Boston Marathon

Already a lot has been written about the Boston Marathon and the tragedy that took place on 15 April 2013. Here I will narrate my personal feeling and emotion that I have after I heard the news about the tragedy from one of my friends and watched the TV and interacted with friends and colleagues in the university. My views may not match with the views of the others including experts in the area, but I think as a conscientious individual I should express my views. Though I was not present at the marathon cheering runners up, some of my friends had gone to watch the event but returned back before the blasts. I had come across the news about the preparation of the event, its history, diversity of participating runners, its cultural significance, and its sobering impact on the whole city. Boston is not a very large city, but its cultural depth, its history, its significance in the American life is legendary. Nobody expected that the event would turn into a tragedy with the blasts killing three people including an eight year old boy not far from my residence and a student, and maiming some people, besides injuring more than hundred, in a flash of seconds.

Grief clouded the whole city on the day of the blast and afterwards. Classes and other academic activities were cancelled in my university. Fear pervaded the people with the sigh of relief that they were not killed or maimed by the blasts, but the question still remained – the death could have been theirs. A surreal revisiting of the 9/11 emerged, and a sense of helplessness and frustration was pervading mind. The two flights turned missiles had taken off from Logan airport and many Bostonians could not forget those horrible days when they found their near or dear ones were passengers in those flights. Though in a smaller scale comparison to the 9/11, the blasts in Boston evoked in the people a sense of helplessness and fear, howsoever transitory that feeling was. President Obama during his speech at Cathedral of the Holy Cross infused courage into the minds of the people when he said ‘you will run again.’ It is but futile to think that fear would subsume the human spirit and its resilience. And great cities like Boston known for its harmony and cultural vibrancy would certainly come back, or has come back with many marathoners resolving to run next year. 

One of my colleagues, during conversation, asked ‘why did the individuals commit such heinous acts, killing people?’ The senseless acts are irrational, illogical, emerging out of a mentality, which is sick. I agreed with her. But I wanted to add more in the context of violent acts perpetrated by radical individuals or groups with the sole purpose of killing people and inflicting fear among them. The perpetrator is convinced of the ‘rationale’ of what he or she is going to do, and even readies to sacrifice life for the act. There is the issue of what he thinks and why he thinks what he thinks. From a legal perspective, an act of violence is an act of violence, hence must be subject to law. I do not dispute that. My argument here is – the minds of these perpetrators which are perverted must be changed. I remember here President Obama’s famous speech at Cairo University in 2009, where he emphasized on dialogue among cultures, dialogue among civilizations. 

We need more such dialogues; we need more understanding of the situation. Law and order must carry the needed tasks, at the same time, perhaps at a parallel level there need to be more dialogue to impart values of diversity, pluralism and harmony among people, including would be perpetrators. As I argued at another place, in this drive religious leaders, whether of Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism either individually or in tandem, more in tandem, can play an effective role. These values need to be imparted to all, particularly to children. I understand its apparent feasibility in democratic and liberal states, and apparent difficulty in authoritarian, radical states. An authoritarian ruler or a religious leader with an extremist mind and agenda causes more damage than a lone extremist with no political power. The leader can change or brainwash his followers while a lone terrorist may not. Any sick or perverted mind must be changed, whether the motivation behind is religion, or any other thing.

The blasts reminded me of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. I was in Mumbai those days. The whole city of 20 million people, also known as commercial capital of India, came to a grinding halt with public offices closed. The city that is known to be awake always – whether in day or in night – was lifeless for about three days with security forces and ten terrorists fighting at the Taj hotel. The attacks killed about 200 people besides injuring many. The blasts at Boston, and terror attacks at Mumbai are different incidents – but the common elements in both the incidents are that innocent lives were lost and culprits were convinced that they are committing barbaric acts for a cause, howsoever perverted or skewed those causes are. This mentality of the perpetrators must be addressed before they commit these acts. Their fundamental assumptions must be questioned and changed before they commit these acts of violence. They must be convinced the worth of peaceful means to address issues. Mahatma Gandhi rightly pointed out; the peaceful goals must be pursued by peaceful means. For him if truth is the goal, non-violence is the means. Gandhi’s definition of truth is not exclusive, rather it is inclusive. For him religion is a path to spiritual realization and for which all religions have equal value. The would-be culprits and culprits alike must be imparted these values. 

Boston has come back to life with the Bostonians trying to keep pace with movement of life in their daily activities and practices. I am sure the marathon will continue perhaps with more vigor and more participation. I have a desire to take part in the next marathon. As time passes without our noticing it, and we grow more wise with time and events, we must develop peace education to its full magnitude and spread it world wide. The US with its resources and soft power can take the lead in this noble mission. It must protect its cities and people by all means, but it must invest effectively in peace education. It may prove less expensive than to fight a culprit and address the tragedy after the violent act than to transform him into a peaceful, law abiding citizen of the country, or a peaceful, conscientious member of the world.

