India's Kashmir Move.

Indian Prime Ministers move to change the status of Indian Kashmir was no surprise. He prodded and poked on the subject through the recent elections, each prod, each poke, stoking the fires of Hindu nationalist sentiment. The abrogation of Art 370 of the Indian constitution, which gave special status of Kashmir as a semi autonomous region, and, more importantly, ensured that Hindus would not flood the disputed state to claim a majority in Kashmir, protected the Kashmir's from allowing resettlement of Hindus from elsewhere in India, raises some important issues. The impact within India and India's handling of a delicate matter concerning Kashmir will resonate across the whole of India. Further the move brings into question the argument where Mr Modi is embracing a nationalist Hindu agenda, which sits at the core of the BJP philosophy, or can the secular India still speak for whole of India. Finally there is the more volatile situation with Pakistan, who control part of Kashmir and have seen the resolution of the Kashmir issue as fundamental to better ties with India.


While supporters of PM Modi tout the fact that both houses of the Indian parliament overwhelmingly voted to remove the autonomous status of Kashmir, the fact remains that the vote was accompanied by a virtual lock down in Kashmir itself. With internet, mobile phone services suspended and selective curfews and arrests of key Muslim political figures within Kashmir  clearly suggests that barring the Hindu nationalists, like the RSS, (Modi himself having risen through their ranks) the majority Muslims within Kashmir have not welcomed the decision with open arms.

Herein lies the problem because with a huge military presence within Kashmir the language of street protest may not be possible. Various international human rights organizations have been warning in the past few years that Indian military and police behavior in Indian Kashmir has been brutal and inhumane. With the avenue of street protests closed to the people of Kashmir the more likely form of protest will be selective arson attacks on Indian forces within Kashmir. This plays into the hands of  the Muslim Kashmiris who have always argued that Indian forces in Kashmir must be expelled from Kashmir and forward their agenda of a free Kashmir.

One would therefore argue that should attacks on Indian forces increase, which given this decision by the Modi government will happen, India will be quick to blame Pakistan for sponsoring those attacks and cross border tensions between India and Pakistan will increase. Realistically I do not think given the way things are moving in Indian Kashmir the militants do not need encouragement from Pakistan or anyone to carry out their attacks. I would even doubt that with the abolition of Kashmir's autonomous status even the Pakistanis can persuade the militants to show restraint. In that sense the Modi government has created the conditions for more turmoil within Indian Kashmir rather than solve anything.

On a broader front a majority of the leadership of the ruling BJP embrace the RSS ideology of a Hindustan (India) for Hindus. To them Indian Kashmir was the only Indian state where there is a non Hindu majority and thus a non Hindu (Muslim) local government. This was for decades unacceptable to the RSS who argue that the protection to Indian Kashmiris (mostly Muslims) under Article 370 was always seen as a temporary solution which Mr Nehru had agreed to in the early 1950's to appease the pro Indian Muslims in Kashmir and to take the sting out of the United Nations insistence of a plebiscite in all of Kashmir (both Indian and Pakistani) to allow the people to determine their own fate.

Indeed for decades the UN stalemate has continued and even as the vote on abrogating Artile 370 was taking place let us not forget that in Jammu and Kashmir (Indian Kashmir) there were and are United Nations observers monitoring the situation. If the region was not a disputed territory why then have the UN presence? PM Modi basically has thrown out 70 years of UN resolutions and bilateral agreements with Pakistan with this move. The voices in India who want the slogan of India for Hindus may call Modi bold and brave, those who see the slow death of India's secular democracy and want regional peace would call Modi's move foolish and idiotic.

There is no doubt after this move settlements will crop up in Indian Kashmir for the settlement of Hindus, (much like Israel did with Palestinian lands) and with each settlement, each new home the Kashmiris will be driven into a corner. Modi's bet, along with the RSS is that the demographic balance should be titled to the BJP Hindu majority quickly enough to make an impact in the next general elections. However, as the Muslim Kashmiris get driven into a corner the actions will become more violent and desperate. Overall Indian Kashmir will move from having been an autonomous state to an Indian occupied state and herein lies the seeds for instability within the region.

