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The Heart of Dorkness

Thank you! Thank you for your tremendous support. Vikram: bad move -- as DM, I'd probably nuke you-know-what. Krishna: I accept all three kisses. Ranjit: I'm proud of you all! Sundar, Anurag and Friends: don't dare make my stocks crash! Rajesh, Radhakant and Gagan: you've fulfilled the dream I never thought I'd realise -- to actually change the opinion of a person. Deepak: aaaaaaaooooooo! Sridhar: one word about the spirit of my readers -- awesome! Kashmiri Hindu refugees: regardless of your support, I'll always be with you. George: we have a date. Sanjay A: no, YOU are the best. Anil, Sanjay, Geetha: I love you, toooo. "Your fight is our fight. Don't give up and don't give in," wrote Rajkumar. I promise, I'll never let you down.

Before I begin, I'd like to make something clear so that I don't get mail about it again: Many otherwise-supportive readers resented my answering mail and the Islamic threats through this column. I disagree. A writer must adapt to the media -- and rediff.com is no dead-wood publication; it doesn't merely upload articles written for newspapers. Internet journalists and readers are rid of the hassles of a land-locked medium; eg, how many would have taken the trouble of snail-mailing their response...? The Net is liberated, but most significantly, it is interactive. So I won't conform to the traditions of beached fuddy-duddies. And that applies to my choice of idiom, too: Mores are set by communities, and the wired community has its own. The Net is Youth -- so butt out, ye mentally olde fogies!

Today's theme: Islamic terrorists and their abettors :-). On January 9, there appeared in the LA Times, an article by a dork of Indian origin whose only claim to fame is said article and that moi had once shredded him over the Kashmir issue. About the hijacking of Flight IC-814 and PM Hajpayee's release of Masood Azhar and fellow vermin, Dork wrote: 'State Department officials did not point out that the release may encourage more terrorism. Nor did they call for hunting the three down... This doesn't begin to make sense until you realize what was left unsaid and why. It is this: The three men were not terrorists. Not only were they never tried or convicted of any act of terrorism, but they never even were charged... when a state indiscriminately wields deadly violence against guilty and innocent alike, would it not generate such hatred against itself as to provoke desperate, irrational and dangerous responses? Like, say, hijacking a plane?'

Among other things -- like the State Department being the sole authority on Paki terrorism -- I was amused to note the alacrity with which the White guys published the singular piece of crap. Can you imagine any Indian newspaper publishing a piece in support of the Unabomber or the accused in the Oklahoma bombing...? Would any Indian media permit itself to be a mouthpiece for the justification of terrorism? Would it let a megalomaniac use its reputation to justify hostage-taking and the terrorising of innocent air travelers?

Dork wrote, 'Mushtaq Zargar... was arrested in 1992 and accused of being the 'chief commander' of a terrorist group called the Umar Moujahedeen (sic)... Mushtaq Zargar merely languished in detention for eight years, until his release after the hijacking... we don't know if they really were terrorists or just Kashmiris whom the Indian government wanted to put away.'

Now let's examine Dork's and LA Times' journalistic standards:

§ The Seattle Times of January 5: 'One of three Kashmiri militants India released to end a plane hijacking vowed today before 10,000 supporters to fight to liberate his embattled region from Indian rule and to attack American interests. Followers thronged to a park in central Karachi when they heard that Maulana Masood Azhar had arrived from neighboring Afghanistan... "I have come here because this is my duty to tell you that Muslims should not rest in peace until we have destroyed America and India," he said.'

§ Transcript of the State Department's noon briefing on January 6, posted by the US embassy, Bucharest; James Rubin's briefing: 'With respect to the issue more broadly of the speech of Masood Azhar, we find it deplorable and unacceptable, his reported remarks about destroying America and India. Such language feeds a climate of hostility against both countries and incites violence... We would hold the government of Pakistan responsible for Masood's activities, which threaten the lives of our citizens. He is the -- Masood Azhar is the secretary-general of the renamed terrorist organization...'

§ The New Nation-Online (Bangladesh) of January 8: ' "We urge Pakistan to investigate carefully whether his actions have violated any Pakistani law. If so, he should be prosecuted accordingly,' Rubin said. US knows that Masood Azhar is the 'secretary general of the renamed terrorist organization (Harakat ul-Ansar) transformed into Harakat ul-Mujahideen," he added.'

§ ABCNEWS of December 31, 1999: 'Zargar was in the forefront of the insurgency when it erupted 10 years ago. He was then a leader of the JKLF. Local legend describes him as leading one attack on Indian security forces in Srinagar with two assault rifles, one blazing from each hand. Two years later, he formed his own militant group, Al-Umar Mujahideen... The Pakistani-born [Ahmed Umar Saeed] Sheikh, 28, migrated to Britain before joining the Harkat-ul-Ansar. He was arrested in 1994, and his name also appeared on the list of militants whose freedom was sought by the kidnappers of Hutchings and five other tourists in 1995.'

