Romance of Mahatma with British and Sarla Devi

Romantic leadership: Did British bring Gandhi back to India? Gandhi v Saint Teressa v Renounce Sonia: Non-violence to save violence: Neither Gandhi Mahatma nor Nehru PT: Fast unto death not for death

Jan 17 2007 11:00AM comments rss:

Tags: Romance of Mahatma Gandhi British Empire leadership Sarla Devi Fast unto death Non Violence Pt Nehru Sonia Mother Teresa Saint Rajmohan Baptist Doke Rolland Hindu Christ Naveen Chawla Biography India

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Romantic leadership: Did British bring Gandhi back to India? Fast unto death not for death: Non-violence to save violence: Neither Gandhi Mahatma nor Nehru PT: Gandhi v Saint Teressa v Renounce Sonia

Gandhi once said you should hate the sin, but love the sinner. So I may love Gandhis but not their sin.

Mahatma Gandhi and his spiritual married Sarla Devi both suppressed their romantic events in their autobiographies. Who would have the courage to pour out his or her heart and make bold confessions about human foibles to which the flesh is heir?

“We know from his autobiography how shamefully he treated his wife. He was transparently honest and he had much less to hide from anyone else. Nothing can be found if other public figures are to be scrutinized because things have been carefully hidden and suppressed.” Gandhi, the family man

"Mohandas - A true story about a Man, his People and an Empire"

"The book will release Gandhi from his shroud and myth," said his 71-year-old grandson, a former member of parliament who is now a lecturer at the University of Illinois.

In this article with facts I try to change the title as "Mohandas - A true story about a Man, his People and for British Empire"

Romantic Leadership

Mr Gandhi said that the intention behind writing the Mahatma biography was to make Gandhi look more human. “The Sarla Devi episode in his life establishes his humanity. To suppress any information on Gandhi would have meant doing injustice to what he stood for all his life – truth. I have only presented the facts as a scholar not a sensationalist journalist,” he added.
Mohandas also mentions Gandhi’s practice of brahmacharya in his life. He would sleep nude with his niece Manu. “It’s a matter of historical record. This has been written about many times. Even Gandhi wrote about it. In doing so, he was surrendering his sexuality and that of his partner’s, after passing a huge test,” he said. I read some where: Dr. Sushila Nayar told Ved Mehta that she used to sleep with Gandhi as she regarded him as a Hindu god.

Responding to noted Gandhian Rajmohan Gandhi’s recent claim about Mahatma Gandhi’s fondness for Sarla Devi, his granddaughter Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee on Friday said as a man of great aesthetic sensibility, if Gandhi felt attracted to a “woman of intellect” it could be natural. Elaborating her point, Bhattacharjee said Mahatma Gandhi also admired the way Rajkumari Amrit Kaur held her pen.

In another book Mira and the Mahatma, psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakkar delves deep into the desires that lay buried in the Mahatma's heart. On the pages, a hero pines for the company of his Mira who is away from him. "You are on the brain. I look about me, and I miss you. I open the charkha and miss you," goes an excerpt from Kakkar’s book.

Was “Fast unto death”  only a mere slogan?

There is an interview of Rajmohan Gandhi grandson of Mahatma Gandhi with Sheela Reddy recently published in outlook. "I Wanted To Capture A Real Person Who Could Be Seen, Touched And Understood" The biographer grandson reminisces about the nation's Bapu, and explains why he chose to pull Gandhi's great secret out of the family closet.

One Excerpt is:

Q: Was he guilty of breaking his pledge not to accept Partition?

A: In a technical sense, yes, for he did not fast unto death in a bid to prevent it. But he knew that a fast by him would not prevent Partition. ………………

The anti-Muslim thrust of some of Gandhi’s Hindu opponents combined with Muslim separatism to produce Pakistan. Also, Gandhi’s "Jinnah card" was shrewder and more realistic than is usually acknowledged. It might have done the trick, but Nehru, Patel, CR, Rajendra Prasad, Pant and the other Congress leaders compelled Gandhi to take the card back.

It means protest fast unto death non-violent arm of Gandhism was a fraud. Both Mahatma Gandhi and British Empire knew this. This was a friendly fight as Congress, its allies and left fronts are doing. After all they are true loyalist of Nehru Gandhi dynasty.

Mahatma Gandhi did not want to give his life to keep India united. To give life for the sake of cause relates to martyrs not to Nehru-Gandhians.

But in the last Mahatma Gandhi’s soul awakened. And he wished to dissolved the All India Cangress. But his last wish would not fulfilled by his kitchen cabinet members in the leadership of Nehru. Rajmohan Gandhi explainied this in his above said reply.

Was “Non-Violence” Slogan  for the sake of British rulers?

“Non Violence” theme of Nehru-Gandhi was only for the sake of British rulers in India.  October 1899 until 31 May 1902: Mahatma Gandhi did not want to fight warthrough Non-Violence. At the onset of the South African War, Gandhiargued that Indians must support the War effort in order to legitimize their claims to full citizenship.

Gandhi urged the colonial authorities to raise a volunteer militia of Indians to fight for the Empire. He told the Natal authorities that it would be a "criminal folly" if they did not enlist Indians for the war. He urged the Indian community to show their loyalty to the British Empire by raising funds for the War. He reminded them that they were in South Africa due to the courtesy of the Empire.

World War II broke out in 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland Initially, Gandhihad favored offering "non-violent moral support" to the British effort, but other Congress leaders were offended by the unilateral inclusion of India into the war, without consultation of the people's representatives.

Neither Mahatma nor Pandit

Pandit Nehru was Kashmiri pandit to divide Kashmir. He said that he was accidentally Hindu. So he accepted partition of India to rule divided India. Nehru was not Mahatma. But M K Gandhi became Mahatma only due to that he did nothing for his dependent family members but Nehru did every thing to make his heirs as a ruler of India forever.

In real sense they were neither Mahatma nor Pandit. They betrayed not only their married wives but also the nation. They have no firmness on their principles. Time to time they took about turn position.

Pt Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi’s love affairs’ true stories have already come. But their love affairs with British rule to fulfill their selfish ambitions would not come out in such a way so it could reach up to the mass of common people.

Mahatma Gandhi Vs Saint Mother Teresa

Making of Gandhi a Mahatma was stared in South Africa by white Christian clergy. Rev. Joseph J. Doke, a Baptist Minster was the first to write the biography of M. K. Gandhi.

After that other came forward such as John H. Holmes, a Unitarian pastor from New York praised Gandhi in his writings and sermons with titles like: Gandhi: The Modern Christ, Mahatma Gandhi: The Greatest Man since Jesus Christ, Mahatma Ji: Reincarnation of Christ and Gandhi before Pilate.

Romain Rolland, French Nobel Laureate in literature looked at Gandhi not only as a Hindu saint, but also another Christ. He wrote Gandhi’s new biography in French which starts to say that Gandhi is the One Luminous, Creator of All, Mahatma.