Kashmir and the Demilitarization Debate

In the last week of March 2010 a new dimension hitherto unknown to demilitarization debate in Kashmir came to picture. One of the premier Indian TV channels, NDTV, showed in its news the popular protests in Khurhma village in northern Kashmir against the shifting of the camp of Rashtriya Rifles, a part of paramilitary force of India. The interesting thing is that all the protesting people were Muslims. This development adds a crucial dimension to the demilitarization debate in Kashmir as it makes enough dent in the separatist argument for the immediate withdrawal of Indian forces on the pretext that the people of region want it.

The video footage showed clearly how the people including old and young opposed the shifting of the camp. Hence, it is the people who want the forces to be in their areas. It is these people, who have suffered in the hands of the militants in the heydays of militancy, are scared that once the paramilitary forces withdrew the rule of militants will return back with all impunity. The 75 year old Ghulam Ahmad Sheikh while protesting against the shifting lamented how the militants killed two of his daughters in the 1990s, when Kashmir was passing through a very violent phase. Hence, when Ayaz Akbar, spokesperson for the Syed Ali Shah Geelani-led hard line faction of the Hurriyat Conference argues that Kashmiri are not ‘cowards’ (to quote his word) that they need security forces and this is all propaganda by security forces, it falls flat as the video footage clearly reflected the popular voices of the people, and not one or two persons, but a huge number of people. In fact, the statement by the spokesperson further makes the separatists more separated from the very people whose cause they claim to espouse.

The new development also dents the Pakistani argument, particularly vigorously forwarded by the Musharraf government, that at least the border districts in Kashmir should be demilitarized. There were two sets of arguments floated to support this proposal. First militancy has gone down in the region. Hence there is no need to retain the camps of forces mainly intended to check militant violence. Second, such a measure will further strengthen confidence building among the two rivals India and Pakistan, and work as a step further towards transformation of the conflict in Kashmir. India appeared to have agreed to such a formulation. Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh declared on many occasions that depending on the situation the government will think of demilitarize Kashmir and take steps in that direction.

No doubt Kashmir needs to be demilitarized, and no civic society can grow healthily in a tense atmosphere. But the question is when and how? In one of my publications, I strongly argued that the demilitarization process should begin in earnest in a phased manner. My surveys in the past years in the border areas in Kashmir showed that there are instances when public places like schools and primary health centres are taken over by the armed forces. Undoubtedly these places need to be vacated by the forces on an urgent basis. But, what about the places, under control of the forces, which do not have any direct bearing on public life? Tents in open places, or makeshift buildings, or other government houses not directly related to public services do not pose any urgency for vacation. However, as the reports suggest, over the past one year about 35,000 troops have been withdrawn from the region that include 39 Mountain Division forces from Rajouri, a battalion in Vilgam area of Handwara and 1,000 men of 49 Rashtriya Rifles in Qazigund in Anantnag.

Some of the factors must be taken into account while talking about total demilitarization of Kashmir. Perhaps, the idea could have been feasible in 2007-2008 (till the Mumbai terror attack in November 2008), when there was almost complete tranquility in the landscape of Kashmir and people under the influence of ‘irreversible’ peace process and composite dialogue thought that the solution of the vexed problem was appearing near. The Mumbai terror attack created a big bang in the sense it completely shattered all the achievements of the past decade and brought back the tense atmosphere to the region.

The recent Kashmir Day celebrations in Muzaffarabad did not add any good thing to the whole scenario rather it further led to spiraling down the situation into the pit of chaos and radicalism. One radical leader named Abdur Rehman Makki on the occasion called Manmohan Singh ‘evil’ and promised revenge on India. If Manmohan Singh, the incumbent Prime Minister of India, who always talks about going extra mile in talks with Pakistan, and who is mostly criticized at home for soft attitude to Pakistan, is the real evil or culprit of Indo-Pak talks, then probably it is an impossible dream to see peace returning to the subcontinent. Another development also needs to be factored in the context of demilitarization. The recent reports suggest that there are about 400 militants waiting across the Line of Control to cross over India and play havoc in the lives of innocent people. Hence, keeping these factors in mind, the government must initiate a much calibrated programme towards the demilitarization.

It is true that there are instances when the security forces are found guilty of violating human rights of innocent civilians in Kashmir. Hence, the anger and frustration of a Kashmiri who has experienced this violation, or has witnessed or come across this violation, is understandable. And that explains why the security forces may not be very popular in the valley. As India is a democracy, and everything happens in media glare, nothing can be hidden, and particularly in sensitive areas like Kashmir valley, and also when they do not enjoy support of the local leaders. The militants also commit gross violation of human rights but that seldom come to light. The militants are still active in the valley, and recently, they have killed innocent civilians including girls. But their crimes are either undervalued or under reported. The last year one premier news channel of India was displaying in prime time news how the militants were brutally torturing people because they committed crimes. What were those crimes? They were not following the Sharia code of law.