§ Dawn of January 3: 'Zargar, the founder of Al-Umar, was released by the Indian government along with Maulana Masood Azhar and Ahmad Umar Syed, who belonged to another outfit of freedom fighters, Harkatul Mujahideen. Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar has been involved in anti-government activities in India since he was 15 years old.'

None of these reports are from the Indian Press. All were published before January 9 -- when LA Times and San Jose Mercury News chose to print Dork's article. Don't its editors know the ABC of terrorism...? Don't they cross-check? "The three men were not terrorists"?! "The whole thing could blow up in India's face"?!

Back to Dork: His article is highlighted by The Indian Terrorism Page, which website's objective is 'to show the world how India... is using terrorism as a weapon to subdue and oppress its minorities and to harass neighbouring countries and occupied territories. Please boycott all Indian made products and voice your outrage against India through various mass media.' The focus of this self-proclaimed 'Indian' site is on: How the Indian army murdered 39 Kashmiri Sikhs; Over 100 innocent civilians massacred by Indian occupation forces in Kashmir; The Declaration of Independence of the Sikh Homeland; Why India Should be declared a Terrorist State.

Another enthusiastic customer for Dork's bile is pakdef.com, the 'Unofficial website of Pakistan's Armed Forces.' Yet another is The New Nation-Online -- Dork submitted the article in its Readers' Forum -- which juxtaposed it with: 'The neighbour you can't trust: India can not be a trusted neighbour of Bangladesh. The pre-history of the sub-continent proves that India by virtue of her Hindu religious country is a threat to the peaceful co-existence of her small neighbours.' Hmm...

However, the highpoint of Dork's agenda was realised when the May issue of Pakistan's Defence Journal carried a column titled 'Is India a terrorist state?' by Lt Gen (retd) F S Lodi: 'A leading US newspaper the Los Angeles Times in a report titled "India's Hands Aren't Clean" in January this year, is of the opinion that India is indeed a terrorist state.' After reproducing Dork's piece of unmitigated shit, Lodi concluded with his own: 'Recalling his visit to refugee camps in Azad Kashmir a week earlier, Rev Augustine [the special representative of the Archbishop of Canterbury] said he found that educated personalities and businessmen from the Indian held Kashmir were forced to migrate to Azad Kashmir and live in refugee camps... India has got away with State-sponsored terrorism for many years now, owing primarily to her size and economic potential which is a perpetual attraction for the trading nations of the West... The UN would therefore be the only organisation which could probably be coaxed to take some action... India has so far not allowed any outside humanitarian agencies to visit Indian occupied Kashmir or her eastern provinces to investigate human rights abuses. This should change soon as the world is becoming aware of the two faces of India.'

At no point in his article did Lodi mention Dork -- everything was attributed to LA Times thus: ' "So, if we want to prevent international terrorism, shouldn't we be trying to prevent violations of international law by the Indian government as energetically as we try to chase down hijackers," asks the Los Angeles Times forcefully.' Thus do Pakis use their instruments of propaganda...

So I was even more amused to read the online debate of the South Asian Journalists Association -- faithfully censored by its secular moderator -- on 'this phenomenon called Varsha Bhosle. That such a vitriolic and small-minded person attracts a fan club is not surprising... Rediff seems to have a wholly disproportionate stable of this sort of writer...' Dork, of course. And supported by the celebrated correspondent of renowned publications like BridgeNews and Little India, Kavita Chandran, whose own style and area of expertise are reflected by: 'It's the attitude funda with the new gen. America's new generation opts for anything -- from navel-piercing, loose, hip-hugging pants, tattoos...'

While, quote, 'Munching swiss chocs in Bern :)' the lady opined: 'What she is is a selling point for Rediff, whether or not her reckless rhetoric attracts readers. She is no journalist... (at best she is Asha Bhosle's daughter, isn't she...?) ...in fact some articles have even referred to her as "the newest hindutva columnist" or some such crap. I recall a piece of hers where she had written about how the indian constitution does not allow religious conversion through allurement... blah..blah. Huh??'

Come now, how would a dilettante -- so occupied with weighty issues like Nestle's launch of its nutritional supplement, the beedi fad, and Chutney Popcorn -- know about the Indian Constitution...? Yes, sweetheart, at my very, very best, I AM Asha Bhosle's daughter. For without her steely genes, I'd never have had the nerve to take on anti-Indian and anti-Hindu scumbags. At best, I'd have just been one more bitter soul jealous of another's intellect, tenacity, diligence and... kismet. I admit, that last factor makes it a formidable combination :-).

Varsha Bhosle