In this process Nehru-Gandhi loyalists Hindus also came in the race. As Italian lady is made Durga by 10 Janpath Loyalists like that that time Krishnalal Shridharni proclaimed to elevate Gandhi to the status of twentieth century Hindu god – "The seventh reincarnation of Vishnu, Lord Rama,"

Mahatma Gandhi Vs Saint Sonia

Mother Teresa was made ‘Saint Mother Teresa’ by Indians. We gave her ‘Bharat Ratn’ to insult our religious gurus but British rulers presented honorary degrees to handcuff India’s sovereignty.  So called villain and co-accused of Indira’s emergency and 10 janpath loyalist Naveen Chwla is the biographer of Mother Teresa. He will conduct general election of 2009.

The Christian clergy had an ulterior motive in building the Gandhi myth. They thought that by elevating Gadhi to a 20th century messiah and then converting him would open the flood gate for evangelizing Hindu masses. But Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was unable to fulfill this wish of them. Now this wish of foreign funded Christian Missionaries is being fulfilled by Christian Sonia Gandhi and her Christian lobby. Glady Stains was awarded Padmshree and Benny Hinn’s healing touch drama was organized at Bangalore on the support of Andhra Government to please Vatican City and its Indian ambassador.  

Did British bring Gandhi back to India?

British Empire was limited only up to India. There were many countries which were in the grip of British Empire. Pillars of British Empire were cracking. At that prevailing situation the British brought Gandhi back to India from South Africa to sabotage Indian national movement against British rule. The congress Party dominated by Nehru-Gandhi was set up under the patronage of the British authorities. The "apostle of peace" urged the Indian people to support the British by enlisting in the army during World War I. In his letter he wrote to the Viceroy in1930, he said, “One of his reason for launching the Civil Disobedient Movement is to contain the violence of revolutionaries."

It is a great joke to say that Gandhi won Indian freedom without spilling a drop of blood. There was a period when British colonial rule was taking its last breadth. Strong wave of Nationalism was waving. Lokmanya Tilak, Gokhale, Lal Lajpat Rai, Veer Savarkar and so many others who are not in the list of present Congress gave sacrifices not less than Mahatma Gandhi. Actually Gandhi yug came after Tilak Yug. Such as Subhash Chandra Bose made journey in his way to Germany via Japan and Russaia and launched Azad Hind Fauz.

Reality is the devastating effect of World War II forced the British government to dismantle its Colonial Empire.

How can any one omit the fact that All India Congress was established by the foreigner and still it is being ruled by the foreigner Italian origin?

By Premendra Agrawal

www.newsanalysisindia.com/

”Mohandas: A True Story of a Man, His People, and an Empire” by Rajmohan Gandhi.

“Gandhi and his message will always be relevant, and a book on him will always be received with interest,” said Kapish Mehra, who heads Rupa & Co., publishers of “Let’s Kill Gandhi!” by Gandhi’s great grandson Tushar Gandhi.

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Rarely have I seen such vitriol against a country that has been a US ally since the 60s. Pakistan was used by the USA in the First Afghan War against the USSR. India at the time was on the losing side of the battle and the USSR was not only defeated, it imploded.

Analysts see major cavities.  Today there is an overwhelming body of evidence that a similar fate faces "India." India's major problem is not a nuclear armed Pakistan, or 160 million belligerent Pakistanis or even 160 million Bangledeshis or the 160 million Indian Muslims. India's problem is the 40 million Hindu White widows, and the Dalits and Naxalite insurrection that threatens to destroy the heart of midland. While the urban penury competes with rural poverty the plutocratic, dynastic democrats, the extremist rightists, and the megalomaniacs (Nero's) dream of a global power, the heart of India is in pain and destitution.

Once again, India is on the losing side in the war in Afghanistan. The real Afghans sick of the extremist "talibaan" and the other stooges will take power in Kabul. Soon Mr. Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul will be seeking Indian asylum again, choosing a condominium next to the Delai Lama. Afghanistan will soon be liberated again , the other traitors and non-Pashtun puppets will hang from the trees in Kabul. As the Afghans win, the Indian Consulates (the den of deceit and inequity) will once again be shut down and the Indian Embassy will again be sent packing back to old Delhi.

If the plutocrats in India do not learn their lessons, there will be another Mahmud of Ghazni and another Ahmad Shah Abdali to teach her that lesson. Missile pun intended. This time New Delhi will lose more than the peacock throne and the Kohinoor.

The British Indian Empire, informally, the British Raj (rāj, lit. "rule" in Hindi) or simply British India, internationally and contemporaneously, India, was the term used synonymously for the region, the rule, and the period, from 1858 to 1947, of the British Empire on the Indian subcontinent. The region included areas of British India directly administered by the United Kingdom (contemporaneously, "British India") as well as the princely states ruled by individual rulers under the paramountcy of the British Crown. The princely states, which had all entered into treaty arrangements with the British Crown, were allowed a degree of local autonomy in exchange for protection and representation in international affairs by Great Britain. The British Indian Empire included the regions of present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and, in addition, at various times, Aden (from 1839 to 1937), Lower Burma (from 1852) and Upper Burma (from 1886) until 1937, British Somaliland (briefly from 1884 to 1898), and the Straits Settlements (briefly from 1819 to 1867). The British Indian Empire had some ties with British possessions in the Middle East; the Indian rupee served as the currency in many parts of that region. What is now Iraq was, immediately after World War I, administered by the India Office of the British government.

The British Indian Empire is said to have begun in May 1858 when the British exiled Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar II to Rangoon in then independent Konbaung Burma after executing most of his family, thus formally liquidating the Mughal Empire. At the same time, the British abolished the British East India Company and replaced it with direct rule under the British Crown. In proclaiming the new direct-rule policy to "the Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India"..

The Viceroy of India announced in 1858 that the government would honour former treaties with princely states and renounced the "Doctrine of Lapse", whereby the East India Company had annexed territories of rulers who died without male heirs. About 40 percent of Indian territory and 20–25 percent of the population remained under the control of 562 princes

In August 1858 the British Parliament abolished the English East India Company and transferred the company’s responsibilities to the British crown. This launched a period of direct rule in India, ending the fiction of company rule as an agent of the Mughal emperor (who was tried for treason and exiled to Burma). In November 1858, in her proclamation to the “Princes, Chiefs, and Peoples of India,” Queen Victoria pledged to preserve the rule of Indian princes in return for loyalty to the crown. More than 560 such enclaves, taking in one-fourth of India’s area and one-fifth of its people, were preserved until Indian independence in 1947.

Source: Wikipedia

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This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Kashmir Matters

by

Moin Ansari

This abridged version of my original 1996 article has been posted in several places on the net. An updated version will be posted on my site

Kashmir and the subcontinent has a rich and tumultuous history. We can pick up the pieces in the nineteenth century, but the actual history of Kashmir begins much much much earlier, before Islam or Hinduism was present on the soil of our lands.

