Tag Archives: taliban

Bowe Bergdahl And Robert Bergdahl Are A Disaster For Obama But He Can Recover

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A lot has been said about the video of Bowe Bergdahl’s father praising Allah at the White House. Frankly, most of it is wrong. Obama was not smiling. Anyone who knows body language and looks at the video will see that, actually, that was a grimace. President was also obviously angry, he knew how much political damage had just been done to him. I don’t know who is advising Obama at the moment, or why he let five terrorists go for one man but whoever is advising him needs to either be fired or given the worst job in politics somewhere far away from the President to make a strong point. American Ambassador of Outer Mongolia or Siberia sounds good.

I don’t know if Obama knew what the Arabic meant at the time, but he knew it was enough to damage him in the eyes of his enemies, most of whom constantly try to make the President out as not a true American.

Robert Bergdahl said at the press conference of his son’s release, “Bism allah alrahman alraheem,” which translates from Arabic to English as “in the name of Allah, the merciful, the compassionate.” It is said before every chapter in the Koran except the 9th (the chapter of the sword). The level of stupidity in quoting the Koran at the White House, even more than ten years after 9/11 is insurmountable. Not to mention insensitive. He may have meant it in a well-meaning way, but it was not that he spoke in Arabic, it was the praise of Allah, the same Allah whose name the pilots flew into the World Trade Centre for. The beard didn’t help. Robert Bergdahl grew it out of ‘solidarity’ for his captured son but we live in a visual world. How things look matter, and it looks bad.

Bowe Bergdahl allegedly left a note saying he wanted to renounce his citizenship before he went AWOL. Then six American soldiers lost their lives trying to rescue him from the Taliban. This is the biggest crisis of Obama’s career and the shades of Homeland (incidentally one of the President’s favourite shows) does not help. The President did not know what Robert Bergdahl was going to say, and he clearly didn’t like what he did say. No man left behind is very American. Even if the man is controversial and not liked within the armed forces because of his desertion.

To rub salt into the wound, the Taliban have released a video of the release of Bowe Bergdahl. Despite all of this, I believe the President can still recover. He just needs to surround himself with the right people.

What do you think?

 

A Fort of Nine Towers By Qais Akbar Omar Book Review

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I have to be honest. I have put off writing this review. Which may seem weird considering the fact that A Fort of Nine Towers is one of the most important books I have ever read. Many books change you, give you enjoyment, make you think, even change your outlook: A Fort of Nine Towers does most of these, but it also touches your soul, your heart and then breaks them a little. As a Western woman, with all of the privilege that entails, reading this book is an eye-opener and a game changer.

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I read papers, I watch the news, I watch documentaries and read books. I stay involved in politics and world events, but this tale of a young boy growing up in Afghanistan should be required reading for every one in the Western world (and beyond).

How much the human spirit can endure is both interesting and fascinating. The same with the human body. Qasis Akbar was only eleven when a brutal civil war broke out in Kabul. For Qais, it brought an abrupt end to a childhood filled with kites and cousins in his grandfather’s garden: one of the most convulsive decades in Afghan history had begun. Ahead lay the rise of the Taliban, and, in 2001, the arrival of international forces.

Called ‘poetic, powerful and unforgettable’ by The Kite Runner author Khaled Hosseini, A Fort of Nine Towers is the story of Qais, his family and their determination to survive these upheavals as they were buffeted from one part of Afghanistan to the next. Drawing strength from each other, and their culture and faith, they sought refuge for a time in the Buddha caves of Bamyan, and later with a caravan of Kuchi nomads. When they eventually returned to Kabul, it became clear that their trials were just beginning.

A lot of this book is horrifying, the inhumanity from one human to another, but there is also hope. Qais apologises to the reader for the stories he tells, knowing they will never leave your mind: stories of pits full of skulls, women being gang-raped, a man called ‘Dog’ who tortures and kills people by biting them. Something that happens to Qais and his father, but only after they have seen a row of dead naked people, some tourists, all in a row, horror as their death masks.

