Something wicked this way comes...
In 1000AD, a storm was brewing at the Western gates of Hindu civilization. This storm, in the form of Mahmud of Ghazni, hit India with such gale force that to this day this civilization has not entirely recovered from it. For instance, when one traces the roots of Swat's descent into Shari'a today, we have to go back to this invasion by Mahmud. Till Mahmud came, Swat was a cradle of Hindu-Buddhist high culture. Today, it is a place where women are treated like animals and Islam has taken over.
Today, a lot of land and time has been lost to Islam. What were once the glorious civilizations of Gandhara and Uddiyana, are today both under Taliban rule. The gates of our civilization have been moved further east. Islam has taken over all our Western provinces. The beautiful art and sculpture of Gandhara and Uddiyana - these are lost even to the memory of the Hindu civilization and only those that spend their evenings in libraries know of that tragic tale.
So what is the storm brewing at our gates today? My own belief is that it is the Pakistani Taliban. Today, the Pakistani Taliban have taken over Swat. This is significant because for the first time the Taliban control lands to the east of the tribal provinces where they have always had free reign. They are moving closer to our border (and closer to Pakistan's capital). And anyone who thinks Swat is anything but one more milestone in the roadmap to Islamize the subcontinent really needs to see a psychiatrist. The Pakistani Taliban have been good enough to tell us this themselves:
Lahore: After inking a deal with the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government for implementation of Islamic law in the Swat Valley, the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Sufi Muhammad, has expressed his desire of implementation of a similar law over the whole world.
Expressing his hatred for people’s rule, Muhammad said Islam does not have any mention of democracy or elections.
“From the very beginning, I have viewed democracy as a system imposed on us by the infidels. Islam does not allow democracy or elections,” ‘The Daily Times’ quoted Muhammad, as saying.
As the BJP spokesman observed yesterday, the Taliban are a mere 5 hours drive from Delhi. This is serious. And yet there has been very little analysis in the mainstream Indian media discussing this serious threat. Instead, our attention is deliberately focussed on non-issues like a few people pushing people around outside pubs in Bangalore. Contrast this to US mainstream media - all the major networks seem to have carried news items underscoring the threat posed by the Pakistani capitulation to the Taliban in Swat:
(Video from CNN about Shari'a law in Swat. Courtesy IndianMediaZoom, who has many other great videos uploaded).
This post is about two articles (the only two, to my knowledge as of this posting) that have appeared in the past two days. Both written by true nationalists.
(Retd) Col. Anil Athale, always someone who writes on real issues, has this article on the threat of the Pakistani Taliban on rediff. Here is a slightly shortened version:
Barbarians at the gate, are we ready?
rediff | February 19, 2009 | Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
The recent surrender by the Pakistani State to the Taliban [Images] in the Swat valley may well turn out to be a watershed in the history of the Indian subcontinent. In terms of long-term impact, this may even overshadow the recent Mumbai [Images] massacres. All signs point to the 'Talibanisation' of Pakistan. Here are several pointers:
...
* We have the example of Iran -- on February 11, 1979, when the mass upsurge to impose 'Islamic rule' reached its zenith, the Iranian army declared its 'neutrality' in the ongoing conflict. This sealed the fate of the Shah of Iran. A similar happening in Pakistan is very likely.
* Slumdog Jihadis: The Dawn on December 18, 2008, quoted the Pakistan Planning Commission's Deputy Chairman Sardar Asef Ahmad Ali that poverty had skyrocketed to above 40 per cent in the country, leaving millions helpless. It is these poor/unemployed/uneducated people that are cannon fodder for the jihadis. The interrogation of the lone surviving Mumbai terrorist Ajmal Kasab's [Images] story fits the bill. There are such 48 million Ajmals waiting in Pakistan to be primed against India.
As a student of military history, I found it extraordinary that Indians were always blissfully unaware of developments in their neighbourhood. No ruler of Delhi [Images] ever woke up when the enemy crossed the Khyber Pass. The first stirrings of action were usually when the enemy was at the gates, at Panipat, just a day's march from Delhi.
Indians have been made to totally forget the holocaust that they faced in past; the name Hindukush itself means 'Hindu killer', a reminder of the days when thousands of Indians died on the mountain slopes while being taken to Central Asia as slaves.(the Encyclopaedia Britannica quoting a 12th century traveller Ibn Batua).
Nearer our times, the 1981 UN declaration of Universal Human Rights writes; 'Among the genocides of human history, the highest number of people killed in the small span of time is in Bangladesh in 1971. An average of 6,000 to 12 000 people were killed every single day. This is the highest daily average in history.' The lower estimate shows that 15 lakh were killed, a majority of them Hindus. A commission of inquiry appointed by the Pakistan government, the Hamidoor Rehman Commission, has recorded testimonies of Pakistani army officers who have quoted General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi asking the question 'How many Hindus have you killed today?' as a matter of routine. We have forgotten this recent episode as well.
Demography is destiny
Pakistan has a very high rate of population growth...
The other article appears in The Daily Pioneer, India's only nationalist English language daily, and the only one I trust anymore with serious analysis. It boasts a star cast of nationalist writers,
including names such as Kanchan Gupta, Chandan Mitra, Sandhya Jain, KPS Gill, MJ Akbar, etc. Here is an article written by Senior Editor Udayan Namboodiri that appears today. I have only reproduced the first and last paragraphs.
Five hours’ drive to doom
Udayan Namboodiri
Daily Pioneer
Taliban country is not just a politico-geographic space, but an organism moving fast to overwhelm India with terror, infiltration and economic ruin
....
The problem with the Congress party's foreign affairs think tankers –– who, given the present political outlook seem certain to dominate for at least five more years –– is that too often day-dreamers take the upper hand. The crisis that afflicts Pakistan today should not be seen as just an internal affair of Pakistan. India must recognise that the Talibanisation of Pakistan is already happening and once Islamabad itself is headed by a mullah, the very existence of India will be threatened.