Long before the Crescent and Star flew atop Islamabad, long before Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded Sind, long before the Mughals spread prosperity in all the nooks and corners of the subcontinent, long before the Sikh dynasty got Kashmir from the British, long before the Chundra Gupta Vikramadatya ruled India, the people of Kashmir were tied to the people of Pakistan.

Kashmir has been in existence since 5000 years. Its history can be traced to time immemorial. Kashmir has always been a magnet to immigrants.

This is what Edward Desmond has to say about Kashmir in his book Himalyan Ulster:

On a map of the western Himalayas, the valley of Kashmir shows up as a smooth, oval-shaped patch amid a sea of surrounding peaks in what is today Indias Jammu and Kashmir state.

For thousands of years, travellers, freebooters, and empire builders have set down their breathless impressions of this valley the French writer Francois Bernier called it the paradise of the Indies with its towering pine forests, deep lakes, flower carpeted meadows, and fields of iridescent saffron. The seventeenth century Mughal emperor Jehangir sighed on his death-bed that his last wish was to visit Kashmir. Indians today revere the valley as the place they long to visit, and it serves as the setting for countless romantic Indian films.

Prior to Hinduism in the subcontinent, the Kashmir Valley (called Abhasrsa) traded with the Indus Valley Civilisation. In pre-Vedic times the people who lived in the Indus Valley lived in absolute harmony. There is some confusion as to who were the original inhabitants of the subcontinent. Many feel that there was a civilisation BEFORE the Dravidians landed in South Asia. Some have ventured to claim that based on the fact that all of Indias neighbours are Oriental, perhaps the original inhabitants of ancient India were Oriental in ethnic origin. The Dravidians either defeated the original peoples of India or totally assimilated with them. The Dravidians came to the subcontinent and made it their home. This is known: The Dravidians were not Hindu, the Dravidians preceded the Hindu era in the Subcontinent. The peaceful Dravidians were an enlightened and cultured peoples and they formed the Indus Valley Civilisation.

The Aryans came to the subcontinent in many waves, and caused havoc with the local inhabitants. These barbaric hordes came to the subcontinent and totally destroyed the earlier civilisations and formed their own caste systems. After many waves of Aryans had invaded the subcontinent, Hinduism as a later wave to the land now called Pakistan. Hundreds of years were spent in wars between the Dravidians and the Aryans. These wars are noted in pre-vedic literature as Ramayana. After the Aryan Hindus had settled in the land, they started fighting amongst themselves. The Inter-Aryan wars were called the Mahabharta wars. Hindus claim that 650 million soldiers died in the Mahabaharta wars (I didn't make up the numbers, I just reported them !).

The Arayans arrived in South Asia in waves. The Huns, the Rajputs and others were always in conflict. After the Hindu conflicts died down, around the 8th century B.C Buddhism took root in the subcontinent. Buddhist-Hindu wars claimed many lives.

The Kashmir valley was mostly inhabited by many people that included sun worshippers, Zorastarians, and Buddhists. Kashmir became an important centre of Brahman learning. Brahaman art, literature and philosophy flourished unhindered, on the backs of the untouchables, and the lower caste Hindus. After the 8th century the clear and loud message of Islam was heard in the Valley. It was the Sufis who carried the message of Mohamamd to Kashmir. The caste system of the Hindus, the Brahman cruelty, and the practices of Sati, and human sacrifices were fertile grounds for Islam in Kashmir. Slowly but surely, people converted to the message that accorded the Untouchables INSTANT equality among the Muslim brotherhood.

From 1326 to 1819, Muslims improved the lot of the Kashmiris and ruled the Kashmir valley with compassion and honour. The Mughals not only ruled Kashmir, they also brought it art, culture, music, paintings, and architecture that the people had never seen. Wherever the Moghuls lived they brought life with them. The Shalimar Gardens and the Mosques built in the Valley are a testament to the affluence of India in the 16th century. Jahangir was the wealthiest man on the planet and he spent his money to create luxury for his people. Kashmir benefited too. Hindu temples built in the sixteenth century were subsidised, and today they remain in the valley.

Hindus thrived in the Valley. The forefathers of the Nehrus lived and prospered in Kashmir during the Muslim rule. During the regimes of chaos during the Afghan rule (1752-1819) many Muslims lost their lives due to Patel persecution.

Kashmir was sold to the Sikhs following the defeat of Sikhs at the hands of the British in 1846, Gulab Singh, the cruel and dim-witted Dogra ruler of Jammu, acquired Kashmir from the British and ruthlessly tired to rule the state of Jammu & Kashmir.

The period of the Dogra rulers was the darkest in the history of the state. Gulab Singh was a ruthless ruler. He ruled by edict only, the edict of the Kirpan. Thus Jammu & Kashmir became a Princely State and remained so till 1947 until India occupied it.

ABHISARA

Contrary to popular belief, Kashmir is not a monolith. It has been called many names throughout history. The recorded history of Kashmir is more than five thousand years. On the eve of Alexander's invasion, Kashmir was called Abhisara. The great Kashmiri historians, Kalhan and Ratnakar have written beautiful stories about the valley, but the story of Kashmir begins much before that and Rajatarangini of Kalhana records some of it. Ibn-e-Batuta, Al-Beruni and Fa-hien mention Kashmir in their travelogues. Many Mughals, including Akbar mentions Kashmir in their many diaries. Muslim Kashmiri poets have eulogised the beauty of the Valley of Kashmir for centuries. Lalitaditya Avantivarman, Sikander Butshikan, Shamas-u-din Iraqi, Mirza Hyder Dughlat, Faquirullah Kanta, Mir Hazar Khan Zainul-Abedin, Duralabhavardhana, Jiyapida are only a few of the famous kings of the Valley.

Some Indian revisionists have tried to portray the picture that Kashmiri history begins with Maharaja Ghulab Singh. Kashmiri history began a long time before partition, a very long time before Ghulab Singh. It surely began before the very brief Sikha-Shahi of Lahore. To start the history of Kashmir in the nineteenth century is like beginning the history of the subcontinent after the war of independence of 1857 (The Great Indian Mutiny).

Kashmir and the subcontinent has a rich and tumultuous history. We can pick up the pieces in the nineteenth century, but the actual history of Kashmir begins much much much earlier, before Islam or Hinduism was present on the soil of our lands.

Long before the Crescent and Star flew atop Islamabad, long before Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded Sind, long before the Mughals spread prosperity in all the nooks and corners of the subcontinent, long before the Sikh dynasty briefly controlled Kashmir, and long before the Chundra Gupta Vikramadatya ruled India, the people of Kashmir were tied to the people of Pakistan.

The history of the subcontinent pre-dates Hinduism. Some in secular India are pawning off religion as history. Vedic events are religion. Ramayana and Mahabharta are the holy scriptures of Hinduism. These scriptures need to be revered and respected. We learn a lot about our land from these scriptures.