This book is also important as a way to dispel propaganda. Rather fascinatingly Qais writes about hearing talk of a rich Arab named Bin Laden (Yes, that one), who lived near Qais in a big house which used to be owned by someone called the Pimp of The King. The place was always covered by Taliban and they would drive black Land Cruisers and have big meetings there. So Osama Bin Laden was in Afghanistan. I am not saying this has made me pro-war, I believe lies were told, but this piece of information, and the stories of the Taliban; what they did, their brutality, what happened to women…Westerners don’t just have a duty to other Westerners and certainly not just to other white people. We can not just turn a blind eye. When I read the book and got to the end, I see how the invasion of Iraq also benefited Afghanistan. I am more educated but I want to learn even more, talk to more Afghans. The book even prints out the rules for women and information the Taliban distributed after it took over Kabul. These include toppling walls on homosexuals (if they live it means they weren’t homosexuals) and women should not step outside of their residence…she belongs to only one man (Husband) or soon she will be property of a man (Husband). And the ironically illiterate: women do not have as much brains as men, therefore they cannot think wisely as man. These ended with ‘Sincerely! The Taliban rules’. Like some illiterate teenager would graffiti on a wall.

I learned a lot reading this book. Some I already knew but it was reinforced: the Taliban are evil. Horrible peasants who use religion as an excuse to murder and torture and rule, the horror of organised religion and the damage it can cause, how privileged anyone is to be born in Britain or the US, how they have no excuse whatsoever not to make something of their lives, when there are people like Qais, who survived a brutal war, who saw the people he loved killed, who saw such horrifying things at such a young age. But more importantly I was more educated after reading this book, more compassionate. I was sadder, emotional but with a fire in my belly: knowing that every human being must do their best, and what happened in Afghanistan should never be forgotten. God knows what will happen when US troops pull out soon. I only hope the Taliban do not return, but I fear that they will. It is too awful a thought to even contemplate and God help Afghanistan if they do.

You can buy A Fort of Nine Towers here. I highly recommend that you do.

What do you think?

Secret Service Files – Protecting The President.

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This documentary about the Secret Service is riveting  and informative. Broken down into four different events in which a President was in danger. It has access to the Presidents themselves and good archive footage.

Agent Robert Rodriguez and President Clinton talk us through King Hassan’s funeral. Dozens of world leaders were in Morocco for the funeral. Which the secret service agents refer to as a ‘sea of humanity’. There was a two mile walk during the funeral that left the President open to attack. The Secret Service advised him not to do the walk but he Insisted on it. Their were two leaders who were not popular in that part of the world, Presidents Clinton and Bush.

The Secret Service were on high alert as the death of a leader and religious figure is a recipe for disaster.

Agent Staropoli, who was in the counter assault team, otherwise known as CAT, was there to back up their Secret Service colleagues if anything went wrong as they have enhanced weapons that the rest of the team don’t have.

Bill Clinton says of the Secret Service when he was President,  “they were good at trying to be flexible because they knew I liked to be with people.”

The feeling you really get from this documentary is of bravery and courage. Of men risking their lives for their country and the man who runs it. As Agent Rodriguez says, “I would rather be dead than labelled a coward… I have never heard of an agent who had doubts about taking a bullet for the president.”

In another scenario with President George Bush Snr The president had to be evacuated. The agents say that, ‘the welfare of the president is always more important that pomp and circumstance.’

Joseph Funk said this event was the first time the CAT team had a full employment. There were tear gas, gunshots and unruly crowd. The Secret Service work by ‘cover and evacuate’.  They do 360 degree coverage of the President. Above, below and around and they also create a stable shooting platform.

When President Clinton went into Pakistan in March 2000 for a television address the Secret Service were against it. Clinton himself says that he, “knew I was in greater danger after going after Bin Laden”.

The agent says that AK47 are popular and easy to get in that region and that they went in against their better judgement.

They had a decoy airplane and made use of the element of surprise. Intelligence revealed that Pakistani secret police had been infiltrated and had people with Taliban sympathies.

They had six armed cars with the presidential seal so any assassins had a one in six chance of getting the president. Clinton’s speech was only 15 minutes. The Secret Service can never relax or put their guard down. That is what normal people do. “We don’t think it is a job well done until we arrive back at the White House.” they say. They do an impressive job.

