Nine and three quarters, never 10. I intend to use this space to publish stuffs I consider incomplete which also happen to be the result of nine and three quarters of all my creative pursuits....
After Rome and Paris, Robert Langdon faces yet another challenge to unravel ancient secrets, save a friend's life,defeat a formidable foe and avert a global disaster, all in a single day's work. But this time the adventure takes place in Washington which may initially seem surprising,given the fact that was founded roughly 300 years back whereas ancient secrets date back to well.. antiquity. The linkage of course is the well-known Masonic roots of the founding fathers of the USA and Freemason symbols and signature found in everything from the White House to the Presidential Seal and even currency bills, subjects which have provided sustenance to myriads of conspiracy theories floating on the web especially.
I have never been an animal lover, at least that is what I have believed forever. This belief probably stemmed from the fact that I am a strict non-vegetarian and also not the sort of person who would pick up a cute looking rabbit and play with it, even adopt it as a pet. I don't like or should I say, I don't shower physical affection on kids either (don't think its insensitivity,more like Freud and Jungian influence). Anyway, coming back to animals, I never had any pets . But last couple of years I have been smitten by the cat bug, I do care for them but they remain outdoor pets.
World's most wanted man was gunned down in a 40 min surgical operation by a US Navy elite SEAL team in not-so-primitive-city of Abottabad in Pakistan but the entire episode has raised too many questions, some related to the actual operation while others are related to roles of the different actors involved.
The first question that I came across was if the report was genuine and Osama Bin Laden had really been killed?
The skepticism stems from various reason, previous reports of Osama's death had been later found to be mere rumors and US forces failure to nab him in 10 years had for some people created sort of a halo of invincibility around his head. Osama dying in a pitched war would have sounded more plausible than him dying in a 40 min stealth operation. A lot of times, truth can be as boring. This leads to the next question -
Why no photographs or videos showing his dead body as not released and why was he hurriedly buried in the sea ?
The answer to this question probably is the apprehension on part of the US military that it might invoke emotional response in a section of the public and incite his followers to launch fresh terror attacks in retaliation. Burial in the sea, according to Islamic rites seems to be an ill-conceived stratagem to me. It is a rare practice followed only under extraneous conditions, none of which were present in this case. The assumption that if buried on ground, his grave would become a shrine for his followers doesn't appear sound to me. Osama, as well as his followers subscribe to a rather extreme thought of the Salafi/Wahhabi school which condemns commemoration of the dead by building shrines or tombs. Saudi Arabia, which is also the home of the Bin Laden family is the fountainhead of this school of thought,burying him there would have ensured that no tombs come up. As for those who "must" make a shrine out of him, the site of Osama's killing can easily replace his tomb. Mostly those belonging to Sufi school visit shrines and ironically this school predominates the Indian sub-continent i.e. Pakistan, Bangladesh and India and as all of us know, most of Osama's vocal supporters were based in Pakistan. All said and done,this episode is unlikely to go well with some sections of Muslims who were opposed to him as much as the West, who would see it as dumping the body out of disrespect. Traditionally and throughout ages last rites of the slain has held much importance,regardless the deeds of the deceased.
Is this going to affect global terrorism ? and if its yes, then, in what way ?
This definitely is a big blow to the Al-Qaida, with most of its key members dead or under captivity, there is little Al-Zawahiri can do. As it is Al Qaida was never a centralized group, Osama Bin Laden's charismatic personality (and probably his family fortune) was what made him the rallying point of the global network of Islamist terrorists. If relationship between the USA and Pakistan deteriorate further, Pakistan may try to wean away the Taliban from the Al Qaida which would mean end of the road for latter.
The following interactive movie from Guardian shows the organizational network of Osama
Even if Osama had not been killed, global Islamist terrorism would have and has received a huge blow from the Jasmine Revolution in Arab and North Africa. Terrorists. extremists of all kinds thrive on differences between the ruler and the ruled, disaffected, frustrated citizens can be brain-washed into becoming suicide bombers but once the people realize that self-immolation can be far more effective than suicide bombing, the rate of latter would fall. That Osama was found now after 10 years may indicate shifting of loyalties of the people, especially those under detention.
How does it affect India directly ?
It probably doesn't, even if Indian media channels , especially TimesNOW and Hindi-language channels, continue fantasizing, the GoI has characteristically issued statement that Indo-Pak talks would continue as per schedule. I guess it is just another way of saying we will wait until the next terrorist attack on India and then make some noises before settling down to usual business of looting the state exchequer !
On a serious note, currently US-Pakistan relationship will have to undergo a test of fire, too many voices across the US and the world are now questioning Pakistan's complicity in the whole war on terror. Unlike his demented predecessor, Obama seems capable of seeing right through the smokescreen, the fact that Pakistan wasn't informed of the operation to prevent Osama from being alerted, proves it beyond all doubts. Elements within the Pakistani establishment do seem uncomfortable at the way Pakistan has been treated before the world press. Now with Osama dead and Afghanistan relatively stable, the US would probably want to distance itself from Pakistan, if the latter hasn't disassociated itself from anti-India militant groups like LeT even at times like these, it is likely to only increase cooperation after US' exit from the region.
Unfortunately, at this point of time, India's relationship with the US is cold, the recent refusal of India to buy fighters from USA highlighted it. Further, India's foreign policy of last 10 years has been over-cautious and messy at best. In times of tumultuous changes, India has not been able to win over a single ally to its side. India's soft power has undoubtedly increased but lack of policy and hard power to support it. Hard power here doesn't refer to the military capability but to the political leadership the controls it. For a decade now Pakistan has been upgrading their military capabilities by procuring latest technology-driven weapons from the US on the pretext of fighting terrorism. All along Pakistan has been playing a dangerous game and India has been cautioning the world community about it but ironically, it itself has been falling to it too by expecting that the USA would address India's security concerns too. It is only a matter of days and it would be clear if an era has come to an end and our policies need to be overhauled.
Ancient philosophers as well as medieval ones often kept human skull on their writing desk, as a reminder of their own mortality. I read this long back and assume that it is widely known but in the early years the idea appeared to me, as it would appear to most people - a freaky habit !
If at all a skull on your writing desk doesn't startle you to death when you doze off with your chin on the table and wake up to find two hollow sockets staring at you, it should at least obsess you with the idea of your own death! And people obsessed with their own deaths, (euphemistically called fatalists or nihilists) would definitely screw up their present lives as well as the lives of people close to them. So it must be one of those freaky things the ancients practiced because they had lots of free time and loads of silly ideas propagated by their wisest men who probably wouldn't be able to intellectually compete with some of the biggest dumb-asses of our time.