The state of Kashmir was not created by the Sikhs. Various areas of Kashmir were re-incarnated by the Sikhs during the British rule. The British defeated the Sikh leader, and the rule reverted to Hindu (Dogra) maharaja.

Ancient Origins

Some recent historians have portrayed the history of the subcontinent as wars between two monoliths, the Hindus and the Muslims. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The history of the subcontinent is a history of wars between the various peoples who lived the subcontinent and the people who came to the subcontinent. The history of the subcontinent is replete with wars against the foreigners.

Some recent revisionists have portrayed the history of Hinduism as the history of India. The absolute fact is that The Indus Valley Civilisation preceded the Aryans, and preceded Hinduism. IF Islam is a foreign influence in the subcontinent so is Hinduism. The Aryan Swastika was imported from the caucus mountains, and has non-Indian origins. The only original people of the subcontinent were the people who were in the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Stone Age

Though man existed in Palaeolithic, and Stone ages, the first real civilisation in the subcontinent was the Indus Valley Civilisation. The Pakistanis of Sindh, Punjab, Kashmir the Baraouhis tribes of Balauchistan are the true descendants of the Indus Valley Civilisation . The Aryans were invaders who came and destroyed the Indus Valley Civilisation. The Aryans then began creating states in the rest of India. The story of Ramayana is basically a story of wars between the Aryans and the Dravidians. The story of Mahabharta is a story of inter-Aryan wars.

Around 468 B.C. Jainism and Buddhism appeared on the scene. Both competed with the tenants of Hindusim. Gautam Buddha was such a dynamic sage, that many Hindus have adopted him as a God. Even some Muslims consider him a prophet. However the fact remains that Buddhism is different from Hinduism.

Though many Hindus later regard Buddha as God, the Brahmans were always leery of Buddhists because this reduced their power. Buddhism is fundamentally different than Hinduism because it does not believe in the caste system. Because of the lack of the caste system, the Brahmans did not like Buddhists.

Alexander Invades

On the eve of Alexander's invasion, Kashmir was called Abhisara. Abhisara consisted of the districts of Punch and Naushara. One of the few direct results of the Greek invasions of India was the establishment of Greek colonies in the area of Kashmir. One of Asokas edicts refers to the existence of Yavana (Greek) settlers on the fringes of his empire. We now know that he was referring to the area of Hunza. Actually after the fall of the Muyeria (Greek) kingdoms in India, the Bacterians formed a number of Greek kingdoms in the area in and around Kashmir. In fact Chandragupta actually faced Alexander for military help (324-300 BC) but did not secure it.

The foundation of the Maurya empire in the subcontinent saw Kashmir exist on the outer fringes of the empire. Chandragupta Muyara was a Jain. According to the records of Hieun Tsang and Kalhanas Rajaatarangini, Kashmir was included in the empire of Asoka the great (273-232 BC). One of the most brutal massacres of Hindus occurred at the hands of the Muyara kings. Some historians put the number at 300,000 (akin to 3 million in present day numbers).

Contrary to BJP belief, all massacres in India were not committed by Muslims, Persians and Arabs. Asoka renounced violence, and renounced his religion after the Kalinga war, and he became a Buddhist. The Brahmans did not like him, and many historians think the Brahaman opposition to Asoka led to the destruction of the Muyarian dynasty.

With political disunity in the subcontinent, many foreigners invaded India. Alexander's kingdom was divided. The Bacterians invaded India (250 BC). From the ashes of the Muyara empire, Kanishka the conqueror rose to power (78 AD) and began a new era in India. He annexed the Indus Valley and conquered Kashmir. He set up his headquarters in Purushapura (Peshawar). Kanishka was a Zorastrian. His coins display the sun god. Later in life he supported Buddhism (to the ire of the Hindu Brahmans). Kanishka had convened the Buddhist Council of Kashmir to spread Buddhism instead of Hinduism in the subcontinent (much to the chagrin of the Brahmans ). During Asoka, Buddhism had become the state religion. Hinduism survived only due to Indian princes like Gautamiputra Satkarni.

With the fall of the Muyara dynasty, the Guptas came to power (beginning of the fourth century AD) with their independent kingdoms. Dr. R.C. Majumdar writes that The empire of Samudragupta included the whole of Northern India EXCEPT Kashmir. During this time Fa-hien visited India to study Buddhism (399 AD). The Gupta period saw the distinct revival of Hinduism in the subcontinent. Buddhism declined, and never did rise in India. Kashmir was either independent at the time or was an insignificant state.

When did Kashmiri History begin

Although some Indians would like it to make it so, the history of Kashmir does not begin with Maharaja Ghulab Singh. Kashmiri history began a long time before partition, a very long time before Ghulab Singh. It surely began before the very brief Sikha-Shahi of Lahore. To start the history of Kashmir in the nineteenth century is like beginning the history of the subcontinent after the war of independence of 1857 (The Great Indian Mutiny).

The recorded history of Kashmir is more than five thousand years. The Sikh Dogras have said wonderful things about the paradise called Kashmir, but the story of Kashmir pre-dates Sikhism. The great Kashmiri historians, Kalhan and Ratnakar have written beautiful stories about the valley, but the beautiful story of Kashmir pre-dates Hindusim. Muslim Kashmiri poets have eulogised the beauty of the Valley of Kashmir for centuries, but the story of the valley pre-dates Islam. Lalitaditya Avantivarman, Sikander Butshikan, Shamas-u-din Iraqi, Mirza Hyder Dughlat, Faquirullah Kanta, and Mir Hazar Khan are only few of the famous kings of the Valley.

The history of the subcontinent pre-dates Hinduism. Some in secular India are pawning off religion as history. Vedic events are religion. Ramayana and Mahabharta are the holy scriptures of Hinduism. These scriptures need to be revered and respected. If these holy scriptures are mistaken for history, than we are all in trouble.

The IVC

Five thousand years ago the people of the Indus Valley Civilisation lived in harmony on the banks of the Indus. Moenjadaro, Harappa and Taxila were all towns on the banks of the Indus. This was one of the original civilisation on the planet. This civilisation is marked as great a civilisation as the Chinese and the Egyptian civilisation. The Indus Valley Civilisation did not extend East of the Indus. Neither did it extend beyond the Western Mountain ranges of Bolan, and Khyber. The Indus Valley Civilisation existed on the banks of the Indus. The Indus valley Civilisation existed in what is today Pakistan. Pakistan is the natural inheritor of the Indus Valley Civilisation, just like modern day China is the natural inheritor of the Chinese civilisation, and modern day Egypt in the natural inheritor of the Egyptian civilisation. Pakistan existed 5000 years ago, even though it was not called Pakistan. This is the geographic two nation theory.

People up the river traded with people down the river. People up in the mountains traded with people down in the plains. For thousands of years, Kashmiris cut down trees and threw them into the river. This was trade at its best. The people of the Indus valley traded with Mesopotamia to the West, but there was no civilisation to the east of the Indus to trade with. There were only monkeys and apes. A human civilisation did exist in the Malaya straits but that was too far for the Indus Valley Pakistanis.