When President Bush went into Georgia a loner with violent tendencies, Vladimir Arutyunian,  threw a grenade at him which bounced of a little girl’s head and miraculously did not go off. One brave Georgian policeman took the live grenade and ran away from the crowds with it, knowing it could go off at any moment. The Georgian people love the United States and they wanted to show appreciation to President Bush because of the destruction of the Soviet Union. They even named the highway leading to the main airport after him

Bryan Paarmann, Special agent FBI. said they had metal detectors, which were very important but because of overcrowding the Georgian security team switched off the metal defectors. So they had an unscreened crowd of up to 100,000 people.

The Secret Service say that their greatest fear is an isolated loner prone to violence and that they have to be on their game 100% of the time. There is no room for error.

Secret Service Files – Protecting The President shows on the National Geographic Channel.

My 9-11: One Man's Journey Through September 11, 2001

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My 9-11: One Man’s Journey Through the Unexpected Events of September 11, 2001′ Launches With a Book, Gallery Show & Soundtrack

Multi-Media Art Retrospective to Commemorate the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th Attacks Will Also Raise Healthcare Funds for First Responders and Families

Music and celebrity portrait photographer and author, Richard Agudelo, presents, My 9-11: One Man’s Journey Through the Unexpected Events of September 11, 2001. This multi-media arts retrospective includes a book that contains never before published images from Ground Zero, captured moments after the attacks. These powerful images will be presented in a photography exhibit at NYC’s new Charles West Gallery. In addition to the book and gallery show, 13 diverse musicians have contributed original works to the My 9-11 Project soundtrack. All net proceeds from the My 9-11 Project efforts will be donated to first responder charities including the FealGood Foundation

The beautifully crafted book presents 144 pages, containing 40 images that include 23 never before published pictures that were taken 20 minutes after One World Trade Center collapsed. The photographs are accompanied by a vividly detailed 11,000 word narrative that gives a glimpse of the chaos and heroism at Ground Zero immediately following the towers downfall. Contributors to the book include 9-11 first responder advocate, John Feal of the FealGood Foundation and World Trade Center Health Organization’s leading expert, Dr. Jacqueline Moline. All the names of victims lost on 9-11 are also included in a commemorative section.

“My 9-11 Project began to take shape after I returned from an annual check-up at the World Trade Center Health Organization,” explains author, photographer and founder of My 9-11 Project, Richard Agudelo. “I saw the suffering of many first responders and over the years have witnessed the untimely deaths of too many of these heroes,” Agudelo adds, “My 9-11 Project not only aims to raise funds to help prevent more of these deaths, but also helps to provide a larger platform to bring light and conversation to this unfortunate circumstance.” Agudelo further states, “We not only need to honor and applaud these heroes, we need to take care of them, just as they did for us.”

My 9-11: One Man’s Journey Through the Unexpected Events of September 11, 2001 has been brought to light by efforts and funding from Barry Leistner and Koenig Iron Works, Inc. in New York City. “When I met Ric Agudelo, he was looking for a gallery space to show a project he was working on to commemorate September 11th,” explains Barry Leistner, president of Koenig Iron Works. “Once I started to hear the details of this amazing project, suddenly I knew exactly how I was going to honor the friends and loved ones lost on 9-11,” further explains Leistner, “I was not only going to get Ric a space to launch the My 9-11 Project, I asked to personally help and became Co-founder and Producer of the multi-media project.”

ABOUT MY 9-11 PROJECT

My 9-11 Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides monetary assistance to various organizations that push to alleviate the financial burdens of the September 11th first responders who suffer from health ailments due to the time spent at Ground Zero. My 9-11 Project also aims to generate general public awareness about the many health issues that plague these heroes. Funds will be raised through multi-media arts projects which will also support and nurture NYC downtown artists. My 9-11 Project was founded by photographer Richard Agudelo and philanthropist Barry Leistner. For more information on My 9-11 Project, please visit www.My9-11Project.org.

US Pakistan Relations Collapse; The US Suspends $800 Million of Military Aid

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The US is withholding $800 million in military aid to Pakistan. White house chief of staff Bill Daley told ABC television that Pakistan had, ‘taken some steps that have given us reason to pause on some of the aid’.

Relations between the US and Pakistan have deteriorated ever since the US killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan earlier this year.

