It is indeed interesting to note that countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan are neither rich nor very powerful if compared to the Western countries and even India. How do you think powerful countries become powerful? For example, how was Britain very powerful once and now the US? Do you think it is possible to be a powerful country by being nice and fair or because of other reasons? And once powerful, do you think countries act benevolently vis-a-vis other countries?

Let me change the track a bit. Would you say the poor in Pakistan would have more similarities with the Pakistani elite or with the Indian poor? Do you think religious and nationalist similarities can erase the fact that the poor suffer in a similar manner in every country? Don’t you think the elite in Pakistan and India – despite their differences – enjoy a similar kind of privileged life? If yes, can we then really look at the human condition ONLY through nationalist and religious paradigms? We obviously can’t, and you might agree so far with me hopefully.

Now let us go back to the specific issue. There is obviously an Islamic terror threat looming across certain countries. It has to be definitely dealt with in a sensitively sharp manner. We can’t allow this random and sporadic kind of hostage killing. But why I say “sensitively” is because we have to stop it without further aggravating it. If certain people are feeling mad enough to give up their lives for a cause which spreads terror, we have to go into the reasons. Doing so is not to fall into the trap of their self-justifications behind using terror. But it would at least enable us to just go beyond mere anger.

Your angst seems to be about people not coming out in clear condemnation of Islamic terror and calling it by its name. As if if they do, your angst will end. Because then you will know, people of your country are all united in fighting Islamic terrorism. But will you be as passionately with these very people when they protest against farmers’ suicides, against the Narmada dam, for gay rights, against atrocities against Dalits, against killing of minorities in India? Are you sure you may not have a difference of opinion about these issues from many of them, just as some of them might have a difference of opinion with you on how to look at the larger problem of terrorism?

Do you think those poor people living in villages, most of whom without the luxury of having televisions, would really bother about the Mumbai attacks so much? Do you think the family of those 1.5 lakh farmers who committed suicide would really care about how many people got killed in the Taj or Oberoi? Do you think these poor people won’t bother about these deaths out of cynicism? Or because of some other, obvious reasons? What can those reasons be?

Let me end this by creating another divide. We all know, terrorists are deliberately targeting well known cities to have the maximum political (and media) impact. I agree that just as villages and towns, these cities are as “India” as anything else. But surely not ONLY what is India – right? And I just pointed out how there are huge populations in India who may not bother so much about the Mumbai attacks. So when we are talking about coming together, who are the people we are referring to? And those people who are living with other, more acute, daily problems, what if they are not interested in the issue? Can we still claim to represent “India”? Do you think being nationalistic is an obviously exclusive privilege of those who live in cities? If not, then would you agree that whether we agree to come together on the issue of Islamic terrorism or not, we would have to infinitely struggle to ALSO fight together for the rights and the lives of many other people in this country? Don’t you think that is what we owe to the people of this country?

Yeah, how could they? In a dark alley, you cannot seea nything, not even the headlights of a police van!

According to later his confession, a police officer got out of the vehicle and started firing first, injuring him; how, then, did Ismail manage to kill the rest by himself?”
WIth the kithcen knife he was carrying of course, not the AK47.

These RSS terrorists as I shall call them then proceeded to stake out Sri Karkare who they knew was bound to come on that road to take on the Pakistani terrorists. They then managed to spot Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar in the vehicle. How they managed to do so when it is being claimed that the Pakistani terrorists could not have spotted them in the darkness is left as an exercise in fertile imagination to the reader; but it is just possible that the RSS terrorists were armed with Night Vision Goggles stolen from Army facilities. After all it is proven that about 60% of the Army has links with radical Hindutvavadis…

Back to the scene of action – the RSS terrorists, sure that their identities would be mistaken for the pakistanis’ pumped bullets into the three officers. However, for reasons unknown, they also entered Cama Hospital instead of heading home and distributing laddoos. There, the RSS walas revealed their stupidity by shouting in fluent Marathi before all and sundry for nearly an hour, thereby establishing their true identities before bolting out and disappearing into the night.

All this happened virtually in the footsteps of the rampaging Pakistani terrorists and yet the Pakistanis did not shoot them dead. This probably means that it was a joint operation by the RSS terrorists and their LeT counterparts in Pakistan.

This is what RH’s insinuating and frankly I have no words for it.

In the event of terror strikes, in my humble opinion, one simply cannot rely on eyewitness accounts or journalists jogging their memories. We have to rely on the outcome of the post-attack interrogation. Terrorists are trained to create mayhem by erratic movements, counter-intuitive actions and concealing their true intentions for the longest possible time once the attack is in progress. This is obviously to throw the responding forces off-track and ensure a high level of chaos that adds to their first-mover advantage. People who do not understand terrorist modus operandi must shut up and not reveal their ignorance for all to see.

Even if Karkare was on the hitlist of “Hindu terrorists” as the usual suspects are fond of parroting nowadays, how could these forces have reacted with the degree of speed and precision that makes everything look like the Pakistani terrorists did it? Did the RSS have terrorists ready and loaded and waiting in Mumbai for just such an attack to materialize? Or did the old dog Sudarshan respond at the speed of light to outfit terrorists with AK-47s, munitions and directions necessary to get them on the ground for the killing minutes after getting the information presumably through the TV?

All this is entirely untenable unless you also suggest that the killers of Karkare were actually hand-in-glove with the Pakistani terrorists themselves. Or are you suggesting there were no Pakistani terrorists and it was all an in-house job by the RSS to malign Pakistan, kill Karkare and also enough Hindu Indians to provoke an outrage against Muslims and hopefully a riot or two?

If this is what is being arrived at, I’d put such people at the level of zaid Hamid and other canine conspiracy-mongers of his ilk. Not worth further comment.

It goes to show just how much some Muslims have lost the plot here when they applaud the rabid communalist Antulay question the events leading to the deaths of brave police officers. The Congress is no friends of the Hindus and would happily malign a few Hindutva types to corner Muslim votes (using something like the Malegaon blasts probe for example). But even this farcically secular party can only go so far to hide the truth from the public. Muslim terrorists go on a rampage killing hundreds and an old fool comes up with is a bizarre conspiracy theory that is idiotic as much as it is repulsive.

RH has tried to put up a spirited defence for Pakistan and to imply that the terrorists were Hindus and not Muslims from Pakistan. Even the Pakistani media has produced incontrovertible evidence for where Kasab comes from, endorsed by none other than Navaz Sharif. Here is a soul who would make Zardari and Hamid Gul proud! Great work, brother! It takes all kinds to make this world!!

Thank you Akira Kurosawa for making a movie called ‘Rashomon’ in early 50′s, I think, a remake is long due and this event will certainly make a good plot for one such movie.
Even when I am writing this, some more possibilities are coming in my mind. In one story we can have Pragya Thakur playing part, by making her come out of the prison, through another interesting story, for killing Karkare. In another, Lt. Col. Purohit can play the role of assassin, even Praveen Togadia can be allowed to become part of one of the segment, he can be shown killing with a ‘Trishul’ followed by gun shots.