India's only option then will be to blame Pakistan and the tit for tat limited military activity between India and Pakistan will  increase. While there seem to be enough sensible people to avoid an all out conflict given both have nuclear weapons, be assured that limited battles will be the order of the day.

India's bigger problem could well be that Indian Muslims, who are about 172 million (15% of the population) may  become the recruiting ground for the more militant organizations like the Taliban and perhaps new home grown movements. There is not doubt that during the Modi government hate crimes against Muslims have been increasing and given the Kashmir move the reaction from militant groups will become more acute and sharper. Indeed these groups could well be supported from overseas but in essence this is a risk that India must be aware of.

Modi government has had a reasonably good public relations presence on the world scene to not be criticized too severely what it will call and 'internal matter'. Muslim governments have not been briefed enough by say Pakistan and the Kashmiris enough to know the implications of this move, which essentially does to the Kashmiris what the Israelis did to the Palestinians. Therefore one cannot be certain of how most of the Muslim countries will react to this move, which most likely will be muted criticism at best.


In conclusion it would seem that while the move of the Modi government is not reversible, more for political reasons, it does present itself as the single more defining moment of modern India. Does this end the secular nature of India? Does this imply that Modi will appease the nationalist Hindu caucus irrespective of the consequences to India and the region? Does the Modi government understand that changing the status of Indian Kashmir creates the seeds for more violence and unrest?

Trump: Proud of You.

President Donald J Trump, I am, as a foreigner not wanting to immigrate to your country, proud of you. You have brought attention to your role as President like no president before you. You were accused of a thin skin, how untrue. Today I spent half an hour looking through your Twitter posts and on the UN speech tweet you had 12,500 replies and comments. I believe if you read them all you will notice 99% were not complimentary of you, how can you have a thin skin. Anyone else subjected to that sort of abuse would have closed their Twitter account but not someone with thick skin like you. Its like rhino hide, much like of the one your sons killed in Africa.

Your performance at the UN General Assembly was so misunderstood. These so called world leaders do not appreciate Trumpian humor, how would they know that you were being satirical in saying no President has achieved as much as you have. How would they remember that you were making a jibe at your own tweet of 2009 that Mr. Obama was the laughing stock of the world. That's it! They did not laugh at you, they laughed at the subtle reference you made to that episode of 2009. Bravo you are not only intelligent but your humor is also so subtle that the Fake News media does not follow it.

While all this was going on Bill Cosby, the once famous comedian, was sentenced for sexually assaulting a woman, how silly of the media to refer to you and the 19 or so women who accuse you of sexual assaults. There is no parallel; you are a politician Cosby was a comedian, you are the leader of the world, after all even Cosby cannot make a 189 world leaders laugh at his jokes. Cosby should have hired your ex lawyer Cohen and paid them off, after all if you pay a woman you molest its then consensual sex. The only one who can object to it is your wife and she won't say a word.

We are also proud of the way you handle pressure of the media. Yes call it call fake then its for them to prove things, and even if they do remember its a President's word against that off a low life reporter. When things are on fire that seem to suggest you lit the fire, you go along and light another fire, or douse petrol on a 'trusted' person and let him burn to distract the people. Your recent comment to watch out for China interfering in the mid term elections is such a lovely side pass to deflect from your Russian friends. This is what makes you a great President, no one, and I mean no one, can pin anything on you because as President you define reality and therefore you define the truth.

As we enter into a trade war you have shown resolve that no other President could show. Never before has a President discarded good advice to pursue what you believe is right, considering soon you will have farmers suffering and businesses who survive on exports wondering what happened. But then understanding a concept of Making America Great Again is not something that people who went to fancy universities can understand.

It is good that you had your press guys to send you the names of all the world leaders who laughed at you at the UNGA session. You are right they are not our allies and if it means all 189 countries laughed at you then remember all of America is behind you when you severe diplomatic ties with of them. May we suggest you ask the UN to move their head quarters from US soil. Its time they understand you cannot laugh on the US President and still get to be in New York.