The $800 million dollars is about the third of the annual US security aid to Pakistan. The New York Times has said the move is retaliation against the expulsion of US military trainers. It is also supposed to encourage Pakistan to step up its fight against militants.

The suspension of aid may also be a reaction to American anger that Osama bin Laden was living so comfortably and close to the Pakistani military academy in Pakistan. The US government has found it increasingly difficult to justify funding Pakistan with US tax payer’s money following the bin Laden raid.

The suspension of aid will worry many. The situation in Pakistan has always been extremely delicate and complex. The vast sums the US has paid in aid in the past allows them to have a semblance of control over the situation. It is especially important given Pakistan’s ownership of nuclear weapons. Let’s hope this decision doesn’t come back to haunt us in the future.

 

Frank Huzur on Imran Khan, Jemima, the Taleban and writing.

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I was delighted to interview writer Frank Huzur recently. Frank specializes in Indo-Pak political affairs and is incredibly knowledgeable on India, the Afghanistan war and the Taleban. He has a book coming out soon, Imran versus Imran: The UNTOLD STORY, the biography of Imran Khan.

Frank had this to say about the book and then the interview follows:

It has not been a smooth journey across the border. For an Indian national, irrespective of profession-media is more notorious in India-Pakistan for stoking the fire of jingoism and sowing the seed of hatred—it is always a thorny affair to travel to each country. I somehow have been fortunate to visit Pakistan seven times in three years. Writing the biography of Imran Khan was, indeed, a powerful motivation. Nevertheless, travelling through different areas, Lahore, Mianwali (ancestral place of Imran Khan and his political constituency) and Islamabad–was always a tough ask, considering the combustible political situation on streets. Terror attacks, hundreds of them–quite big in size and casualty, have hit high profile targets, some of them during my visit.

Irrespective of everything, I maintained my focus on the goal, and returned each time armed with a vast range of anecdotes and impressions of Imran Khan and Pakistan politics. People of Pakistan have been very beholden to my literary endeavour and have never discouraged me from probing further into their lives and times.

Imran and his family and friends were very warm and friendly during numerous round of interviews for the biography. His brother-in-law and sisters in Lahore were candid in sharing their side of the story.

Jemima Khan in London was equally considerate and beholden to my requests. She was very forthright in sharing her impressions of Imran. I am indebted to her for taking the interview at her Studio One apartment, Fulham Broadway in April, 2008.

1) How did you get into writing?

FH: I discovered as early as in 8th grade at school that writing was my natural instinct. The urge to write began with composition of poems in English. Reading of Wordsworth’s poems, I wandered lonely as a Cloud, The Solitary Reaper, Strange Fits of Passion have I known romanticised my imagination. By the time I was a school graduate at the age of 15, I tasted blood with the publication of some of my poems on the New Delhi-based English dailies, including The Asian Age. I was in love with the romantic age in English literature, and doted on the Lyrical Ballads, a joint publication of William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Before taking a maiden shot at playwriting, I had composed over 100 poems under the title of Remembering Her. When I joined Hindu college, Delhi University in 1995, poetic sentiments found expression in prose and play. In summer of 1998, I published my maiden play, Hitler in Love with Madonna. The title of the play was dubbed weird by friends, and critics were attracted like moth to the lamp during rehearsal itself. However, it brought me a fair share of public acclaim in the national press, for its political undercurrents.

Poetry and play further fired my imagination to comment on the burning issues of society and politics. In the spring of 1997, I had the temerity to launch a monthly newsmagazine, Utopia, with heavy dose of political reportage from around the world. The inaugural issue of Utopia in March 1997 coincided with the political debut of Imran Khan across the border in Pakistan. Since then, political churning in the subcontinent and elsewhere continues to fire my imagination to dabble in chiefly three genre of literature, poetry, drama (fiction) and non-fiction. I am still a few years away from writing a novel.

2) You have written a lot about Imran Khan and have a book coming out soon about him. What can you tell us about him and why is he so fascinating to you?

