facts are then recognized. Sometimes in a court of law we find that opposite parties go on putting arguments in all sorts of manner giving several reasons and law points on a matter before the judges without bothering about the facts. After considering all the forceful arguments if the judge comes to a conclusion he will be committing grave errors if facts are not checked. Free Thinking is thus not merely thinking freely with abandon as you like. Fact is the most important part of free thinking.
Prof. Hay: Just consider the case of P.J.Joseph, ex-Minister. The judgment of the court is in all the Newspapers to-day. What is the actual fact? Did he actually molest the lady or not? The allegation was outraging of her modesty while traveling in the aircraft. The court says the prosecution could not produce sufficient evidence. We cannot say that he is exonerated. One can neither say that he was innocent nor that he is guilty.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: A lady will not normally come forward with such an allegation openly in public unless she did feel really outraged. What would be her purpose otherwise? There is no possibility of any political conspiracy.
Dr. Thomas: Protection for ladies in such circumstances is difficult. It is one man’s word against the other. No direct evidence is possible. The innocent, the minister or the lady, suffers the humiliation and consequential losses.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: In the film ‘Sakshi’ recently seen, an innocent is thus hanged because the truth was never revealed.
Prof. Sankarankutty: The truth should come out from the bud of fact and blossom naturally. Facts are different from truth. To-day’s fact may not be a fact tomorrow. Things change and therefore facts also change. But truth never changes. Unlike truth, facts get twisted and turned in the folds of time and space. In the legal proceedings, facts are found out and established by examining evidences and cross questioning witnesses. In the process a lot of violence may be done to facts as the judge watches on. A fact is thus temporary.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: But often we use the word fact as synonymous to truth. An established fact is considered true.
Dr. Thomas: There is the difficulty with languages. Words will have different meanings at different times and therefore meanings are never precise. Meanings and grammar are formed in the brain. American linguist Noam Chomsky has written about it.
Prof. Sankarankutty: He said that actually there is no need to teach or learn grammar. Human being knows the general principles of language by birth. It is the way of thinking later codified into a form of rules or grammatical structures for uniformity. Language itself is actually unreliable because what is expressed is not exactly what is intended or understood. Everywhere there is infection of facts. How to disinfect facts is the question.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Time and space do affect facts. Earth was flat earlier and that was a fact then. Now it is round and that is accepted as fact.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Facts get altered in time and space but truth always remains the same.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Mathematics as such never changes. Two plus two is always four when two, four and addition are defined.
Dr. Sadanandan: But perceptions of it do differ and change. For those who do not understand mathematics even the fact that two plus two is four need not be a fact. It can be a bigger two.
Dr. Thomas: It is a well known fact that Omar Khayam was a man who loved and wrote about wine and women. Now I understand that he was a mathematician as well. What is truth or fact?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: He was actually a mystic. Ultimately I think, fact is a state of the mind. When a mind is settled on a matter it is accepted as a fact. But it need not be true.
Dr. Sadanandan: Truth cannot be explained. When I explain it, it becomes only ‘my explanation’ having nothing to do with the actual truth. Prophetic sayings may be slightly different because they come out with the light of truth. But when explained they become mere words. Truth when explained becomes merely versions of facts.
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 12-5-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Sri K.V.Kunhikrishnan, IRS(Retd), Patikkal, Kavumbagam, tellicherry-670110
Coram: Seven members attended. Dr.abdulla and Prof Mohanan Nair could not attend as both were out of station.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan:
We had briefly touched upon this subject in our tenth anniversary proceedings but had no opportunity or facility to discuss the subject in detail.
Fact is a casualty in today’s world. A stage has come when we cannot rely on any information whatsoever that we come across in the media. They are manipulated by personal or group interests. As our Forum stands for free unbiased thinking, we have a stake in the premises based on which we think, and the premises are facts. The first requisite for free thought is the correctness of facts and a respectful commitment to facts. The other requisites are of course, clear logic, understanding the other, and willingness to change one’s opinion.
The main requirement is getting the facts. When we have direct knowledge, facts are clear and self evident. For example, when I tell you that I am old, you see straight that I am old. Nobody will deny. But when I say that I am over eighty, it can only be a reliable belief to you because it is not in your direct knowledge. There is no proof. That is why I have to produce my birth certificate to get enhanced pension on crossing the eightieth year. In day to day life we believe and rely on so many doubtful facts without evidence that the conclusions arrived at are very often widely off the mark. So, what is the remedy? Doubting anything and everything till authentic proof is obtained is no remedy, and is neither practical. But a healthy skepticism has to be maintained while having an open mind. Those who do not have an open mind cannot be unbiased.
Facts are generally elusive. It has different perspectives. There are different versions to the same set of facts. But the deliberate distortions of facts have to be recognized and discarded diligently.
Those who do not have an open mind can never find out the truth. Anybody who is wedded or committed to a dogma can never be free thinkers because he has already surrendered his mind/brain to fixed ideas. He will accept as facts only what suits his blind beliefs To avoid conflicts we need free thinkers. Future leaders have to be free thinkers who can influence the ideologists to change and be free. This is not to discount any dogma or ideology, or to say they are wrong or right. But the necessity to have open minded people in this age is very important. merely tolerating the other point of view is not enough. One must fully understand and respect the opposite point of view also. Then there cannot be any violent conflict. Facts have a most important function here.
When I was a student of sixth and seventh standard we had two Newspapers in Malayalam. The Mathrubhoomi and the Kerala Patrika. All people believed whatever was published in those papers, and rightly so because there were no contradictions or differences in facts. Facts were never disputed because non-verified facts were never published. Of course there were deliberate distortions like those by Sanjayan for the sake of humourous writings that used to appear in Kerala Patrika. The 8th column of the paper was reserved for him. What I mean is that things have changed so much that today we do not know on what to rely and what not. This is not to blame anybody, but only to highlight the pitiable helplessness of the readers.
Today if you read four newspapers you will get four versions of the same small incident. Everything seems to be distorted and politicized. It is difficult to get at the truth and form any opinion. Truth is always hidden somewhere. And even to find the truth of a very small incident you may have to appoint a commission and wait for several years! Most Newspapers can be read only as fiction not as facts.
There is a book called Flat Earth News by Nick Davies, a journalist. He cites a typical example of how a false news is sensational. A news item was published in the Fleet Street Journal saying that a five year old boy was caught by a rowdy gang and tried to kill him by hanging by neck on a tree and that he somehow managed to escape. Most of the prominent papers like the guardian, Times, Mail and Evening News went on repeating it. Newspapers did not stop there. They published features about the atrocities that have increased in the city and the terror that have been unleashed.
But it appears that the real truth was only that a twelve year old girl tried to walk a boy of five like a dog by tying a leash around his neck and in the process he got some bruises on his neck! Nick Davies compares this with the vide coverage to the news that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. According to him only ten percent of the news published by newspapers are verified and authenticated. The rest are second hand news as handed out by interested public relation people or governmental agencies.
Once something has happened it has become the past. It has become the history. Unfortunately it has become “his story’, and not my story. My story is different, I claim. Everybody claims his story, his version, to be true. Of course it depends on one’s perspective. But if there is compassion, understanding, truth will emerge. A willingness to find truth may help. Capacity for discrimination is important. For recognizing facts from fiction the only thing one can rely on is one’s own direct intuitive perception and understanding without bias or preconceived notions. Too much stress has been made on logic and reasoning, which, although have helped man in scientific development, are actually only instruments for verification of intuitively obtained ideas.
I think, an open mind and willingness to understand the other point of view can help to sift facts from fiction.
Dr. K.P.Thomas: I first thought that free thinking was unbridled thinking without caring for facts or anything else. If free thinking is on its own considered a virtue facts are of no relevance. One goes on thinking of various aspects of a case from different angles till a conclusion emerges. Then naturally the decision based on incorrect facts will also be incorrect. The importance of facts are then recognized. Sometimes in a court of law we find that opposite parties go on putting arguments in all sorts of manner giving several reasons and law points on a matter before the judges without bothering about the facts. After considering all the forceful arguments if the judge comes to a conclusion he will be committing grave errors if facts are not checked. Free Thinking is thus not merely thinking freely with abandon as you like. Fact is the most important part of free thinking.
Prof. Hay: Just consider the case of P.J.Joseph, ex-Minister. The judgment of the court is in all the Newspapers to-day. What is the actual fact? Did he actually molest the lady or not? The allegation was outraging of her modesty while traveling in the aircraft. The court says the prosecution could not produce sufficient evidence. We cannot say that he is exonerated. One can neither say that he was innocent nor that he is guilty.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: A lady will not normally come forward with such an allegation openly in public unless she did feel really outraged. What would be her purpose otherwise? There is no possibility of any political conspiracy.
Dr. Thomas: Protection for ladies in such circumstances is difficult. It is one man’s word against the other. No direct evidence is possible. The innocent, the minister or the lady, suffers the humiliation and consequential losses.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: In the film ‘Sakshi’ recently seen, an innocent is thus hanged because the truth was never revealed.