Recent archaeological finds in Kashmir have supported the theory that the Indus valley Civilisation indeed stretched right to the origins of the Indus beyond the Himalayas, into the Karakorums and into Kashmir.

All through the centuries Pakistan and Kashmir were trading partners to the WEST and NORTH-WEST of current Pakistan by land routes and traders with Oman and Gulf state through Arabian sea. In modern times Sindh was part of Bombay presidency and there was hardly any trade across Rajistan desert. Under Mughals, Mirs of Sindh maintained quite an independent administration on current day Sindh Province. The Middle East had always used these Baluchistan, Sarhad, and Kashmir and other areas in current Pakistan to access the main land in India. In fact Gwader is a Pakistani Island port that was owned by Kuwait till the sixties.

Sarhad historically was trading partners with Kashmir, Punjab, Afghanistan and central Asia (including Sinkiang province of present day china). Kashmir did not even have a road link to India except through Muslim dominated portion of Punjab ---through a town called Gurdaspur. (The tragedy of Gurdaspuspur is the tragedy of Kashmir. Today The Muslim town of Gurdaspur is part of India, and so is Kashmir). All its trade of fruits, wood and handicrafts was to its south west and west (Punjab and Sarhad) the wood from its forests flowed down the INDUS to Pakistan and all the administrative services such as electricity/postal/communication etc. were linked from present Pakistan. Punjab was the only province which had major trade eastward. But the trade was also with countries to the west as well as rest of Pakistan. All of North west India east of the Khyber pass, is clearly a totally unique country, naturally allied to Kashmir.

THE ARYAN HUNS INVADE THE IVC

With the decline of the Guptas, the nomadic tribes of Central Asia called the Huns invaded India. Their leader Tormana invaded Kashmir (500 AD).

Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says Skandagupta, the fifth of the Gupta line had to face this Hun invasion...gradually they spread all over Gandhara and the greater part of Northern India. THEY TORTURED THE BUDDHISTS AND COMMITTED ALL MANNER OF FRIGHTFULNESS....There must have been continuous warfare against them, but the Guptas could not drive them away. Fresh waves of Huns came ...

HINDU SAVAGERY

Jawaharlal Nehru says the following about the Hindu Huns ...Torman installed himself king . He was bad enough, but after him came his son Miharagula, who was an unmitigated savage and fiendishly cruel. Kalhana in his history of Kashmir--the Rajatrangini--tells us that one of his Miharagulas amusements was to have elephants thrown over the great precipices into the valley below.

The treatment of men was sometimes worse then that of animals (some of the animals like cows were actually revered because they were Gods). Lower caste Hindus had a miserable life. Other historians have commented that the treatment of women was even worse, specially women of lower castes, they were considered the property of the upper caste Hindus, to be molested and/or raped at will. In many cases the new bride had to stay a night with the village Brahman before she was married off. Kashmir converted to Islam during this time period. It was cruelty like this that led to the whole sale conversion to Islam. The new religion offered them equality and saved them from the Brahmans.

Nehru continues, Soon however the Hun power weakened in India... the Huns have been defeated and driven back, but many remain in odd corners. The Great Gupta dynasty fades away after Balditya.

The next great event for Kashmir was the birth of Harshavardhana (606-647 AD). There are references to Harshas expeditions to Kashmir. According to the Chinese traveller Hiuen Tsang Kashmir was an independent state at the time. Harshas ancestors were sun worshippers, however he himself was attracted towards the Mahayana form of Buddhism. The Brahmans were very displeased with him and even conspired to kill him. Harsha spent time and money on arts and literature, and drama, and was probably the last great Buddhist emperor of India.

THE RAJPUT HINDU ERA IN INDIA

The death of Harsha ushered in an era of anarchy again. The Rajputs were the invaders this time. This era is called the Rajput era. According to Tod The Rajputs were the descendants of Sakas,Huns, Ushans, Gujaaras etc.

According to Rajatarangini of Kalhana which forms the chief source of our history on Kashmir, Duralabhavardhana founded a new royal dynasty in Kashmir about the middle of the 7th century. Lalitaditya ascended the throne in 724 AD and he conquered large areas of India and brought it under Kashmiri rule. After him (750 AD) the power of Kashmir receded.

Jiyapida, the grandson of Lalitaditya tried to revive the reputation of the Karkota dynasty. The Karkota dynasty in Kashmir was replaced by the Utpala dynasty about the middle of the 9th century. The Rajputs were true Hindus and patronised Hindu religion and culture in all of India.

THE RAJPUT ERA ENDS

The end of the Rajput era created the beginning of the Muslim era in India. Dr. Smith says that this became so prominent that the centuries from the death of Harsha to the Mohammedan conquest of Hindustan, extending in round numbers from the middle of the seventh century to the close of the twelfth century, was the Rajput era . This is 500 years of Hindu rule. This is one of the few periods of history when Hindus ruled India.

On the eve of the Arab invasion of Sind (712 A.D: Quaid-e-Azam said that this is the day the Pakistan movement began in India), Chandrapida, the grandson of Durlabhavardhan was the ruler of the Korkot (Kashmir ) kingdom The most powerful king was Muktipida Lalitadya, brother and successor of Chandrapida. He was a great conqueror, and is said to have conquered Punjab, Dardistan and Kabul .

Mahmud of Gahazni made two attempts between 1015-1021 to conquer Kashmir, but was unsuccessful. Mahmud of Ghazni attacked temples in the subcontinent because the temples were the seats of political power. The Brahaman priests kept all knowledge to themselves. They kept all knowledge away from the population, locked up in temples (including the knowledge to build the temple). To destroy the political and military power of the city, the temple had to be destroyed. Since the high priest controlled the populations, they had to be defeated. The temples also contained all knowledge of the area. Mohammed Ghauri was the founder of the Muslim empire in India (1173 A.D). The slave dynasty lasted from 1206-1290. The Khilji dynasty lasted from 1290-1320. The Tughlaq dynasty lasted from (1320-1412). In 1304 Ibin-e-Batuta visited visited China through Kashmir. The Syed and Lodhi dynasty lasted from 1413-1526. During the reign of the sultans of Delhi the Khokars had established themselves between Lahore and Ghazni on the Southern border of Kashmir.

The caste system, the practice of Sati, human sacrifices, the ostracization of the lowest caste Hindus from society, and the treatment meeted out to them led to the infusion of Islam into the beautiful valley of the safron. Since Islam allowed instant equality to the down-trodden the religion made huge in-roads into the valley.