FH: The fascination with Imran, to speak the truth, bordered on paranoia during school days. I was growing up in Patna, capital of a benighted state like Bihar in India, where cricket was staple diet. Throughout ‘80s Imran was a household name for apparent reasons. However, I found myself increasingly obsessed with the other side of his charismatic persona, such as his philanthropic passion, which was on display during the 1987 World cup semi-final in Lahore. Imran lost the battle against Aussies, announced his retirement and despite winning the car in the ‘Man of the Series’ award, he gifted it to Abdul Qadeer. He had already started a fierce campaign to build the cancer hospital in memoriam of his mother, Shaukat Khanum. I was a 10 years old cricket wannabe at the time. Still, I could experience the magic moments of Imran’s other side, a cricketer who was a crusader for a public cause and an opinionated sportsman who could talk for hours on issues of public interest. Gathering such impression of Imran in the face of prevailing media stereotype at the time like he was a playboy, junkie and Lothario was quite a unique experience. Doting on a superstar from across the border, supposedly an enemy country for an average Indian youth, was another surprise.

Nevertheless, Imran Khan was a ticket to hate-free zone vis-a-vis Indo-Pak barbed wire rivalry goes. He has never been an anti-India rhetorician.

The childhood obsession with Imran became a passionate act of observing his political innings in the prime of my youth as a writer and journalist. Visiting Pakistan for over half-a-dozen occasion in the past three years of troubled past opened my eyes to a vast sheaf of reality bites. Not only about the man who has been deep into maelstrom of his political struggle and movement for justice, but also about the bedevilled country, mired into morass of bad political morals.

My biography of Imran Khan, Imran Versus Imran: The Untold Story (expected last week of July, 2010, Falcon & Falcon Books Ltd. London) is an unambiguous enquiry into his political innings. This is not about a cricketing legend. Imran versus Imran brings out the so far unknown sides of a legendary crusader who has sacrificed on several fronts, including his marriage to Jemima, children living in London while he braves the heat and dust on Pakistani streets, luxury of cloistered life in the West and a lucrative career in cricket administration or commentary box. Like a Sufi who lives by his passion and instinct for a cause, Imran has been an Avant-garde voice against the status-quo in Pakistan.

3) What do you think is next for Imran?

FH: Imran will not fade out in the present avatar. Those who know the former captain of Pakistan cricket team will testify to his childlike lust for grabbing his toy. Capturing power is not his agenda. Power doesn’t please him, which is why he has been quick in rejecting several offer of alliances with nearly all the political formations. He could have won a good number of seats in February 2008 Parliamentary elections. Yet he listened to the voice of his conscience and boycotted the polls as a tribute to lawyers’ struggle for restoration of Independent judiciary.

Like Jemima told me, even if Imran doesn’t succeed in electoral terms, he will remain a yardstick by which honesty of a politician in mud pond of Pakistan politics will be measured. However, Imran will not give up. The youth of the country are solidly behind him, and he is promising them a ‘bloodless revolution.’ Imran will go down even in his political innings a successful crusader. Even though he is still not a maverick and a great organiser of political programmes, he does stand his chance. He is gearing up to go for jugular sometime in near future.

Having said that, Imran Khan is a unique politician who is rabidly against the American policies and on-going drone attacks in the tribal areas, not to mention a series of suicide bombings targeting civilian population in Lahore and elsewhere. Imran will not soften his anti-America stand in order to capture power. He wants to create history like Ayatollahs in Pakistan, and he doesn’t give damn to those who accuse him of being a ‘devil advocate’ of Taleban.

4) What do you think of the current political and economical situation of the world today?

FH: The world politics is on the brink of tectonic shift in its scope and character. Forces of privatization and globalisation are under intense scrutiny in nearly all the countries, be it the USA, Europe, Latin America or Indian Sub-continent. The economic crisis, in the past couple of years, has robbed the crystal ball gazing off its sheen.

Europe is experiencing a paradigm shift vis-a-vis confrontation with corporate state. The upsurge in stocks of Liberal Democrat in the British Parliamentary elections is a testimony to the ‘wind of change blowing in the air.’ In Germany, there is a surge of support for Die Linke (The Left) led by Oskar Lafontaine. In Nederland, the Socialist party is looking set to replace the Labour Party as the principal opposition party. Greece’s economic woes have triggered a massive surge in mass support for the rapid rise of the Coalition of the Radical Left. Spain and Norway, Socialists are already entrenched in power corridor. Least said the better about the Latin American countries like Bolivia, Venezuela, Brasil and others where socialist sentiments have acquired a zing even among youth.