Prof. Sankarankutty: The truth should come out from the bud of fact and blossom naturally. Facts are different from truth. To-day’s fact may not be a fact tomorrow. Things change and therefore facts also change. But truth never changes. Unlike truth, facts get twisted and turned in the folds of time and space. In the legal proceedings, facts are found out and established by examining evidences and cross questioning witnesses. In the process a lot of violence may be done to facts as the judge watches on. A fact is thus temporary.
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: But often we use the word fact as synonymous to truth. An established fact is considered true.
Dr. Thomas: There is the difficulty with languages. Words will have different meanings at different times and therefore meanings are never precise. Meanings and grammar are formed in the brain. American linguist Noam Chomsky has written about it.
Prof. Sankarankutty: He said that actually there is no need to teach or learn grammar. Human being knows the general principles of language by birth. It is the way of thinking later codified into a form of rules or grammatical structures for uniformity. Language itself is actually unreliable because what is expressed is not exactly what is intended or understood. Everywhere there is infection of facts. How to disinfect facts is the question.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Time and space do affect facts. Earth was flat earlier and that was a fact then. Now it is round and that is accepted as fact.
Prof. Sankarankutty: Facts get altered in time and space but truth always remains the same.
Sri Kunhikrishnan: Mathematics as such never changes. Two plus two is always four when two, four and addition are defined.
Dr. Sadanandan: But perceptions of it do differ and change. For those who do not understand mathematics even the fact that two plus two is four need not be a fact. It can be a bigger two.
Dr. Thomas: It is a well known fact that Omar Khayam was a man who loved and wrote about wine and women. Now I understand that he was a mathematician as well. What is truth or fact?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: He was actually a mystic. Ultimately I think, fact is a state of the mind. When a mind is settled on a matter it is accepted as a fact. But it need not be true.
Dr. Sadanandan: Truth cannot be explained. When I explain it, it becomes only ‘my explanation’ having nothing to do with the actual truth. Prophetic sayings may be slightly different because they come out with the light of truth. But when explained they become mere words. Truth when explained becomes merely versions of facts.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
roots of terrorism
EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 17-3-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Prof. Mohanan Nair
Coram: Eight members attended. Dr. Thomas could not be present as he was out of station in Bangalore.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Most of the aspects of terrorism have already been discussed by this forum, and therefore what I have to say here may have some repetitions.
The use of the word ‘terrorism’ began in 1795 with reference to the ‘Reign of Terror’ initiated by the revolutionary government in France, though violence has been used systematically throughout human history by political organizations, nationalist, ethnic and religious groups, and by revolutionaries to create fear and to force government or societies to achieve political, religious and ideological goals. It has been an effective tactics of the weaker side of a conflict. Being an asymmetric form of conflict it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost. This is also true with regard to the human lives lost in terrorist operations. Though terrorist activities had started early in human history its impact has been magnified by the deadliness and technological sophistication of modern weapons. The attack on the WTO on Sept.11, 2001 by the Al Qaeda suicide squad is an illustrious example. Changes in the tactics or techniques of the terrorists have been significant, but even more significant, is the growth in the number of causes and social contexts where terrorism is used.
Terrorism has been described variously depending on whose point of view is represented. There are three perspectives of terrorism – that of the terrorist, the victim and the public. The three perspectives can never be accommodated in one definition. The terrorists never consider themselves as evil. They think of themselves as legitimate combatants fighting for what they believe to be right while in discriminately killing the non-combatants including women and children. The suffering of the citizens accomplishes the terrorist’s goal of instilling fear and getting their message out to the world. A victim of terrorism looks at the terrorist as an inhuman criminal having no regard for human life. The perspectives of the general public should have been the most important. But unfortunately it is the most unstable.
There is also another difficulty in constructing a definition for terrorism. History provides us ample examples of organizations and leaders branded as terrorists eventually emerged as accepted leaders. This is particularly applicable to national liberation movements fighting colonial oppression. Nelson Mandela, Bhagat Singh etc. are standing examples. In spite of the terrorist activities committed by the communist party of Nepal, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, is now the head of a democratically elected government.
Another dimension to terrorism is the exploitation of the capability of the media by the terrorists. The terrorists are always careful to obtain the greatest publicity. The effectiveness of a terrorist act does not lie in the act itself but in the public’s or government’s reaction to the act. The ability of the media and the avidity in covering news of terrorist activity instantaneously encourages the terrorists to carry out novel techniques of suicidal killings.
When we try to analyze the causes of terrorism we find that primarily it is the imbalanced human brain that initiates terrorist activity.
Dr. Abdulla: Not exactly. We cannot call it imbalance which will amount to madness. It is an aberration rather than an imbalance.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: whatever it is, the loss of balance may be due to political reasons as was in the case of the French Revolution or the Soviet Union of Stalin, racial in the case of Nazi Germany, ethnical in the case of LTTE, religious fundamentalism as in the case Lashkar E Tioba or Al Qaeda, or social or economic inequality as in the case of Maoists in a number of states in India. We cannot have an exhaustive list because the number of cases is on the increase. The perpetrators of terrorism exploit the poverty and illiteracy among the masses. Illiteracy breeds gullibility. The sweet imagination of immediate ascent to heaven or having hallows of martyrdom around them are ideas that could be easily driven into a gullible brain. We find that the organizers of terrorism keep themselves away at a safe distance and encourage illiterate ones to blow themselves up in the name of an imaginary cause. The manic ideology of Al-Qaeda has no roots in mainstream Islam which share core values of peace and tolerance with the world’s major religions.
We notice that always it is the crazy idea of one single man that is at the root of any terrorist organization, and he is the person who propagates and builds up a terrorist outfit. It may be either a Hitler or an Osama Bin Laden.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Any idea is always like that. It originates from one man, spreads and takes root. Only, the originator has to convince his group.
Dr. Abdulla: No Bin Laden or LTTE Prabhakaran will go with the suicide squad. They will only send their brainwashed followers.
Prof. Mohan Nair: No engineer for that matter will join the suicide squad. They plan and engineer from behind. If a few top leaders including the originator are eliminated, the organization could perhaps be destroyed.
Prof. Sakarankutty: If leaders are killed violence may become out of control.
Dr.Abdulla: All the same, it will definitely harm the organization. The second rung leaders would take over, and if they are unable to control the followers there may be chaos and more destruction imposed on the public.
Sri. Kunhikrishan: There is some point in the idea of eliminating the leaders. In olden times when a Raja is killed in battle, his followers and army are defeated and they surrender.
Prof Sankarankutty: There was a news item recently in The Hindu about Bin Laden’s death. Some papers reported, as if originating from authentic source, that Bin Laden was killed. But before his organization was affected by the news they managed to show him alive in some Television Channel.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: though suicide attacks are particularly associated with Al-Qaeda ideology, they have been adopted even much earlier by Tamil Tigers, and by militant groups in Afghanistan (Taliban) and Pakistan. Islamic education system, may be in a very minority of cases, advocate extreme views which are inconsistent with main stream Islam. This has been said to flourish in Pakistan where inadequate funding of state education permits unregulated ‘Madrasa’ religious education to take hold.
Prof. Sankarankutty: When we think about the lack of funds for education, the first thing that comes out is the expenses that are incurred in this world on the military or the defense establishments as a whole. A fraction of that would have been sufficient to promote good education and social uplift.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Terrorism has invariably an imaginary enemy. To fight it terrorists use all means in their command, right or wrong, basing their activities in weak countries. In fact, the countries which are conducive to the spread of terrorism, according to the UN are those characterized by the ‘lack of rule of law, and violation of human rights, ethnic, national, and religious discrimination, political exclusion, socio-economic marginalization and lack of good governance.’
Dr. Sadanandan: Terrorism is an extreme form of violence, heinous, tragic, and distressing. Innocent people getting caught unawares, killed for no reason, and for no fault of theirs, is barbaric. It is brutal, coming out of some crazy ideas of a beastly mind.
Our concern here is to get to the root of terrorism, perhaps to find out means to eradicate this evil completely. We have been going through all possible reasons behind this problem and what contributes in the making of a terrorist. It may be the violent reaction in an outburst of an oppressed and disgruntled individual in his struggle for existence. And someone cunning and having ulterior motives might be exploiting this mind to his virulent designs.
