Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Arabian Dreams

British rulers had a dream and they realized it through their East India Company. But the sun that never set in their British Raj had to finally set. In similar lines, most of the Arab nations have started dreaming about an empire of theirs where the sun will never set. And they have unleashed grandiose plans with the help of several companies trading in Oil & Gas to realize their dreams. Our dependence on these nations for our vital fuel needs has reached unbelievable levels that many economies are at the complete mercy of these Arabs. Ambition of Kings, Emirs and Sultans in the Arabian peninsula has also soared to unrealistic levels thanks to the unexpected levels of prosperity achieved in the last few decades. People from all over the world are flocking to the Middle East for making some quick buck and the very sight of first class Blacks, Whites and Browns waiting to take orders from even third rate Arabs have mesmerized many of them. An Arabian empire stretching from Europe in the West to Japan in the East has begun to look attainable for the Arab rulers, especially the Saudi Arabians.

Though the very concept of colonization has undergone vast changes since the decline of British Raj, the underlying attitude of colonizers remains the same. It is not for money alone that colonization is dreamt of, but for the pleasure of suzerainty over the entire world. And now there is the additional connotation of attaining religious superiority through evangelization or establishing a world-wide Ummah. But everything about colonization will boil down to ultimately two factors viz. mentality and money. The foremost requirement for subjugating others without any provocation and deriving pleasure out of their misery is the crux of colonization. Flush with funds and ambitious beyond their capabilities, Arabs are spearheading colonization in the West and East with an unseen frenzy. They have already identified two fool-proof weapons, which they think can rocket them into their desired orbit of supremacy over the entire world. The two deadly weapons are Jihadi Terrorism and Sharia-based Banking.

Jihadi Terrorism

Once it was purely physical manpower that determined colonial victories. Then it became the quantity of gun powder at your disposal. And now it is a combination of so many resources that can make or break any attempt to colonize. As the primary weapon of the new colonizers, Jihadi Terrorism fits the bill in all respects. It can get the best out of a warrior spearheading colonization and at the same time generate the worst fears in the victims. A substantial part of the non-Muslim world is non-violent and very vulnerable to physical assault. Hindu and Budhist nations of the world are overwhelmingly peace loving, and their hesitance for bloodshed has weakened them. The cultural importance of non-violence in these religions has made them very much vulnerable when they confront terrorists. Vulnerability of India and Indians whenever it comes under attack is the best proof for this. The recent slaughter in Mumbai showcased our vulnerability to the entire world. The simple fact that there is no bomb blast or terrorist attack anywhere in the Arabian peninsula completes our understanding of the Arab plot.

If not anything else, the prosperity generated from oil wealth have made the Arabs very clever. More than anyone else, the Arab rulers know that it is very difficult to get any Arab to become a Jihadi warrior to fight for the realization of their dreams. They have cleverly identified the poor and impoverished Muslim nations as the best bet for them. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afganistan have been identified as the best choices for unlimited supply of Jihadi warriors. By clever invocation of religion they have succeeded in putting brothers against brothers in the South Asian subcontinent. It is very easy to make a Jihadi out of a Pakistani or an Afgan or a Bangladeshi by a few weeks of brain-washing and throwing a few petro-dollars. The role played by gun powder in the earlier stories of colonization is being played well by the poor and illiterate Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Afgans now. In addition, the Arabs have also roped in many of their co-religionists within US, Europe and India to provide the ground support for the onward march of Jihadi terrorists fighting for an Arabian empire.

Islamic Banking

If Jihadi Terrorism is the physical aspect of the ongoing campaign for an Arabian empire, Sharia-based Banking systems are its complementary soft weapon. Most of the Arab rulers are far richer than their own nations. The concept of Islamic Banking is a clever bye-product of their conspiracy to keep their riches unattached to their national wealth. The poor people in these Arab nations do not know that they will be left with nothing in the event of a regional catastrophe. The mushrooming Sovereign Wealth Funds, Charity Funds and Islamic variants of financial institutions are nothing but a camouflage to provide funding for colonization efforts of these rulers. When millions of common Arabs are still poor, it is difficult to justify diversion of national funds to fuel Jihadi Terrorism and these new type institutions provide the best option to hide them under a religious carpet.

Disparity of wealth is highest in the Arabian peninsula and ever since the advent of oil money it has become much more wider. Rich Arabs have grown more rich and the poor ones are fully at the mercy of their charity. And there are many surprises if we analyse details of the investments made by the top 100 richest Arabs, which includes many of their rulers in their individual capacity. Invariably a major part of their investment is outside their own countries, either in US or Europe or some other greener pastures. There can be many reasons for this. Many of them do not trust their own countries and wants to get the best returns for their money from outside investments (not Islamic Banks). And much more importantly it can be as part of a larger design to help with their colonization efforts. Custodians of holy places and dispensers of charity are the very same who are sponsoring terrorism and trying to make strategic investments all over the world.

Whatever be the current proclamations and postures of these Arab nations, we must not forget the fact the latest attempt to establish an ultra-puritan Islamic form of government viz. Taliban in Afganistan, was promoted, recognized and supported by only three other countries in the world. They were Saudi Arabia, UAE and Pakistan. Without an iota of doubt, it shows the clear intentions of the rulers in these nations to establish a new world order fully controlled by Arab Islamic forces. In other words, the attempt is only to create an Arabian empire under the rule of Saudi Arabia emperors by virtue of their position as custodians of the holy centres of Islam. But for their haste in attempting the 9/11 episode a bit prematurely, they would have cleared much more ground by now. The civilized world must thank God for getting a preview of the impending peril and do all it can to avoid such a catastrophe. It will be good for everyone to remember that Theocratic Monarchy, Kafir-Killing and Slavery will be the guiding principles of any such Arabian empire.