In Indian subcontinent, love affairs with corporations continues and it will have its moment of reckoning in near future. Though the ruling party, Indian National Congress is a centrist party, its policies of late have been hammered on public streets for extreme pro-corporation bias. The principal opposition party led by Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) is not perceived much different from the ruling coalition of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). However, a vast crowd of poor Indians, especially in northern provinces of Hindi heartland where majority of Indians live on their small agricultural holdings, are veering towards the third alternative, socialist party of India. Samajwadi Party, (Socialist Party of India) is the third largest political bloc on the floor of Indian Parliament. Over the past couple of years, the party is registering massive inroads into hearts and minds of common Indians under the vibrant leadership of its young leader, Akhilesh Yadav, who is a suave, English-educated master in Environment from University of Sydney. Akhilesh is the principal rival to Rahul Gandhi’s juggernaut in the most populous province of Uttar Pradesh, and probably a counterfoil to Rahul Gandhi’s premier ambition to rule the highly-cherished state.

The politics across the border in Pakistan is a worrying sign for us all in the sub-continent. However, the transfer of power from President Zardari to Prime Minister Gilani and recent surge in judicial activism augurs well for fledgling civil institutions in the beleaguered nation, which has been an important ally of the USA-led coalition against war on terror. Imran Khan’s role can’t be discounted, as he has fired the imagination of Pakistani people over pros and cons of democracy and dictatorship.

In all, President Obama is yet to demonstrate his famous ‘audacity of hope’ calibre, and as of now, he is looking like an Ostrich over Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrytal’s unceremonious exit is a serious setback to the American strategy in Kabul.

5) Do you think the war in Afghanistan is winnable?

FH: There are no winners in war, whether in Afghanistan or Vietnam. For centuries, the Great Game theory has been pounded of its barest bone and flesh in the opium fields of Kandhar. The Soviets were sucked into interminable conflict and by the time realisation dawned upon them, they had become paupers in every conceivable way. The USA and Britain didn’t learn a lesson from the condemned past before committing chaotic blunder after blunder.

The Taleban should have been taken out of their hideouts. Nine years later, the army of rugged Pathans are now lurking at gates of Kabul. Nine years of bloated and arrogant war machinery has created only mausoleum of thousands of innocent Afghan men, women and children, over 1,000 American soldiers and over 100 British soldiers, not to mention tragic loss of NATO soldiers and a great number of promising journalists, including Daniel Pearl. Had the war on terror in Afghanistan been on the course of achieving even ten percent of its laid-out objectives, Taleban would not have mushroomed in the tribal areas of Pakistan and bombing its innocent civilians and military General Headquarters.

Adding further insult to injuries, the cost of Afghan war has overtaken that of Iraq for the first time this summer. President Obama is committing $65 billion more, with total cost of fighting the Taleban and Al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan all set to zoom past $100 billion in 2010 alone.

The Afghan war is a catastrophic blunder on all fronts. Just as the Soviet’s humiliating withdrawal destabilised the neighbouring regions, the prevailing situation on the border of Pakistan bodes ill for even eastern neighbourhood of India.

6) What is your writing schedule?

FH: Writing is a spontaneous process for me. I never plan my writing schedule. However, I am a night animal, and prefer to borrow more from arterial stretches of imagination late into the night. The midnight hours are more simulating as the din of daytime robs me off creative cultivation of thoughts.

7) Do you think it is possible to defeat the Taliban?

FH: Taleban is a stateless phenomenon. Which is why it is difficult to root these faceless warriors out for once and all. Taleban is an idea, and a vampire-like creation out of the monstrous cocktail of Jihadi ideology and distorted interpretation of Islam. If the Western powers commit to fight the idea of Taleban, only then its elimination is possible. Liberal and democratic forces should be encouraged to penetrate into the deep pockets of extremist heartland where young, impressionable minds are being indoctrinated to slaughter innocents of the civilised society.

8 ) India is known as a place where people go to find themselves. What makes India so magical?