We have explained many reasons that lead to violence in our social existence. Social upheavals, social differences and discriminations, religious fundamentalism, economic disparity, political and national differences, ideological conflicts and psychological idiosyncrasies, are all causes for violence in our society. The problem is in human relationships. The existence of appalling division and thereby isolation of individuals into different groups, sects and compartments does not help to instill good relationship in the society. But why these differences cause violence amongst us? Is it that while getting evolved, human beings still retain and inherit those qualities of animals that generate violence? And is it that in humans, apart from the biological evolutions, changes take place in their consciousness too – the evolution of the mental process – thereby a refinement and maturity of the mind is possible, but is lacking when one is violent? In our day to day life we are all violent sometime or other. We are at war with each other on our differences. Battle is there in the psyche too. Mind is where all thoughts, feelings, ideas, experiences exist. And our relationship is based on this mind. Daily living is a struggle for each one of us. When we compete with each other and force one’s way up, there develops friction, noise, and violence. For generations we have lived with these noises. We are getting accustomed to it. Our social morality has been shaped accordingly and we live with it.
But terrorism is horrible and dangerous. With it civilized society cannot exist. That dark-hooded man from the distant land crossing the sea, getting into a hotel room fully armed, killing a helpless innocent lady, the mother of a small, kid and shooting anybody at sight, it is horrifying1 one can’t see any logic in it. The only logic could be that man is still an animal. At least some are, and they behave beast-like.
The Tatas are considering doing whatever is possible to rebuild the structures of their hotel to make it terror proof. Government is making sure that every nook and corner of our land is accessible to the security guards and commandos within no time when the need comes. Cross- border terrorism has to be sorted out with our neighbors with dialogues and appropriate diplomacy. Now we try to rest our hope on Mr. Obama, the most powerful leader on earth to save us from Osama, the terrorist. Osama Bin Laden is there very much alive in his den, and to extricate him seem to be a real task. And who knows how many dens are there with terrorists inside, and where all?
Is not the real den our own mind, the resting place of the wildest of all beasts always exuding venom and creating whatever problems we have? Do we see this? Can we understand? Is there light? Is there intelligence? What is it that we lack?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: We have seen that criminally minded people will be there as long as human mind does not change either by individual effort on a wide scale or by mutation. Till then the causes for terrorism will have to be contained, viz. 1) the patronages by, politicians of different states and countries, interests of religious groups, ideologies, and selfish interests who use the criminals and 2) people or organizations who finance the operation of terrorists.
I feel that there is a need to make people aware of the utter need to eschew violence on a wide scale, in matters of dispute or dissatisfaction or grievances, relating to religion, ideology or politics. Nothing can be achieved by violence as it breeds counter violence. One may think it is a futile exercise, or is useless to try. But why not make a world wide campaign for all organizations, political parties and religions to be forced to give a declaration that they are against terrorism and violence in all matters? Those who do not give a declaration or include the pledge in their manifesto should be treated as criminals by the world society. And to remedy grievances there could be arrangements to solve them in all countries, sponsored by the world Forum. This may at least morally discourage the general public not to join or support terrorism financially or otherwise.
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 17-3-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Prof. Mohanan Nair
Coram: Eight members attended. Dr. Thomas could not be present as he was out of station in Bangalore.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Most of the aspects of terrorism have already been discussed by this forum, and therefore what I have to say here may have some repetitions.
The use of the word ‘terrorism’ began in 1795 with reference to the ‘Reign of Terror’ initiated by the revolutionary government in France, though violence has been used systematically throughout human history by political organizations, nationalist, ethnic and religious groups, and by revolutionaries to create fear and to force government or societies to achieve political, religious and ideological goals. It has been an effective tactics of the weaker side of a conflict. Being an asymmetric form of conflict it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost. This is also true with regard to the human lives lost in terrorist operations. Though terrorist activities had started early in human history its impact has been magnified by the deadliness and technological sophistication of modern weapons. The attack on the WTO on Sept.11, 2001 by the Al Qaeda suicide squad is an illustrious example. Changes in the tactics or techniques of the terrorists have been significant, but even more significant, is the growth in the number of causes and social contexts where terrorism is used.
Terrorism has been described variously depending on whose point of view is represented. There are three perspectives of terrorism – that of the terrorist, the victim and the public. The three perspectives can never be accommodated in one definition. The terrorists never consider themselves as evil. They think of themselves as legitimate combatants fighting for what they believe to be right while in discriminately killing the non-combatants including women and children. The suffering of the citizens accomplishes the terrorist’s goal of instilling fear and getting their message out to the world. A victim of terrorism looks at the terrorist as an inhuman criminal having no regard for human life. The perspectives of the general public should have been the most important. But unfortunately it is the most unstable.
There is also another difficulty in constructing a definition for terrorism. History provides us ample examples of organizations and leaders branded as terrorists eventually emerged as accepted leaders. This is particularly applicable to national liberation movements fighting colonial oppression. Nelson Mandela, Bhagat Singh etc. are standing examples. In spite of the terrorist activities committed by the communist party of Nepal, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal alias Prachanda, is now the head of a democratically elected government.
Another dimension to terrorism is the exploitation of the capability of the media by the terrorists. The terrorists are always careful to obtain the greatest publicity. The effectiveness of a terrorist act does not lie in the act itself but in the public’s or government’s reaction to the act. The ability of the media and the avidity in covering news of terrorist activity instantaneously encourages the terrorists to carry out novel techniques of suicidal killings.
When we try to analyze the causes of terrorism we find that primarily it is the imbalanced human brain that initiates terrorist activity.
Dr. Abdulla: Not exactly. We cannot call it imbalance which will amount to madness. It is an aberration rather than an imbalance.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: whatever it is, the loss of balance may be due to political reasons as was in the case of the French Revolution or the Soviet Union of Stalin, racial in the case of Nazi Germany, ethnical in the case of LTTE, religious fundamentalism as in the case Lashkar E Tioba or Al Qaeda, or social or economic inequality as in the case of Maoists in a number of states in India. We cannot have an exhaustive list because the number of cases is on the increase. The perpetrators of terrorism exploit the poverty and illiteracy among the masses. Illiteracy breeds gullibility. The sweet imagination of immediate ascent to heaven or having hallows of martyrdom around them are ideas that could be easily driven into a gullible brain. We find that the organizers of terrorism keep themselves away at a safe distance and encourage illiterate ones to blow themselves up in the name of an imaginary cause. The manic ideology of Al-Qaeda has no roots in mainstream Islam which share core values of peace and tolerance with the world’s major religions.
We notice that always it is the crazy idea of one single man that is at the root of any terrorist organization, and he is the person who propagates and builds up a terrorist outfit. It may be either a Hitler or an Osama Bin Laden.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Any idea is always like that. It originates from one man, spreads and takes root. Only, the originator has to convince his group.
Dr. Abdulla: No Bin Laden or LTTE Prabhakaran will go with the suicide squad. They will only send their brainwashed followers.
Prof. Mohan Nair: No engineer for that matter will join the suicide squad. They plan and engineer from behind. If a few top leaders including the originator are eliminated, the organization could perhaps be destroyed.
Prof. Sakarankutty: If leaders are killed violence may become out of control.
Dr.Abdulla: All the same, it will definitely harm the organization. The second rung leaders would take over, and if they are unable to control the followers there may be chaos and more destruction imposed on the public.
Sri. Kunhikrishan: There is some point in the idea of eliminating the leaders. In olden times when a Raja is killed in battle, his followers and army are defeated and they surrender.
Prof Sankarankutty: There was a news item recently in The Hindu about Bin Laden’s death. Some papers reported, as if originating from authentic source, that Bin Laden was killed. But before his organization was affected by the news they managed to show him alive in some Television Channel.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: though suicide attacks are particularly associated with Al-Qaeda ideology, they have been adopted even much earlier by Tamil Tigers, and by militant groups in Afghanistan (Taliban) and Pakistan. Islamic education system, may be in a very minority of cases, advocate extreme views which are inconsistent with main stream Islam. This has been said to flourish in Pakistan where inadequate funding of state education permits unregulated ‘Madrasa’ religious education to take hold.
Prof. Sankarankutty: When we think about the lack of funds for education, the first thing that comes out is the expenses that are incurred in this world on the military or the defense establishments as a whole. A fraction of that would have been sufficient to promote good education and social uplift.
Prof. Mohanan Nair: Terrorism has invariably an imaginary enemy. To fight it terrorists use all means in their command, right or wrong, basing their activities in weak countries. In fact, the countries which are conducive to the spread of terrorism, according to the UN are those characterized by the ‘lack of rule of law, and violation of human rights, ethnic, national, and religious discrimination, political exclusion, socio-economic marginalization and lack of good governance.’
Dr. Sadanandan: Terrorism is an extreme form of violence, heinous, tragic, and distressing. Innocent people getting caught unawares, killed for no reason, and for no fault of theirs, is barbaric. It is brutal, coming out of some crazy ideas of a beastly mind.
Our concern here is to get to the root of terrorism, perhaps to find out means to eradicate this evil completely. We have been going through all possible reasons behind this problem and what contributes in the making of a terrorist. It may be the violent reaction in an outburst of an oppressed and disgruntled individual in his struggle for existence. And someone cunning and having ulterior motives might be exploiting this mind to his virulent designs.