Monday, December 08, 2008

Indian USP

Current fears about a sudden global recession looks highly suspicious and only the next few months will prove whether it was all stage managed for the elections in USA. Ordinary Americans are so much insulated from anything other than money that only talks about an impending economic crisis could have influenced their choice in an election. Ordinary Americans are always bothered about their money and with expenditures far in excess of income, they are always vulnerable to the health of their finance providers who are thriving on speculative markets. It is quite possible that someone who wanted a change of guard at the White House could have triggered a false alarm in the Wall Street for a brief commotion.

But the on-going fear about impending global recession provides a credible opportunity for looking at the health of our own institutions and the options available to us to avoid such scenarios again. Each country has to develop its own USP (Unique Socio-economic Panacea) to ensure a glorious future. Sustainable development is the key word in today’s world and it is the secret of stability in all spheres. In India, we had always stressed on considering the dharma aspect of our actions. And it is this very same dharma that we call as sustainability in current parlance. The one and only way to test whether an individual’s or nation’s action or policy is contributing towards sustainability is to ascertain about its dharma. If it is dharmic it will, otherwise it will not. If all the aspects of governance by a government are dharmic then the country will be stable and its economy will not be vulnerable to man-made problems. We will have to fear only the vagaries of Nature.

For anyone looking for sustainable actions that would guarantee progress of India (or any nation), the first and foremost point to note is that social and economic aspects are inter-related and not divorceable. We cannot achieve economic stability without ensuring social justice. Until and unless all sections of the society are assured of their basic minimum requirements (economic, social and now security also) no nation can step into the next phase of accelerated development and progress. Sixty years after liberation from the British, India is still languishing in this pre-phase, waiting for a break. Religions are India’s forte and religions are India’s bane. India cannot progress any further until there is concerted action to make a truly secular polity emerge and sustainable economic policies are adopted. The minimum requirements for emergence of a truly secular and sustainable Indian nation are the following:-

Reservation benefits only on the basis of economic aspects

For the last sixty years we have been spending great amounts of money for the development of Adivasis and SC/ST sections of our population. There are improvements but it is limited to pockets within these target groups. The only reason for this unwanted result is cornering of benefits by those who have already availed them. If the basis of dispensing benefits under any reservation (which can be only for a specific caste or group or section) is purely based on economic criteria the results will be spread out and far more effective in very short time. Thus the basis of reservation can be anything as the government wants but the basis of dispensing benefits under the scheme must be only economic. The target must always be on the poorer sections in any target group.

Only public schools and no religious education till the age of 15

Catch them young is the key word for progress and development of a nation. In India more effort is made on making each child proud of their religion than about their nation. Religion, God and Spirituality makes no sense to any child anywhere in the world. It is wastage of our time and their time to lecture about spirituality to anyone below the age of 15. Instead of making efforts for development of their physique and human values, millions are spent on brain-washing them about the form, size and nature of God. All unwanted aspects of their religion get embedded into those tiny minds at a very young age. In contrast, we need only far less money to educate all of them in public schools where they will learn to be good humans first, good Indians next and good religious followers later on in their lives.

Common civil code for marriages and family planning

I am making this suggestion fully aware of the fact that there are very big objections to enforcement of a common civil code in India. But a simple common civil code covering only marriage and family planning is a must for an overpopulated nation like us to reach for progress. If the population is uncontrolled India can never achieve prosperity whatever be our GDP growth and other achievements. The denominator has to be controlled and a common law for marriage and family planning is the least that all Indians can agree upon to achieve zero-population growth soon.

No profit in retail banking sector

Friendly retail banks in the neighbourhood are the only financial institution we need for most of our transactions. This is true of 90% of Indians. The fact that most of these banks fall in the government sector is a great relief for India during any financial crisis. But an unwanted and unnecessary tendency that has been developing in the case of such vital institutions is the suicidal race for making profits year after year. Banks must concentrate on promoting savings and provide loans to all those who require. They must always operate on no-profit and no-loss basis. Efficiency of retail banks must be measured on how much savings they have promoted and how much loans they have disbursed and re-collected.

Complete ban on religious conversion

India is a democracy and will remains so for ever. Power in a democracy is purely based on numbers and no section of the society will like and allow deliberate and calculated attempts to alter the status. What the Church is attempting to do in India is exactly this. As the upper strata of the Christian society in India is developing and getting richer day by day the emphasis and efforts are going into development of their religion and not on spirituality. Those who have climbed above the prosperity line (like poverty line) are not recognizing their social responsibility towards those stranded below the poverty line. Instead the attempt is to increase the numbers and capture power.

If these five changes are introduced now, India will truly become a super power by 2020. They form the corner stones of an Indian USP. It will no longer be dependent on bail-out plans and adversely affected by melt-downs in foreign countries. The billion strong human resources can become the real asset for a nation and civilisation that has survived all forms of conquests and attacks. No financial or economic crisis can affect a nation of billion strong contended humans. In fact this is applicable for all nations in this world. What is standing between mankind and complete eradication of poverty & misery is human greed and the lone villain of religious overdose.