FH: India is not just a place populated with people of diverse faiths and caste-ridden Hindu population. India’s secret weapon is her tenacity, ability to smile in face of fierce tragedy. There are islands of poverty in every single metropolis, not to mention hundreds of small towns and millions of villages, yet beauty of India cuts through rivers of sorrow as millions of Indians rise and fall in their perennial search for salvation. Every Hindu caste Indian has his own deities, his own temple where he believes his deity will rain milk and honey if he surpass other fellows in his offerings. Spiritual fascism of high priests apart, there are many portals of liberating one’s soul. The vastness of the country offers its own aesthetic beauty where a person from northern temple town of Benares will find himself alien in the southern temple city of Tirupati in lingua and look, yet a northerner and southerner will be united in their common pursuits of salvation at the feet of stone-deity.

India is home to more Muslims than Pakistan, and its secular, democratic polity has endured powerful assaults over the fabric of its communal accord. However, the land of mystic seers and shrines is in the grip of difficult challenges, of late as terrorism of all shades rears its ugly head.

9) What is next for you?

FH: I am about to write a couple of more biographies, preferably a biography of India’s socialist titan, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who has ruled India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh three times and has also been ex-defense minister. I am also working on the biography of Britain’s top Muslim, Dr Khurshid Ahmed, who is winner of CBE from the Queen, for his pivotal role in improving the image of West in Muslim countries. In addition, I am also working on my debut novel, albeit a tad slow.

Thank you Frank.

For more on Frank, follow the link

The Perversion of Empire {Carl Packman}

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We live in an age of bombast. Anyone who has seen Eddie Izzard’s show Circle will know of the skit he does about the word awesome, used so liberally now that even hot-dogs can be described as awesome, and of course if a hot-dog is considered awesome, what words will be available in our bank to describe the first landing on Mars, or our first sighting of Erkel.

Today the word empire and imperialism are used out of place, obscuring those original meanings. People go forth on these words particularly with regards to US and European ventures in the Middle East.

My own view is that it was unnecessary to be too instrumental in the creation of Afghan and Iraqi governments, not for the oversimplified reason that democracy building equals empire (it doesn’t) but because it was unnecessary in the war on terror (by and large a war against terror cells and factions). Regime change follows stripping the influence and power of those cells and ripping down the cash channels between neighbouring terror cells.

I opposed the Iraq war on the grounds that it was an own goal, and I still do, but the Taliban continues to forge power in northern provinces of Afghanistan and wields power by setting up fake checkpoints and unleashing suicide attacks. Reports back in 2009 suggest that families in Kunduz, a northern city in Afghanistan, and capital of the Kunduz Province, have been sending one son to join the Taliban in case militants take back control of that region again.

Fear pervades that region, and the Western troops ought to play a role in training Afghan forces to take power away from the hands of Taliban forces. Whatever ones view, that venture is not one of empire, and good reason too, because empire is over.

But one man who is not amused by the setting of the sun on the empire is Niall Ferguson – the man Michael Gove jumped up and down to clapping like an inebriated guinea fowl – empire apologist courted by the department of education.

Ferguson has been characterised as the Jamie Oliver of History, but this is not true, because as far as I can tell Oliver can at least tell his mange tout from his lady fingers.

In Ferguson’s opinion history is a discipline that won’t be jeopardised by strong opinion. Barely concealing his apologies for the British Empire, and criticising the American Empire for not being enough like the former, is one thing, but basic knowledge can remind you that history is at least the one subject where a relaxation of emotional attachment to a political ideology is vital.

In fact, the first lesson of relaying the objective facts lent to us by history is to leave agendas aside (they can obscure our understanding, and drag historical literature down to the level of chinese whispers).

Well this simply isn’t on the menu for Ferguson, who will now be in charge of deciding what goes in and what stays out of the curriculum of history for children (perhaps this is why the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority – a non department body – has been scrapped by the new coalition government).

Gove’s reason for allowing this is because he believes in traditional history teaching. We can guess what this means (Tudors, Saxons, Smurfs, Pingu etc) but is Ferguson the architect of traditional history, or is he to history what Mao was to the open society.

Gove uses the word tradition like some talk of empire today; perversely.