Abdul Sattar Edhi: The Angel of Mercy

Abdul Sattar Edhi has passed away, he lived his life without fanfare, and in his passing and the simplicity of his life and achievements we have to pause and reflect on the life of the man known as the Angel of Mercy. More often than not people who establish successful charitable foundations do so after making their millions. Its almost like a sort of redemption for them in their act of giving, which is great, but for Edhi, as he was fondly known, giving came at an early age. When he was 19 he lost his mother and vowed to help all those in distress. With his life saving of Rs 5,000 he started a free dispensary in Karachi and convinced medical students to volunteer and started with free treatment of the poor.

Today the Edhi Foundation is the largest charitable Organization in Pakistan and entirely fund by donations. Till a couple of years back it was revealed that the Edhi Foundation had rescued 20,000 abandoned infants, cared for 50,000 orphans and trained 40,000 nurses. Today the Edhi Foundation runs 330 welfare centres all over Pakistan. In addition they run centres for abandoned women and children, clinics and centres for mentally handicapped children and numerous food kitchens for the poor. The Edhi Foundation has more than 1,500 ambulances in the country and remains the most effective emergency medical response force in a land where the Government's efforts in comparison are miniscule.

Sattar Edhi, while a devout Muslim, was shunned by many radical Muslim groups, also perhaps because of his outspoken style. While he shunned publicity the few occasions he was cornered by the media to comment he spoke his mind. When during a wave of sectarian attacks on Christians and Hindu's in Pakistan he was questioned by a radical Muslim cleric as to why does he bother to send his ambulances to save the 'infidels"? Sattar Edhi's answer was very simple "Because my ambulances are more Muslim than you."

His wife, Bilquis, once asked him why on the Festival of Eid he does not sacrifice a goat, and his answer was "It is not about sacrificing a goat or an animal to show God I love him. It is more important to sacrifice greed and our ego and give of ourselves to God, that is the real truth of the message of sacrifice." Throughout of his life he only possessed two pairs of clothes, only replacing them when they were torn and faded. He lived throughout his life in a two bed run down apartment next to the dispensary with an austere lifestyle. He or his family never took a single penny as expense or salary from the Foundation. His trips were specifically planned with donations for just the trip, and that too he was a man who rarely travelled.

Edhi did not like creating controversy, briefly having been arrested in Lebanon by the Israeli's when he was in the South of Lebanon helping the poor. In 2008 he was detained at JFK airport for 16 hours as Homeland Security struggled to figure out if his charity was on the banned list. When asked about the incident he said, 'I don't know why I was detained, perhaps my beard and clothes, but it does not matter they have to do their job and I have to do mine.'

This amazing man, while nominated for the Noble Peace Prize never really begged for recognition or for money, somehow he set an example of his life and effort that made one attracted to his cause. He stayed away from politics and it would be hard to find a political statement by him. He often said they (the politicians) have their agenda, I have mine but mine is between God and him.

How can we remember this man? His funeral at the National Cricket Stadium was attended by General Raheel the chief of the army along with all senior commanders; they knowing more than anyone else that Sattar Edhi was and remain the most sincere Pakistani who walked the earth. It was no surprise that he was given a 19 gun salute at his funeral by the armed forces, something reserved of head of states. In a sense he was the head of state of the humanitarian face of Pakistani's.  Sadly he is gone, and more sad is the fact that the world who see's Pakistan as a land of violence and terror and intolerance CNN would not be running a story on this man'; who saved more lives than anyone in that troubled land.

Abdul Sattar Edhi showed how to care, he set the example of emergency medical care that needs to be emulated, more than anything he told us to be a good Muslim you have to be a good humanitarian; a vital message in a world where many Muslims are too busy tearing each other and people of other faiths to pieces. Edhi was more interested in making sure the torn pieces of flesh from bomb blasts and angry gun fire were put back together; and that too without ever considering a persons religion. He once said to someone who met him that if you are Hindu, a Christian, a Muslim or whatever, the colour of the blood is the same. Do we not see why this is so? Because God wants us to help everyone as we all have the same colour the same faith in Him on the inside."