The protests in the Khurhma village last week show that what the separatists say is not all truth, and it is not the whole people of Kashmir, including the Kashmir valley, that want the exit of security forces soon. It will be an ideal situation when all security forces pack their bags and leave the valley, and all militants in the undivided Kashmir shun violence and embrace peace. Then Kashmir will reflect its true character as paradise on earth. But ideal situations are scarcely feasible in a situation which becomes playground of dangerous games at the cost of the innocent many.

The Global Network of Terror

The terror strike in Mumbai last year that killed about 200 people including children and women still reverberates in the memory of the people of Mumbai and reminds the ghastly designs of the terrorists whose networks spreads all over the globe. In this particular terror attack their connections have so far with certainty been traced to Pakistan. The recent development bring to picture the wider network spreading further towards the US and Italy. The arrest of David Headley and Tahawwur Hussain Rana in Chicago airport in October 2009 and Mohammad Yaqub Janijua and his son Aamer Yaqub Janijua in the northern Italian town of Brescia on 21 November 2009 brings to the picture the deep entrenchment and spread of terror networks.


David Headley, a US citizen aged 49, changed his name from Daood Gilani to David Coleman Headley in 2006 to give his name a veneer of un-Islamic identity in order to make the terrorist linkages and operation covert. It will, he might have calculated, also help escape the eyes of security agencies. He along with Tahawwur Rana, another person from Pakistani origin, but currently a Canadian national, was arrested for plotting the attack on the Danish cartoonist and the newspaper named Jyllands-Posten. The newspaper had portrayed cartoon of Prophet Mohammed in 2005. On interrogation, the involvement of Headely and Rana in terrorist activities was found deep rooted. In the context of Mumbai, both of them had visited India many times in 2007 and 2008. They travelled across India including the city of Mumbai. Headely visited in addition to Mumbai to other Indian cities such as Cochi, Lucknow and Pune to establish links. During these visits they also gave concrete shape to the designs for the terror attack in Mumbai in 2008. Reportedly, Headely had stayed in the Taj Hotel, which suffered the maximum casualties due to the barbaric act, just before few days of the terror attack in order to most likely for a reconnaissance purpose to make the heinous attack a success. The Indian home ministry has been tight lipped over the issue as the investigations are still in not conclusive stage. But it has been conclusively established that Headley with close links with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), a Pakistan based banned terror outfit, played an important role in the Mumbai terror attack. As further investigations reveal, Headley and Rana had in their agenda to facilitate terrors attacks on India’s national defence college and other government establishments.

With the Italian connection to the terror designs the plot has become much thicker. On 21 November the Italian police arrested the Janijua father son duo for their involvement in the attack. Mohammad Janijua, the owner of the business centre, Madina trading corporation, is found culprit mainly owing to two reasons. First, on 25 November 2008 the centre transferred money electronically to US for voice over internet protocol (VoIP) telephone service, which was in fact used by the terrorists and their handlers while the terror attack was going on in Mumbai. The internet voice service facilitated the smooth conduct of the attack. Second, Janijua transferred money to the US in the name of the Pakistan national who in fact never visited Italy. Hence, it was illegal. Reportedly, the Italian police have arrested two more Pakistani nationals in Brescia in this connection while another wanted Pakistani national is missing.

The alleged involvement of a retired Pakistani army official Ilyas Kashmiri with the plans of Headley and Rana has led to finger of suspicion towards Pakistan army of probable involvement in this whole process. Kashmiri has been arrested by Pakistan investigation agencies and detained for questioning. Pakistan, which itself is a victim of militant violence in its north west and other parts, has taken this concrete step in a move to show its cooperation in the anti-terror operations. Reportedly, there are some other personnel in its army with likely involvement that Islamabad is seemingly not willing to further explore or wants the matter to be investigated in a low profile way within its official investigation process. It is common knowledge that the outfit LeT, banned since 2001, played a major role in orchestrating the Mumbai terror attack. Its leader, Hafeez Saeed is a free man in Pakistan. It took one year for Pakistan to file charge sheet against other six main culprits in the attack including the LeT commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.

Despite a year’s pass the Mumbai terror attack did not change much the security thinking of India as well as globe. A simple statement of truth would corroborate this view point. Even after lapse of one year, there is no concrete action taken against the culprits of the attack. They are still roaming free. The India-Pakistan logjam has further complicated the matter, and provides the terrorists the alibi to further disturb peace and stability in the south Asian region. With further effective probe and investigations by Pakistan there will be likely more skeletons getting revealed in the cupboards. And needless to say the revelation of the whole plot and its masterminds is crucial not only for India but for the whole civilized international community as the terror plans are not only India-centric – they are interconnected, driven by same ideology and similar devious designs.

The terror network from Mumbai to Chicago to Brescia may be just a small spot in the terror map. The terrorist network, manpower, intelligence, money power all are so richly cultivated in the terror designs, it is simply impossible on part of one country to tackle the terror menace. Here comes to picture the necessity of international collaboration to tackle the menace by attacking terrorist training camps, targeting their leaders, and by preaching the values of coexistence and harmony. Probably that is the message of the first anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack when hundreds of people from all religions gathered at different places of the city, including the Gateway of India, to pay homage to the victims of the attacks.