We have explained many reasons that lead to violence in our social existence. Social upheavals, social differences and discriminations, religious fundamentalism, economic disparity, political and national differences, ideological conflicts and psychological idiosyncrasies, are all causes for violence in our society. The problem is in human relationships. The existence of appalling division and thereby isolation of individuals into different groups, sects and compartments does not help to instill good relationship in the society. But why these differences cause violence amongst us? Is it that while getting evolved, human beings still retain and inherit those qualities of animals that generate violence? And is it that in humans, apart from the biological evolutions, changes take place in their consciousness too – the evolution of the mental process – thereby a refinement and maturity of the mind is possible, but is lacking when one is violent? In our day to day life we are all violent sometime or other. We are at war with each other on our differences. Battle is there in the psyche too. Mind is where all thoughts, feelings, ideas, experiences exist. And our relationship is based on this mind. Daily living is a struggle for each one of us. When we compete with each other and force one’s way up, there develops friction, noise, and violence. For generations we have lived with these noises. We are getting accustomed to it. Our social morality has been shaped accordingly and we live with it.
But terrorism is horrible and dangerous. With it civilized society cannot exist. That dark-hooded man from the distant land crossing the sea, getting into a hotel room fully armed, killing a helpless innocent lady, the mother of a small, kid and shooting anybody at sight, it is horrifying1 one can’t see any logic in it. The only logic could be that man is still an animal. At least some are, and they behave beast-like.
The Tatas are considering doing whatever is possible to rebuild the structures of their hotel to make it terror proof. Government is making sure that every nook and corner of our land is accessible to the security guards and commandos within no time when the need comes. Cross- border terrorism has to be sorted out with our neighbors with dialogues and appropriate diplomacy. Now we try to rest our hope on Mr. Obama, the most powerful leader on earth to save us from Osama, the terrorist. Osama Bin Laden is there very much alive in his den, and to extricate him seem to be a real task. And who knows how many dens are there with terrorists inside, and where all?
Is not the real den our own mind, the resting place of the wildest of all beasts always exuding venom and creating whatever problems we have? Do we see this? Can we understand? Is there light? Is there intelligence? What is it that we lack?
Sri. Kunhikrishnan: We have seen that criminally minded people will be there as long as human mind does not change either by individual effort on a wide scale or by mutation. Till then the causes for terrorism will have to be contained, viz. 1) the patronages by, politicians of different states and countries, interests of religious groups, ideologies, and selfish interests who use the criminals and 2) people or organizations who finance the operation of terrorists.
I feel that there is a need to make people aware of the utter need to eschew violence on a wide scale, in matters of dispute or dissatisfaction or grievances, relating to religion, ideology or politics. Nothing can be achieved by violence as it breeds counter violence. One may think it is a futile exercise, or is useless to try. But why not make a world wide campaign for all organizations, political parties and religions to be forced to give a declaration that they are against terrorism and violence in all matters? Those who do not give a declaration or include the pledge in their manifesto should be treated as criminals by the world society. And to remedy grievances there could be arrangements to solve them in all countries, sponsored by the world Forum. This may at least morally discourage the general public not to join or support terrorism financially or otherwise.
Monday, November 16, 2009
roots of terrorism
EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 24-2-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr.Mohammed Abdulla
Coram: All nine members attended.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)
Prof. Richard Hay: There has always been a conflict between the East and the West for several centuries. The conflict between the Middle East and the West has roots in the belief that Jerusalem and surroundings were given to the Jews by God Himself. Even long before the present Israel was born, there were crusades for centuries.
Dr. Sankarankutty: That is the ‘Cross and the Crescent’ conflict.
Prof. Hay: The conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and Hindu fundamentalism is another. The main objective of the Al-Quaida is said to be to destabilize the American Federal Government and other western powers to establish complete radical Islamic control. There is a similarity in the fundamentalist RSS way of thinking and objectives. And this is similar in the sense that they want to enforce what is called Manu Dharma, the law founded on the caste system, or the Racist Culture. How can such differences be reconciled? Is there any solution? Not to just contain the conflicts, but to stop it once for all?
Al-Quaida was formed in 1980 with the financial support of America to fight Russian Communism in Afghanistan. The Taliban was also similarly encouraged and supported by US to chase away communist Russia from Afghanistan. On the ouster of the Communists from Afghan, Americans lost control over the powerful fundamental groups who had out-served their utility and had become religious fanatics. Under the leadership of the wealthy and disgruntled engineer from Saudi Arabia, Osama Bin Laden, Al Quaida became a terrorist organization to fight the US and defend Islam from it’s ‘oppressor’.
Same is the case with other fundamentalist organizations and the states that support them. Extremism and fundamentalism are built up and encouraged first to whip up emotions on the basis of religion, language, race etc. to capture power, and then they get out of control leading to creation of terrorist outfits. Criminally minded leaders take advantage of the situation.
The same sort of situations can be traced in respect of most of the terror outfits, whether it is the fundamentalism of the Sikhs, the LTTE, the Irish Terrorists, or the Nexalites.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Emotionally charged factors like religion, language or race are used by politicians and countries to play power politics and in the bargain end up creating fundamental outfits for criminally minded leaders to take over and misuse. The root cause is therefore not religion or language, but the politicians who use the outfits for their purpose whipping up hatred.
Prof. Hay: It was to capture power from the Shah of Iran that the fundamental religious heads organized and promoted Islamic fundamentalism under the leadership of Khomeini. Finally it ended up in the extremist religious rule and a ‘fatwa’ against Salman Rusdie for imagined insult to Islam. Now Taliban desires to establish Shariat Rule all over Pakistan and Kashmir.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Kashmir’s position is different. It was originally under the rule of a Hindu King to whom the Kashmiris owed allegiance sincerely. This was said to be because the majority of Kashmiris revered the Sufi tradition which the King encouraged as against the strict following of Sunni Islam. The majority were, no doubt, followers of Islam, and that gave the reason for Pakistan to claim the area.
Dr. Thomas: The people there were on the side of India when the partition happened. Their leader Shaik Abdulla joined Nehru in the fight against Pakistan to retain Kashmir with India. Present leader Omar Abdulla is his grandson.
Prof. Richard Hay: The question now is how we can end terrorism? Is there any solution? Any solution has to be political, for it to last. It cannot be suppressed militarily or by the elimination of terrorist sanctuaries. Will terrorism end if the unjust military occupations are reversed? Can we reclaim religion from the clutches of fundamentalists? These are burning questions now. Terrorism is born out of grudge, grievance, disappointments that find expression in hate-attack-revenge syndrome. When an opportunity comes in the form of fundamentalism and finance it flourishes. Can the terrorists be brought to join the political process? Arab countries are divided over Palestine. And their governments are not democratic. It is doubtful that the Islamic countries would prefer western type of democracies. Can a united Arab World tackle Terrorism?
Dr. Abdulla: The Arab countries have been financially independent and self sufficient. Economic grievances are not there for the general public. People are otherwise controlled by force of stringent laws. There is no political force in Arab countries. People are by nature peace loving and nature loving.
Prof.Richard Hay: Every country has its own culture. That culture never propagates terrorism. Deep within, the inner feeling is always peace loving. But I am surprised and even embarrassed at times to find that yet some of them support extremism and violence.
Dr. Abdulla: I wonder why the U.N. is not working in a big way against terrorism. It is only at the international level that terrorism can be tackled.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Now that Obama is at the top of the most powerful nation in the U.N, can’t he do something? Somebody can move him.
Prof. Hay: It is definitely a possibility. There is perhaps a chance.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Somebody has to put forward the idea. Man should be educated to think without bias. Free thinking without the bias of religion, language, race or idealism has to be promoted in a big way at the world level. Indian constitution provides for treating all citizens alike without this bias, but yet people are not even aware.
Prof.Sankarankutty: But history repeats. The abolished caste system has come back in the form of reservations in a more complex pattern creating fights and conflicts.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Had the criterion for giving special status and concessions been only economical for any reservation, the division on account of caste would not have been perpetuated. Any discrimination or insult on account of caste etc. could have been instead made more stringently punishable by law.
Prof. Sankarankutty: A change has to happen at the level of the mind of Man. World is a universal brotherhood. The change from violence to peace has to come from within. Sage Arobindo’s idea is to transform the mind of man in such a way that it can be compared to a state among animals where the dear and the tiger drink from the same stream without any animosity or conflict.
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 24-2-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Residence of Dr.Mohammed Abdulla
Coram: All nine members attended.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism (cont’d)
Prof. Richard Hay: There has always been a conflict between the East and the West for several centuries. The conflict between the Middle East and the West has roots in the belief that Jerusalem and surroundings were given to the Jews by God Himself. Even long before the present Israel was born, there were crusades for centuries.
Dr. Sankarankutty: That is the ‘Cross and the Crescent’ conflict.