From the eighth century through Muslims permeated the state of Kashmir even though the rulers were Buddhist. Kashmiri rulers were Buddhist till it was conquered by the Muslims in 1339 AD. Even though Kashmir was inhabited by Muslims, it was still being ruled by Buddhist princes till 1349 when Shah Mirza, after the death of his royal patron, ascended the throne under the title of Samsuddin Shah. Thus began the Muslim era in Kashmir. K.Ali writes that of the rulers of Kashmir, Zainul-Abedin was the best and most liberal ruler under whom people enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous reign. After Abedin, anarchy reigned in Kashmir. At the end of 1540, Haider Mirza a relative of the Mughal emperor Humanyun occupied the state. But the Mirza dynasty was overthrown by the Chakk dynasty in 1561.

From the eighth century till the fifteenth century the population of Kashmir changed. However it was not Arab invasions, or Persian conquest that transformed Kashmir, it was the power of the new religion. For seven hundred years Kashmir was under Buddhist rule. However the rule was autocratic, and people were treated like animals. The general populace was disenchanted with the state machinery, and the state religion. IN droves they converted to Islam. By the middle of the sixteenth century, the accession of a Muslim to the throne was a forgone conclusion.

At the time of Baburs invasion 1526 Kashmir and Sind were independent but they did not play any major role. Around the 3rd part of the sixteenth century Kashmir was passing through disorder. The chaotic condition of the state induced Akbar to interfere in its internal affairs. Moreover the excellent climate of the valley and its natural scenery might have attracted Akbar. Akbar conquered and annexed Kashmir in 1586-1587. Henceforth Kashmir became the summer seat of the Mughal government. During Jahangir, and Shahjahan's reign the Mughals built the magnificent Shalimar Garden in Kashmir. This is long before Ghulab Singh was in Kashmir.

For the next 100 years peace remained in Kashmir. Saddozais (Sikander Butshikan, Shamas-u-din Iraqi, Mirza Hyder Dughlat, Faquirullah Kanta, Mir Hazar Khan ) ruled Kashmir for almost a century before the Sikhs. Peace was broken by the rise of Sikh power. The Sikhs rose to power in 1675 under Guru Gobind Singh. After the death of Gobinda Singh in 1708 the Sikhs established several states in the Punjab. Rajat Singh establish the Sikh empire in the Punjab. The Sikh rule in the history of the subcontinent is a footnote in history. It was extremely brief and was known for its stupidities (hence the word Sikha-shahi, and the jokes about Sikhs). Gulab Singh tried to rule Kashmir by putting together diverse and far-flung areas like Jammu bordering on the Punjab, Ladakh bordering on Tibet and Gilgit bordering on Sinkiang, Afghanistan and Central Asia across the Pamirs. There are many diverse groups in Kashmir. Gulab Sings was a ruthless ruler.

MAHRAJAH HARI SINGH

SEX and FOLLIES OF THE NINCOMPOOP RAJA OF Kashmir

This is what Larry Collins and Dominique Lapiere write about the Sikhs in the Punjab in their book (Freedom at Midnight... the source book for the screen-play Gandhi).The collapse of the Mogul empire gave the Sikhs the chance to carve out a kingdom of their own in their beloved Punjab. The tragedy of the Punjab was that while Moslems, and Sikhs could live under the British, neither could live under each other. The Moslems memory of Sikh rule in the Punjab was one of mosques defiled, women outraged, tombs razed, Moslems without regard to age or sex butchered, bayoneted, strangled, shot down, hacked to pieces, burnt alive. This was the legacy of Gulab Singh and his successors.

This following is what Larry Collins and Dominique Lapiere write about last maharaja of Kashmir Hari Singh in their account of the partition of India (Freedom at Midnight... the source book for the screen-play Gandhi).

Hari Singh was a weak vacillating indecisive man who divided his time between opulent feasts in his winter capital in Jammu and the beautiful flower-choked lagoons of his summer capital, Sirinagar, the Venice of the Orient. He had begun his reign with a few timid aims for reform which were quickly abandoned for an authoritarian system that kept his jails filled with his political foes. Their most recent occupant had been none other than Jawarlal Nehru. The prince had ordered Nehru arrested when he tried to visit the state in which he was born. Hari Singh too had an army to defend the frontiers of his state and give his claims to independence a menacing emphasis.

The bonfire (of the accounts of sexual eccentricities of some of India princes were in themselves lengthy enough to stoke a good fire for hours .... were being burnt at the behest of the British government ) consuming the archives dealing with the maharaja of Kashmir destroyed the traces of one of the more unsavoury scandals of the world between wars. The impetuous prince was trapped in fragrant delicto in Londons Savoy hotel by a man he assumed to be the husband of his ravishing bed companion. In fact, the prince had fallen into a gang of blackmailers who proceeded to drain the state of Kashmir, via the princes personal bank account, OF A VERY CONSIDERABLE PART OF ITS REVENUES. The case finally broke when the young lady's real husband persuaded that he had not been properly remunerated for the loan of his wife, went to the police. In the court case that followed, the unfortunate Maharajas infidelity was concealed under the pseudonym of Mr. A. Disillusioned for good with women as a result of his tribulations, Hari Singh returned to Kashmir, where he discovered new sexual horizons in the company of young men of his state. The accounts of his activities had been faithfully reported to the representatives of the Crown, Now whipped by the fresh mountain breeze of Srinagar, they disappeared into the Himalayan sky.

He ( Hari Singh) was a weak vacillating man whose perversions and orgies had given him the reputation of the Himalayan Brogia. Unfortunately, Hari Singh, the man who was Mr. A had titillated the readers of the British penny press before the war, was something else. He was the hereditary Hindu maharaja of the most strategically situated princely state in India.

Logic seemed to dictate that Kashmir join with Pakistan. Its people were Moslem. It had been one of the areas originally selected for an Islamic state by Rehmat Ali when he formulated his impossible dream. The k in Pakistan was for Kashmir.

Hari Singh the last playboy Raja of Kashmir was an abdominal character-less hedonist bi-sexual. His only redeeming quality was that he held out against Patels bullying. Hari Singh was escorted out of the state under the curfew of the Indian army. India claims that next day he signed the so called article of accession to India. According to Alistair Lamb a noted historian of Kashmir, has cast several doubts on the article of accession. India's claim to accession is in dispute. The U.N. recognised the dispute, and treats Kashmir as disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

UNDERSTANDING KASHMIR

A geographic region or an idea?

What is the background of Kashmir ? Pakistan is a country based on the banks on the Indus and its tributaries. All its major cities owe their existence to the rivers originating in the Himalayan mountains. Kashmir lies north of Pakistan, a natural extension to the mouth of the Indus river. It is in the ancient Silk Rout thorough which noted travellers like Ibn-Batuta, and Fa-hein travelled. Pakistan is the size of Texas and Minnesota put together. Kashmir is another Minnesota added to it.