Prof. Hay: The conflict between Islamic fundamentalism and Hindu fundamentalism is another. The main objective of the Al-Quaida is said to be to destabilize the American Federal Government and other western powers to establish complete radical Islamic control. There is a similarity in the fundamentalist RSS way of thinking and objectives. And this is similar in the sense that they want to enforce what is called Manu Dharma, the law founded on the caste system, or the Racist Culture. How can such differences be reconciled? Is there any solution? Not to just contain the conflicts, but to stop it once for all?
Al-Quaida was formed in 1980 with the financial support of America to fight Russian Communism in Afghanistan. The Taliban was also similarly encouraged and supported by US to chase away communist Russia from Afghanistan. On the ouster of the Communists from Afghan, Americans lost control over the powerful fundamental groups who had out-served their utility and had become religious fanatics. Under the leadership of the wealthy and disgruntled engineer from Saudi Arabia, Osama Bin Laden, Al Quaida became a terrorist organization to fight the US and defend Islam from it’s ‘oppressor’.
Same is the case with other fundamentalist organizations and the states that support them. Extremism and fundamentalism are built up and encouraged first to whip up emotions on the basis of religion, language, race etc. to capture power, and then they get out of control leading to creation of terrorist outfits. Criminally minded leaders take advantage of the situation.
The same sort of situations can be traced in respect of most of the terror outfits, whether it is the fundamentalism of the Sikhs, the LTTE, the Irish Terrorists, or the Nexalites.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Emotionally charged factors like religion, language or race are used by politicians and countries to play power politics and in the bargain end up creating fundamental outfits for criminally minded leaders to take over and misuse. The root cause is therefore not religion or language, but the politicians who use the outfits for their purpose whipping up hatred.
Prof. Hay: It was to capture power from the Shah of Iran that the fundamental religious heads organized and promoted Islamic fundamentalism under the leadership of Khomeini. Finally it ended up in the extremist religious rule and a ‘fatwa’ against Salman Rusdie for imagined insult to Islam. Now Taliban desires to establish Shariat Rule all over Pakistan and Kashmir.
Sri. K.V.Kunhikrishnan: Kashmir’s position is different. It was originally under the rule of a Hindu King to whom the Kashmiris owed allegiance sincerely. This was said to be because the majority of Kashmiris revered the Sufi tradition which the King encouraged as against the strict following of Sunni Islam. The majority were, no doubt, followers of Islam, and that gave the reason for Pakistan to claim the area.
Dr. Thomas: The people there were on the side of India when the partition happened. Their leader Shaik Abdulla joined Nehru in the fight against Pakistan to retain Kashmir with India. Present leader Omar Abdulla is his grandson.
Prof. Richard Hay: The question now is how we can end terrorism? Is there any solution? Any solution has to be political, for it to last. It cannot be suppressed militarily or by the elimination of terrorist sanctuaries. Will terrorism end if the unjust military occupations are reversed? Can we reclaim religion from the clutches of fundamentalists? These are burning questions now. Terrorism is born out of grudge, grievance, disappointments that find expression in hate-attack-revenge syndrome. When an opportunity comes in the form of fundamentalism and finance it flourishes. Can the terrorists be brought to join the political process? Arab countries are divided over Palestine. And their governments are not democratic. It is doubtful that the Islamic countries would prefer western type of democracies. Can a united Arab World tackle Terrorism?
Dr. Abdulla: The Arab countries have been financially independent and self sufficient. Economic grievances are not there for the general public. People are otherwise controlled by force of stringent laws. There is no political force in Arab countries. People are by nature peace loving and nature loving.
Prof.Richard Hay: Every country has its own culture. That culture never propagates terrorism. Deep within, the inner feeling is always peace loving. But I am surprised and even embarrassed at times to find that yet some of them support extremism and violence.
Dr. Abdulla: I wonder why the U.N. is not working in a big way against terrorism. It is only at the international level that terrorism can be tackled.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Now that Obama is at the top of the most powerful nation in the U.N, can’t he do something? Somebody can move him.
Prof. Hay: It is definitely a possibility. There is perhaps a chance.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Somebody has to put forward the idea. Man should be educated to think without bias. Free thinking without the bias of religion, language, race or idealism has to be promoted in a big way at the world level. Indian constitution provides for treating all citizens alike without this bias, but yet people are not even aware.
Prof.Sankarankutty: But history repeats. The abolished caste system has come back in the form of reservations in a more complex pattern creating fights and conflicts.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Had the criterion for giving special status and concessions been only economical for any reservation, the division on account of caste would not have been perpetuated. Any discrimination or insult on account of caste etc. could have been instead made more stringently punishable by law.
Prof. Sankarankutty: A change has to happen at the level of the mind of Man. World is a universal brotherhood. The change from violence to peace has to come from within. Sage Arobindo’s idea is to transform the mind of man in such a way that it can be compared to a state among animals where the dear and the tiger drink from the same stream without any animosity or conflict.
roots of terrorism
EKKENTROS FORUM
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 20-1-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Hotel Malabar Fort (Gokulam Fort) hosted by Dr. K.P.Thomas.
Coram: All nine members attended and participated in the discussions. Dr.R.Ramesh, attended as invitee and guest participant.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism
Dr. K.P.Thomas: The height of perceived nationalism is down. It is now much less than before. The threat of a third world war is minimal as opposed to the threat in the fifties and sixties. The strength of the superpowers are also now in doldrums, the communist block led by Russia failing in late ’89, and the leader of capitalist, America, failing in 2009 economically. The days of an imminent confrontation is over, a nuclear holocaust in the 80s was predicted, but has not happened. By the advent of the twenty-first century, Sept 11 occurred as a novel way of terrorizing USA by Taliban/Al-Queida outfit lead by Osama bin Laden, a rich construction engineer with imagined revenge against America. The core of hatred is directed against the Jews of America who control the world economy. The brainwashing technique is attained by promise of immediate ascent to heaven for those who are willing to indulge in suicidal attacks in the name of Jihad. The act of destruction and killing is justified by Jihad, a term originating from the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Lashkar-e-Tioba, another terror outfit is having an intelligent pediatrician as its leader. To a certain extent a large chunk of Islamic population supports action against USA by boycotting their products through sms and internet.
Weaker nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon are being used by the terrorists as hiding places. Israel, the half-brother of Muslims, is master of terrorism claiming also that they are the selected people of God. Now, off and on, the war has been developing vigorously in the Palestinian region. The Terror in India is Pakistan sponsored, and the irritant causes are Kashmir, river water sharing, and Religion.
Christian evangelism does not have any physical aggression component or any use of weapon other than a little conversion mania which is now being made illegal. They suffer aggression from outfits like Bajrang Dal, ABVP, and RSS. They advocate clean living, education and the betterment of the ignorant people.
Religious fundamentalism is on the increase more than feelings of nationhood, and the way of life is different from religion to religion. Even in the same religion there are sub-groups who disagree with each other. The borders of nations have thinned out, and in the global village people are divided into Jews, Muslims, Christians, RSS, Backward class, Scheduled castes, etc. etc. Many of these groups have so-called charitable outfits into which large amounts of money flow in and these funds are managed by criminally minded people. Dominance of these criminals is on the increase, and the moment they are identified and tackled, terrorism can be contained. The outfits of the mischievous elements have always been coated with so much culture, way of life, lofty interests, religion, and political clout, that it has been virtually impossible to identify their real purpose. That is why there was a Jenkiskhan, Timoor, Lodi, Khilgee, and then westerners marching on to India, Ceylon, Burma, Malayesia and Indonesia. The superior cultures always asserted themselves in the olden times. But now, in the globalized situation, conditions have changed.
Terrorism in the world as recorded were in France, Italy, and South Africa at different times with different groups, like Communists, Nazis, Zionists, Ku Klux Klan, Irish rebels, and the like. In India, Nagas, Mizos, and Nexals are the examples.
As of today many terrorist outfits are whipping up imaginary fears among themselves that make them indulge in or abet terrorists. A weak government like Pakistan has no control over many of the outfits who get finance by drug trafficking, smuggling, and mafia activities. Davood Ibrahim is an example where no government can touch a criminal. Benazir Bhutto was eliminated and then Marriot Hotel in Pakistan attacked and destroyed. These points to a weak president and a weak Prime Minister ruling a country with the military calling the shots.
The majority community in India is also acting with immaturity in certain parts of India. In the present times the political parties are losing their grip over the masses. The money and facilities pumped into gullible youth results more in terrorism than in any political process.
The consequences of terrorist actions are explained to the outfits by interpreting religious texts as glorifying God, or by manipulating ideology as leading to the freedom of a community or region. Some promise, through religious edicts, entry straight into heaven to suicide squads.
In the present world order when there is no great identifiable evil threat to the human being affecting in a common way – except perhaps the environmental hazards – even small subtle ethnic differences lead to clashes of interests.
In the absence of the thrill of a pastoral life, unemployment and deprivation leads the youth towards the excitement of terrorism as a hobby, livelihood, and way of life. This is with regard to the youth in a society of pastoral parents. The struggle for Khalistan is an example. It got burnt out by itself during a period of two decades between 1980 and 2000. Khalistan or a Punjab separate from India, died along with their proponents, their gullible youth, and the then PM Indira Gandhi. An altogether different terrorist action, the LTTE’s terrorism snuffed out the life of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
After 1978, with the end of Viet Nam war, terrorism has become something of a fashion. It is cheaper for prosecuting a struggle and it is perpetrated by hatred and perceived injustice, utilizing youth power.
In modern times politics and religion are like business. Politicians and priests acquire wealth and that wealth is spent to increase clout. Some exceptions may be found in individuals like Antony, Oommen Chandy and Achuthanandan. But a party like the communist Party is acquiring wealth aligning itself with running business and receiving commission money. The spending money thus acquired by one group is used to increase clout against the leader of the opposite group. Example is the clout developed against Achuthanandan. Some private companies are hand in glove criminally with politicians. With a small change of policy ministers and leaders can make money. Many have accounts in Swiss banks according to Subrahmania Swamy. Widening economic disparity is a cause for youth to pursue easy money by indulging in violence and terror-like activities. One can use religion, caste etc. to whip up violence. But finally drug trafficking and smuggling come in to make quick money. Illegal wealth can in turn generate terrorism in the younger generation under the garb of charitable activities like orphanage schools and hospitals.
Glorification of wealth and glittering life style should not be encouraged. The neat, puritan, pastoral just living, has to become the order of the day and could be encouraged and rewarded if the society is to be rid of violence and terrorism.
Regarding the Thalassery killings, after the Hindu-Muslim showdown in 1973-74, the fights did not recur because people realized that much will be lost on either side if the killings are to happen again. M.V.R had instigated violence in the eighties to show his party’s superiority. After his exit in 1992-3, it was the turn of the RSS and Marxists to sponsor the violence leading to murders. Actually it is the absence of any apparent welfare work by the NSS and SNDP in these areas, combined with a traditional glorification of martyrdom, that resulted in the present day violence and murders between Marxists and RSS in North Kerala.
While people born as Marxist in Marxist families naturally advocate violence as a means to achieve their ends, the RSS who were hitherto separated from the tradition of violence, now indulge in and keep up the culture of violence and murder in order to retaliate in the same coin. The religious stigma against killing of a fellow being as an ultimate sin is no more rooted in the youth in and around Thalassery. To a certain extent, intellectual discussions and verbal showdowns are absent here. And that is terrifying.
Dr.R.Ramesh: It is the big-brother attitude of one Party that does not allow any other Party to function which creates frustration in others to retaliate. No freedom is allowed for others to work in their strong holds. This is especially so in and around Tellicherry. They have also the full support of the police.
Dr.Md. Abdulla: There is no internationally accepted definition of terrorism. But generally it is ‘the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments often for ideological or political reasons.’
There is also the statement, ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ Thus, in the struggle against terrorism the problem of definition is a crucial element in the attempt to co-ordinate international collaboration, based on the currently accepted rules of traditional warfare.
Terrorism is variously classified:
International Terrorism
National ,,
Racial ,,
Economic ,,
Environmental Terrorism
Social ,,
Political ,,
Psychological Terrorism
Cyber ,,
Religious Terrorism – Islamic Terrorism.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the times we live in is the overwhelming presence of violence in our societies. Whether it is the bomb going on in the market place, or the hijacking of the aircraft where innocent people are held ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become common place. Such is the all-pervasive nature of indiscriminate violence, that terrorism is considered as one of the prime threats to peace and security in our societies.
The word terrorism came into wide usage only a few decades ago. One of the unfortunate results of this new terminology is that it limits the definition of terrorism to that perpetrated by small groups or individuals. Terrorism in fact spans the entire world, and manifests itself in various forms. The perpetrators do not fit any stereotype. Those who hold human life cheap, and have the power to expend human lives, appear at different levels in our societies. The frustrated employee who kills his colleagues in cold blood or the oppressed citizens of an occupied land who vents his anger by blowing up a school bus is a terrorist who provoke our anger and revulsion. Ironically, however, the politician who uses age-old ethnic animosities between peoples to consolidate his position, the head of state who orders ‘carpet bombing’ of cities, the exalted councils that choke millions of civilians to death by wielding the insidious weapon of sanctions, are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity.
It is the narrow definition of terrorism that implicates only individuals and groups, that has caused Muslims to be associated with acts of destruction and terror, and as a result to become victims of hate and violence and terror themselves. Sometimes the religion of Islam is held responsible for the acts of a handful of Muslims, and often for acts of non-muslims.
Could it be possible that Islam, whose light ended the dark ages of Europe, now propound the advent of an age of terror? Could a faith that has over 1.2 billion followers the world over and over seven million in America, actually advocate the killing and maiming of innocent people? Could Islam whose name itself stands for ‘peace’ and ‘submission to God’, encourage its adherents to work for death and destruction?
For long we relied on popular images in the media and press for answers to these pertinent questions. It is now time to look at the sources of Islam, and its history to determine whether Islam does indeed advocate violence.
Now, let us see what Islam say on terrorism. Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded special place. The first and foremost, basic right of human being, is the right to live. To quote, “….if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
Such is the value of a single human life, that the Quran equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with the killing of all humanity. Thus, the Quran prohibits homicide in clear terms. The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to administer justice is required to uphold the rule of Law, and the peace and security of the society. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has fortified his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.
Even in a state of war, Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. The instructions of the prophet are as follows: Do not kill any old persons, any child or women. Do not kill the monks in monasteries and do not kill people who are sitting in places of worship. Thus non-combatants are guaranteed security of life even if their state is at war with an Islamic state.
JIHAD is a word that is totally misunderstood and abused. While Islam in general is misunderstood in the western world, perhaps no other Islamic term evokes such strong reactions as the word ‘jihad’. The term jihad has been much abused, to conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims, forcing people to submit at the point of the sword. This myth was perpetrated throughout the centuries of mistrust during and after the crusades. Unfortunately it survives even to this day.
The word ‘Jihad’ comes from the root word Jahada, which means to struggle. So jihad is literally an act of struggling. The prophet said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with insidious suggestions of one’s own soul.
Thus jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.
Secondarily, Jihad refers to struggle against injustice. Islam like many other religion, allows for armed self defense, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression. Thus Islam enjoins upon its believers to strive utmost, in purifying themselves, as well as establishing peace and justice in society.
As Martin Luther King said, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
This is not surprising to a Muslim, for his faith prohibits him from forcing others to see his point of view. Quran says, “ Let there be no compulsion in religion; Truth stands out clear from error; Whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks; And God heareth and knoweth all things.”
Far from being a militant dogma, Islam is a way of life that transcends race and ethnicity. The glorious Quran repeatedly reminds us of our common origin.
As with the term Islamic Terrorism and the Christian Fundamentalism, the latest addition to the media lexicon is highly emotive. It was in the aftermath of the 29th Sept. 2008 bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in Maharashtra that the newly coined term ‘Hindu Terrorism’ or ‘Safron terrorism’ came to be used widely.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: The holy religious texts never promote or advocate violence and terrorism. But the terms in the texts are misunderstood or deliberately mis-interpreted for their use by the terrorists.
Prof. Sakarankutty: Quran is subjected to exhaustive and serious scrutiny by scholars of the world, and therefore there is not much room for misinterpretation.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who utilize terrorists for their agenda use deliberately, the wrong distorted interpretations.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Injustice, deprivation, denial of legitimate rights, excess use of force, social and economic inequalities, are thought to be the usual causes of terrorism or violence.
May be, after exhausting all means of getting redress, a frustrated individual feels that the only way for getting public attention is by measures of intimidation. Opting violence also appears to be the short cut towards attainment of goals. But the very interesting aspect of it is why some resort to terror and others do not. Mahatma Gandhi for achieving independence for India, Eastern Europeans for bringing down the Berlin Wall, Martin Luther King for equal rights, have not opted violence or terrorism. If deprivation of rights is indeed the root cause of terror then why do we see these people not resorting to violence?
Those practicing terrorism do not think of harmony in life. For them, the cause they espouse is so all-encompassing, so total, that it justifies anything. There is no name for the doctrine that produces the evil – i.e., totalitarianism – simple brainwashing of its subjects to indoctrinate hordes of killers to suspend all normal constraints for the sake of a twisted cause. In history we can see from its beginning totalitarianism has always been wedded to terrorism. From Lenin to Stalin, to Hitler, Ayothullha, Saddam Hussain, and right down to Osama Bin Laden, one can see a total blind commitment to a totalitarian belief.
Measures they choose tell us what their goals are. Bin Laden is not seeking to defend the rights of Muslims, but to murder as many Americans as possible and destroy America. Like that Saddam Hussain was not seeking to defend his people but to subjugate his neighbor.
Those who fight as terrorists rule as terrorists. They cannot protect freedom and human rights.