Kashmir means many things to many peoples. The total area of J&K state is 2.22 lakh (222,000) sq. kms. Of this, the Pakistani area accounts for 78,114 sq. kms. Chinese area is 37,555 sq. kms plus another 3,180 sq. kms. ( that was an area adjusted during the boundary agreement with Pakistan ). At present, 35% of the state is Azad Kashmir and 17% is Chinese Kashmir. In a landmark boundary adjustment between Pakistan and China, China received 2.3% from Pakistan (There is no boundary dispute between China and Pakistan. China is today Pakistan's largest arms supplier. India occupies less than half of the original state which belonged to Hari Singh in 1947). The Indian area is 1.01 lakh (101,000)sq. kms. The Indian area is divided into the following divisions: Ladakh, Jammu and the Kashmir Valley. The Ladakh division is 49,146 sq. kms. The Jammu division is 26,293 sq. kms. and the Muslim Kashmir Valley is 15,948 sq. kms.

The population of the state governed by India is 6 million; of this, 64% are Muslims, 32% are Hindus, 2.2% are Sikhs and 1.2% are Buddhists. Another 2 million Muslims live in Azad Kashmir; taken together, Muslims would constitute 75% of the population of the entire state of Jammu & Kashmir, which is roughly 5% of the total Muslim population of India (the number of Muslims in India is more than 100 million). The Indians claim that in 1947 half a million Hindus and Sikhs also lived in Azad Kashmir. When 5 million Muslims were transferred from East Punjab to Pakistan, half a million Muslims fled Kashmir.

The Indian part of the state of Kashmir is divided into 3 main regions: Jammu, Kashmir Valley and Ladakh. In terms of area, Ladakh forms 58%, Jammu 26% and Kashmir valley 16%. Buddhists used to constitute a majority in Ladakh but a few years ago (according to the last Indian census reports) Muslims are in a majority in Ladakh now. Hindus form a majority in Jammu and Muslims form a majority in Kashmir valley. In British India Kashmir was about 95% Muslim. Before 1947, nearly a million non-Muslims -- mainly Kashmiri Hindus called Pundits ruled the Kashmiris with the Dogra ruler Hari Singh. After the Dogra raja left the state in Indian custody, the Pandits also began leaving Kashmir. Today they live in Jammu and are asking for a separate union territory called Panditdesh.

What about the democratic rights of Kashmiris? Fire the 800,000 incompetent Indian soldiers and hire Swiss guards to seal the cease fire line.
What about democracy for the 50 million White widows, the millions of disenfranchised dalits, the 150 million subjugated Muslims, and the swath of huge lands owned by the Naxalites. What about the democratic rights of the state of Hyrabad (destroyed in a police action), and the rights of the Asaamese? Naxalites? Mizuram?

If India is the beacon of "democracy" why is it that this dynastic democracy elects leaders usually from only one family and the world jokes that it would elect a monkey if it were put on the ballot of the INC. What qualifications does Sonya have to run a country? or a failed airline pilot? Your false sense of programming kicks in to treat other people with contempt!..bigotry shows!

Let us not confuse Indian mobocracy with apartheid democracy. Democracy does not begin and end with an election and tokenism (minority president). The real power rests with the same families as it always has. One brother in the INC, one brother in the BJP, etc.

India's horrid interference in Baluchistan is state terrorism and will be paid back in kind. China and Pakistan and Bangladesh will teach the lessons.

Does the world believes the fiction of "Indian democracy."  "India has failed her population and kept South Asia in penury." China has kept the promise to

ameliorate the lot of its popluation. Malaysia has provided her citizens with a decent standard of living. Pakistanis will work out their problems. Don't worry and don't pontificate. The best development in Asia was NOT achieved by India, but by China, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Malaysia...go figure! A discussion on reasons why external powers imposed leaders on small countries is well known. Read Ayesha Jalal (Indian author who wrote a scathing criticism on Jinnah)“Democracy and authoritarianism in South Asia.” Perhaps it is the uneducated, illiterate, teeming millions in India that have been making stupid decision that have kept India as one of the poorest countries in the world.

Monkey say , monkey do! The term "democracy" never appears in the US constitution, and Jefferson, Madison, Hamilton wrote reams against it. America was created as a republic NOT a democracy and the electoral college was to prevent the masses from electing a monkey or a failed pilot or a foreigner. American democracy was for the few (white males, those who owned land etc). "Democracy" was popularized during WW2 as a pretext to wage war on Japan. “Democracy” was only for the white male in the colonial era, not for the Native Americans, or the blacks of South Africa….and even today remains the white man’s burden. Neither Rome nor Greece was based on adult universal franchise. Read Socrates thesis against democracy (which he calls mobocracy), and his support for dictatorship in Athens led to the Peloponnesian wars and the end of Athens..Don't be too enamored with the white mans jargon that brings nothing to the people of India.

It is actually India that is denial. If more than 800,000 Indian soldiers cannot seal the border with Pakistan they should be fired immediately and India should hire Swiss Army guards. The insurrection in Kashmir is indigenous, just like the Naxalite-Maoist insurrection is indigenous. Kashmir is disputed territory and the 3 resolutions on Kashmir need to be adhered to.
http://www.contactpakistan.com/kashmir/kashmir-resolutions.htm
The Government of Pakistan should undertake to use its best endeavors:

(a) to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting and to prevent any intrusion into the State of such elements and any furnishing of material aid to those fighting in the State;
The Government of India should undertake to ensure that the Government of the State invite the major political groups to designate responsible representatives to share equitably and fully in the conduct of the administration at the Ministerial level, while the plebiscite is being prepared and carried out. 

7. The Government of India should undertake that there will be established in Jammu and Kashmir a Plebiscite Administration to hold a plebiscite as soon as possible on the question of the accession of the State to India or Pakistan. 
India should adhere to the UN resolutions. Perhaps India should stop its shameful interference in the affairs of Sri Lanka and not delve in double standards.

Gandhi did not bring the British empire to its knees. The exhausted British had already decided to leave all her colonies after the 2nd world war. Gandhi first introduced Hindu religious symbols to the Secular Indian National Congress and then tried to make all of India succumb to a racist Hindu Rajha rule.Gandhi was a failure in South Africa and a failed attorney in Bombay. Gandhis sole contribution to history was to make 150 million Muslims of India subservient to the Hindus. Attempts to make another 300 million subservient continue.

Comparing Abu Ammar with the hedonistic market propaganda of Gandhi is ridiculous. Arafat was  a real leader. He used to beat his wife up routinely and did not eliminate the caste system in India. Gandhi slept naked with his niece and other women to prove that he could control his manliness.

Take a minute. Learn about the real leaders of the Subcontinent, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Shah Waliullah, Moinuddin Chisti, Qadir Khan, Abdus Salaam, Iqbal, Jinnah, Moudoodi, and Sir Syed.

THE RIOTS IN FRANCE: Reaction or cry for help?

Moin Ansari

Posted Nov 20, 2005

THE RIOTS IN FRANCE: Reaction or cry for help?