If poverty is the cause of terrorism the most poverty stricken areas of the world like the indigenous parts of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asian islands, should have been the breeding grounds for terrorism. But they have not produced any terrorists. On the other hand all terror leaders and most of the terror perpetrators are seen to be extremely rich. Poverty may assist in the recruitment of vulnerable individuals to train as terrorists, but it does not seem to be the root cause.
If helplessness, desperation, lack of opportunity and use of force are the causes hundreds of thousands of Burmese in the refugee camps of Thailand who have been poverty stricken, are helpless, and are hopelessly desperate for the past more than twenty years should have turned terrorists. No terrorist has arisen from them.
If religion alone is the cause, why do we see Muslims killing Muslims? Saddam Hussain must have killed far more Muslims than any other leader in the world at any time did even in war.
So, it is the tyrannical mindset of some which initiate terrorism. Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, the author of ‘Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Islam USA, and the Global War Against Terrorism’ says that the rhetoric of terror is the rhetoric of demonisation, the only way out of which is to destroy the perpetrator.
Praveen Swami, in an article in the Hindu has written as follows: ‘GHASWA’, the weekly newspaper of Jamat-Ud – Dawa hailed the Mumbai Massacre as ‘a historic victory for Muslim warriors who have avenged the atrocities committed by India against its Muslim minority’. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the chief of Jamaat – ud – Dawa, said in Feb 5 2001 in his speech delivered during the formation of Indian Mujahiddeen, “Remember friends, that the jihad has been ordained by Allah, it is not an order of a general that can be started one day and stopped the other day. Our Jihad in Kashmir will end when all the Hindus will be destroyed in India”.
What rhetoric! And what to do with the perpetrators?
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who indulge in such rhetoric have to be tackled of course, and the propagator of hatred destroyed. But I think that the root cause of all this is the source that uses such people for their purpose and those who finance them. The roots can be there.
The Matter: Report of the proceedings of the discussion held on 20-1-09 (Tuesday)
Venue: Hotel Malabar Fort (Gokulam Fort) hosted by Dr. K.P.Thomas.
Coram: All nine members attended and participated in the discussions. Dr.R.Ramesh, attended as invitee and guest participant.
Subject: The Roots of Terrorism
Dr. K.P.Thomas: The height of perceived nationalism is down. It is now much less than before. The threat of a third world war is minimal as opposed to the threat in the fifties and sixties. The strength of the superpowers are also now in doldrums, the communist block led by Russia failing in late ’89, and the leader of capitalist, America, failing in 2009 economically. The days of an imminent confrontation is over, a nuclear holocaust in the 80s was predicted, but has not happened. By the advent of the twenty-first century, Sept 11 occurred as a novel way of terrorizing USA by Taliban/Al-Queida outfit lead by Osama bin Laden, a rich construction engineer with imagined revenge against America. The core of hatred is directed against the Jews of America who control the world economy. The brainwashing technique is attained by promise of immediate ascent to heaven for those who are willing to indulge in suicidal attacks in the name of Jihad. The act of destruction and killing is justified by Jihad, a term originating from the teachings of Prophet Mohammed. Lashkar-e-Tioba, another terror outfit is having an intelligent pediatrician as its leader. To a certain extent a large chunk of Islamic population supports action against USA by boycotting their products through sms and internet.
Weaker nations like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon are being used by the terrorists as hiding places. Israel, the half-brother of Muslims, is master of terrorism claiming also that they are the selected people of God. Now, off and on, the war has been developing vigorously in the Palestinian region. The Terror in India is Pakistan sponsored, and the irritant causes are Kashmir, river water sharing, and Religion.
Christian evangelism does not have any physical aggression component or any use of weapon other than a little conversion mania which is now being made illegal. They suffer aggression from outfits like Bajrang Dal, ABVP, and RSS. They advocate clean living, education and the betterment of the ignorant people.
Religious fundamentalism is on the increase more than feelings of nationhood, and the way of life is different from religion to religion. Even in the same religion there are sub-groups who disagree with each other. The borders of nations have thinned out, and in the global village people are divided into Jews, Muslims, Christians, RSS, Backward class, Scheduled castes, etc. etc. Many of these groups have so-called charitable outfits into which large amounts of money flow in and these funds are managed by criminally minded people. Dominance of these criminals is on the increase, and the moment they are identified and tackled, terrorism can be contained. The outfits of the mischievous elements have always been coated with so much culture, way of life, lofty interests, religion, and political clout, that it has been virtually impossible to identify their real purpose. That is why there was a Jenkiskhan, Timoor, Lodi, Khilgee, and then westerners marching on to India, Ceylon, Burma, Malayesia and Indonesia. The superior cultures always asserted themselves in the olden times. But now, in the globalized situation, conditions have changed.
Terrorism in the world as recorded were in France, Italy, and South Africa at different times with different groups, like Communists, Nazis, Zionists, Ku Klux Klan, Irish rebels, and the like. In India, Nagas, Mizos, and Nexals are the examples.
As of today many terrorist outfits are whipping up imaginary fears among themselves that make them indulge in or abet terrorists. A weak government like Pakistan has no control over many of the outfits who get finance by drug trafficking, smuggling, and mafia activities. Davood Ibrahim is an example where no government can touch a criminal. Benazir Bhutto was eliminated and then Marriot Hotel in Pakistan attacked and destroyed. These points to a weak president and a weak Prime Minister ruling a country with the military calling the shots.
The majority community in India is also acting with immaturity in certain parts of India. In the present times the political parties are losing their grip over the masses. The money and facilities pumped into gullible youth results more in terrorism than in any political process.
The consequences of terrorist actions are explained to the outfits by interpreting religious texts as glorifying God, or by manipulating ideology as leading to the freedom of a community or region. Some promise, through religious edicts, entry straight into heaven to suicide squads.
In the present world order when there is no great identifiable evil threat to the human being affecting in a common way – except perhaps the environmental hazards – even small subtle ethnic differences lead to clashes of interests.
In the absence of the thrill of a pastoral life, unemployment and deprivation leads the youth towards the excitement of terrorism as a hobby, livelihood, and way of life. This is with regard to the youth in a society of pastoral parents. The struggle for Khalistan is an example. It got burnt out by itself during a period of two decades between 1980 and 2000. Khalistan or a Punjab separate from India, died along with their proponents, their gullible youth, and the then PM Indira Gandhi. An altogether different terrorist action, the LTTE’s terrorism snuffed out the life of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
After 1978, with the end of Viet Nam war, terrorism has become something of a fashion. It is cheaper for prosecuting a struggle and it is perpetrated by hatred and perceived injustice, utilizing youth power.
In modern times politics and religion are like business. Politicians and priests acquire wealth and that wealth is spent to increase clout. Some exceptions may be found in individuals like Antony, Oommen Chandy and Achuthanandan. But a party like the communist Party is acquiring wealth aligning itself with running business and receiving commission money. The spending money thus acquired by one group is used to increase clout against the leader of the opposite group. Example is the clout developed against Achuthanandan. Some private companies are hand in glove criminally with politicians. With a small change of policy ministers and leaders can make money. Many have accounts in Swiss banks according to Subrahmania Swamy. Widening economic disparity is a cause for youth to pursue easy money by indulging in violence and terror-like activities. One can use religion, caste etc. to whip up violence. But finally drug trafficking and smuggling come in to make quick money. Illegal wealth can in turn generate terrorism in the younger generation under the garb of charitable activities like orphanage schools and hospitals.
Glorification of wealth and glittering life style should not be encouraged. The neat, puritan, pastoral just living, has to become the order of the day and could be encouraged and rewarded if the society is to be rid of violence and terrorism.
Regarding the Thalassery killings, after the Hindu-Muslim showdown in 1973-74, the fights did not recur because people realized that much will be lost on either side if the killings are to happen again. M.V.R had instigated violence in the eighties to show his party’s superiority. After his exit in 1992-3, it was the turn of the RSS and Marxists to sponsor the violence leading to murders. Actually it is the absence of any apparent welfare work by the NSS and SNDP in these areas, combined with a traditional glorification of martyrdom, that resulted in the present day violence and murders between Marxists and RSS in North Kerala.
While people born as Marxist in Marxist families naturally advocate violence as a means to achieve their ends, the RSS who were hitherto separated from the tradition of violence, now indulge in and keep up the culture of violence and murder in order to retaliate in the same coin. The religious stigma against killing of a fellow being as an ultimate sin is no more rooted in the youth in and around Thalassery. To a certain extent, intellectual discussions and verbal showdowns are absent here. And that is terrifying.
Dr.R.Ramesh: It is the big-brother attitude of one Party that does not allow any other Party to function which creates frustration in others to retaliate. No freedom is allowed for others to work in their strong holds. This is especially so in and around Tellicherry. They have also the full support of the police.
Dr.Md. Abdulla: There is no internationally accepted definition of terrorism. But generally it is ‘the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments often for ideological or political reasons.’
There is also the statement, ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ Thus, in the struggle against terrorism the problem of definition is a crucial element in the attempt to co-ordinate international collaboration, based on the currently accepted rules of traditional warfare.
Terrorism is variously classified:
International Terrorism
National ,,
Racial ,,
Economic ,,
Environmental Terrorism
Social ,,
Political ,,
Psychological Terrorism
Cyber ,,
Religious Terrorism – Islamic Terrorism.
One of the distinctive characteristics of the times we live in is the overwhelming presence of violence in our societies. Whether it is the bomb going on in the market place, or the hijacking of the aircraft where innocent people are held ransom to achieve political ends, we live in an age where the manipulation and loss of innocent lives has become common place. Such is the all-pervasive nature of indiscriminate violence, that terrorism is considered as one of the prime threats to peace and security in our societies.
The word terrorism came into wide usage only a few decades ago. One of the unfortunate results of this new terminology is that it limits the definition of terrorism to that perpetrated by small groups or individuals. Terrorism in fact spans the entire world, and manifests itself in various forms. The perpetrators do not fit any stereotype. Those who hold human life cheap, and have the power to expend human lives, appear at different levels in our societies. The frustrated employee who kills his colleagues in cold blood or the oppressed citizens of an occupied land who vents his anger by blowing up a school bus is a terrorist who provoke our anger and revulsion. Ironically, however, the politician who uses age-old ethnic animosities between peoples to consolidate his position, the head of state who orders ‘carpet bombing’ of cities, the exalted councils that choke millions of civilians to death by wielding the insidious weapon of sanctions, are rarely punished for their crimes against humanity.
It is the narrow definition of terrorism that implicates only individuals and groups, that has caused Muslims to be associated with acts of destruction and terror, and as a result to become victims of hate and violence and terror themselves. Sometimes the religion of Islam is held responsible for the acts of a handful of Muslims, and often for acts of non-muslims.
Could it be possible that Islam, whose light ended the dark ages of Europe, now propound the advent of an age of terror? Could a faith that has over 1.2 billion followers the world over and over seven million in America, actually advocate the killing and maiming of innocent people? Could Islam whose name itself stands for ‘peace’ and ‘submission to God’, encourage its adherents to work for death and destruction?
For long we relied on popular images in the media and press for answers to these pertinent questions. It is now time to look at the sources of Islam, and its history to determine whether Islam does indeed advocate violence.
Now, let us see what Islam say on terrorism. Islam considers all life forms as sacred. However, the sanctity of human life is accorded special place. The first and foremost, basic right of human being, is the right to live. To quote, “….if any one slew a person – unless it be for murder or for spreading mischief in the land – it would be as if he slew the whole people; and if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of the whole people.”
Such is the value of a single human life, that the Quran equates the taking of even one human life unjustly, with the killing of all humanity. Thus, the Quran prohibits homicide in clear terms. The taking of a criminal’s life by the state in order to administer justice is required to uphold the rule of Law, and the peace and security of the society. Only a proper and competent court can decide whether an individual has fortified his right to life by disregarding the right to life and peace of other human beings.
Even in a state of war, Islam has drawn a clear line of distinction between the combatants and the non-combatants of the enemy country. The instructions of the prophet are as follows: Do not kill any old persons, any child or women. Do not kill the monks in monasteries and do not kill people who are sitting in places of worship. Thus non-combatants are guaranteed security of life even if their state is at war with an Islamic state.
JIHAD is a word that is totally misunderstood and abused. While Islam in general is misunderstood in the western world, perhaps no other Islamic term evokes such strong reactions as the word ‘jihad’. The term jihad has been much abused, to conjure up bizarre images of violent Muslims, forcing people to submit at the point of the sword. This myth was perpetrated throughout the centuries of mistrust during and after the crusades. Unfortunately it survives even to this day.
The word ‘Jihad’ comes from the root word Jahada, which means to struggle. So jihad is literally an act of struggling. The prophet said that the greatest jihad is to struggle with insidious suggestions of one’s own soul.
Thus jihad primarily refers to the inner struggle of being a person of virtue and submission to God in all aspects of life.
Secondarily, Jihad refers to struggle against injustice. Islam like many other religion, allows for armed self defense, or retribution against tyranny, exploitation, and oppression. Thus Islam enjoins upon its believers to strive utmost, in purifying themselves, as well as establishing peace and justice in society.
As Martin Luther King said, “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.”
This is not surprising to a Muslim, for his faith prohibits him from forcing others to see his point of view. Quran says, “ Let there be no compulsion in religion; Truth stands out clear from error; Whoever rejects evil and believes in God hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold that never breaks; And God heareth and knoweth all things.”
Far from being a militant dogma, Islam is a way of life that transcends race and ethnicity. The glorious Quran repeatedly reminds us of our common origin.
As with the term Islamic Terrorism and the Christian Fundamentalism, the latest addition to the media lexicon is highly emotive. It was in the aftermath of the 29th Sept. 2008 bomb blast in the predominantly Muslim town of Malegaon in Maharashtra that the newly coined term ‘Hindu Terrorism’ or ‘Safron terrorism’ came to be used widely.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: The holy religious texts never promote or advocate violence and terrorism. But the terms in the texts are misunderstood or deliberately mis-interpreted for their use by the terrorists.
Prof. Sakarankutty: Quran is subjected to exhaustive and serious scrutiny by scholars of the world, and therefore there is not much room for misinterpretation.
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who utilize terrorists for their agenda use deliberately, the wrong distorted interpretations.
Dr. Babu Ravindran: Injustice, deprivation, denial of legitimate rights, excess use of force, social and economic inequalities, are thought to be the usual causes of terrorism or violence.
May be, after exhausting all means of getting redress, a frustrated individual feels that the only way for getting public attention is by measures of intimidation. Opting violence also appears to be the short cut towards attainment of goals. But the very interesting aspect of it is why some resort to terror and others do not. Mahatma Gandhi for achieving independence for India, Eastern Europeans for bringing down the Berlin Wall, Martin Luther King for equal rights, have not opted violence or terrorism. If deprivation of rights is indeed the root cause of terror then why do we see these people not resorting to violence?
Those practicing terrorism do not think of harmony in life. For them, the cause they espouse is so all-encompassing, so total, that it justifies anything. There is no name for the doctrine that produces the evil – i.e., totalitarianism – simple brainwashing of its subjects to indoctrinate hordes of killers to suspend all normal constraints for the sake of a twisted cause. In history we can see from its beginning totalitarianism has always been wedded to terrorism. From Lenin to Stalin, to Hitler, Ayothullha, Saddam Hussain, and right down to Osama Bin Laden, one can see a total blind commitment to a totalitarian belief.
Measures they choose tell us what their goals are. Bin Laden is not seeking to defend the rights of Muslims, but to murder as many Americans as possible and destroy America. Like that Saddam Hussain was not seeking to defend his people but to subjugate his neighbor.
Those who fight as terrorists rule as terrorists. They cannot protect freedom and human rights.
If poverty is the cause of terrorism the most poverty stricken areas of the world like the indigenous parts of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, East Asian islands, should have been the breeding grounds for terrorism. But they have not produced any terrorists. On the other hand all terror leaders and most of the terror perpetrators are seen to be extremely rich. Poverty may assist in the recruitment of vulnerable individuals to train as terrorists, but it does not seem to be the root cause.
If helplessness, desperation, lack of opportunity and use of force are the causes hundreds of thousands of Burmese in the refugee camps of Thailand who have been poverty stricken, are helpless, and are hopelessly desperate for the past more than twenty years should have turned terrorists. No terrorist has arisen from them.
If religion alone is the cause, why do we see Muslims killing Muslims? Saddam Hussain must have killed far more Muslims than any other leader in the world at any time did even in war.
So, it is the tyrannical mindset of some which initiate terrorism. Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, the author of ‘Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, Islam USA, and the Global War Against Terrorism’ says that the rhetoric of terror is the rhetoric of demonisation, the only way out of which is to destroy the perpetrator.
Praveen Swami, in an article in the Hindu has written as follows: ‘GHASWA’, the weekly newspaper of Jamat-Ud – Dawa hailed the Mumbai Massacre as ‘a historic victory for Muslim warriors who have avenged the atrocities committed by India against its Muslim minority’. Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, the chief of Jamaat – ud – Dawa, said in Feb 5 2001 in his speech delivered during the formation of Indian Mujahiddeen, “Remember friends, that the jihad has been ordained by Allah, it is not an order of a general that can be started one day and stopped the other day. Our Jihad in Kashmir will end when all the Hindus will be destroyed in India”.
What rhetoric! And what to do with the perpetrators?
Sri.Kunhikrishnan: Those who indulge in such rhetoric have to be tackled of course, and the propagator of hatred destroyed. But I think that the root cause of all this is the source that uses such people for their purpose and those who finance them. The roots can be there.
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