Racism as Praxis and Process

By
Moin Ansari

“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” Jean Paul Sartre

“For a long time, people thought the Enlightenment had settled these issues,” he said. “Now they arise again.” -Mark Sullivan

“I am self contained and self-reliant; your opinion is nothing to me; I have no interest in you, care nothing for you, and see and hear you with indifference.” - Dickens, Little Dorrit

Here are a number of my disquisitions and fulminations presented in response to the carnage in Paris.

IMAGE 1: Ali La Pointe, .a petty criminal along with several, unidentified compatriots, awaits capture at the hands of the French military.

IMAGE 2: “Go home,” the French cops yell at crowds of Muslims thronging the streets. “What is it that you want?” And the voices shout back as one: “We want our freedom.”

IMAGE 3: In 1992, the day of the South Central Los Angeles, I was working on Slausen and Western, the heart of the inner city. The reason I had gotten that engineering job was because a regular White American who had been chosen for the position had walked off the job, the first day, after seeing the condition of the Slausen parking lot. The recruiter called and asked me to show up. I did, ignored the surrounding conditions and kept the job. As an immigrant, I diligently worked as an engineer for several years and built my expertise. Every day, my morning commute was ridden with danger and interesting incidents. I became adept at driving around the carcasses of stolen cars that had been stripped to the bone. My worst moment was driving past a liquor store at 7 am with a line people waiting for the store to open.

“Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does. “ Jean Paul Sartre

I often saw the “Cripps” and “Bloods” in small groups heading to the nearest McDonald (the only building left standing and never attacked). The city had never been rebuilt from the Watts last riots decades ago. The day of the riots, my admin told me that something bad was going to happen and that we should leave early. My listening to her, probably saved my life. As I headed out at 3 pm, I saw cars driving by, full of teenagers with their hand fisted in the black salute of defiance. I was perplexed why the Police cars which were following them on cue, turned about and headed out of town. When I reached home, I saw the carnage on TV. Both the Watts and the South Central Los Angeles riots are part of “Black” history in America. Most blacks regard the riots as part of the civil rights struggle.

Hell is other people. Jean Paul Sartre

It pains me to see Paris burning. I have very sweet memories of the city. Paris is not just a French city. Paris is also an Asian city, an African city and city of the world. I cannot defend the burning of cars. Fortunately there has been no loss of life. The burning of an aged woman has to be condemned in the strongest terms, and there is no justification for this sort of brutality. Are the riots in France just that, riots. Nothing more, and nothing less? Are they no better or no worse than the riots of Watts, Cleveland, Chicago South Central Los Angeles (1992), Sweto, Johanesburg, and other inner cities of our stratified societies. Is it true that the riots in our inner cities were a reaction to racism? Were there any calls to deport the “Blacks”? Actually there were!

“Racist thinking is simply an activity which realizes in alterity a practical truth inscribed in worked matter and in the system which results from it. But, on the other hand, and conversely, since the elementary structures of the simplest forms are inscribed in inorganic matter, they refer to various activities (both past and present) which either indefinitely reproduce or have helped to produce these human seals as inert thoughts: and these activities are necessarily antagonistic.” Jean Paul Sartre

.. racism constituted the enemy as inferior rather than as a supposed ‘French citizen’. They were either ‘devils’ or ‘mindless savages’, depending whether they had won a victory, showing them in their activity or whether, on the contrary, they had suffered a temporary defeat, which is in itself an affirmation of the conqueror’s superiority. In either case, this Manichaean action, separating the hostile troops by the absolute negation of a line of fire, makes the Muslim other than man. Jean Paul Sartre

Americans starved of news and fed on inane mechanations of rapists and serial killer stories may have been caught by surprise by the riots in Paris. Major French intellectuals has been predicting exactly this for years.

France has taken principled stands on Muslim causes. French Muslims make up a sizable minority in France. As a Muslim, I cannot justify the random destruction of property. However we must lend a listening ear to the roots causes of the problems. The lessons from Watts, Cleveland and South Central Los Angles are that the riots destroy the economic lifeline of the population. Business never returns. Lee Minikus, Rodney King beating, the arrest of Marquette Frye are the tips of the iceberg. There are deeper societal issues.

In 1994, a performance in Geneva of Voltaire’s 1741 tragedy “Mahomet, or Fanaticism,” which depicts the prophet of Islam as a Machiavellian imposter, was canceled in the face of blasphemy complaints and thinly-veiled threats from Muslim activists.

Ironically, “Mahomet” was meant to be taken as a criticism of Christian religious fanaticism closer to home in France. In his time, Rousseau criticized “Mahomet” as more likely to incite than dissuade religious fanatics. Kelly is an editor of the Collected Works of Rousseau says, “Voltaire presents religious fanaticism as a tool used by hypocritical leaders for their own agendas, and as a result, bringing about these horrible crimes,” he said. “The polemical goal of the play is to attack fanaticism. Voltaire was right, there is deep racism within French society.

The images out of Paris France today could be out of an old Gillo Pontecorvo movie. Are there any lessons to be learned from The Battle of Algiers, that classic 1965 film about French colonialism. The film opens with a scene in which “Paras” (French paratroopers) brutally torture an old Arab man.

Now view the same images—please note that they are in Algeria not in France.

IMAGE 1: Ali La Pointe (Brahim Haggiag), a petty criminal turned leader of the National Liberation Front (FLN). As the film opens, Ali, along with several, unidentified compatriots, awaits capture at the hands of the French military.

IMAGE 2: Gillo Pontecorvo ends his movie with the renewal of the FLN uprising in 1960. “Go home,” the French cops yell at crowds of Muslims thronging the streets. “What is it that you want?” And the voices shout back as one: “We want our freedom.”

The Sweto riots shook up apartheid. The Watts riots changed America. Will the urban unrest in the suburbs of Paris change France? Serious societal issues need to be addressed.

Why does an underclass become an underclass? What causes a teenager to go out a burn cars? Why is there resonance in this anarchy? Economic disparity, social ostracization, unemployment, and depression are the root cause of this malaise.

If we are to look into the “seeds of time” to find out why there are North Africans present in France, one will have to look at French colonialism and the seven year struggle against France. The Algerian struggle for freedom burnt is into the consciousness of the world. It took the French nearly 50 years, from 1820 to 1870, to kill half the population of Algeria. The Algerian war of independence became a searing image of suffering and sacrifice for peoples of diverse faiths and beliefs united by a shared passion for liberty. Algeria’s status as a symbol of human yearning for dignity and justice added to the poignancy with which the people of Asia and Africa have watched the horrific carnage of the civil war that began in 1991 and that has claimed more than 100,000 lives. The ISL-dictatorship struggle in Algeria continues. However the international events almost no bearing on the civil unrest in France! Perhaps this slightly abridged version of Jean Paul Sarte’s important message can give us some insights to the issues:

“This rebellion is not merely challenging the power of the [settlers], but their very being. For most [Europeans] in [Algeria], there are two complementary and inseparable truths: the colonists are backed by divine right, the natives are sub-human. This is a mythical interpretation of reality, since the riches of the one are built on the poverty of the other. In this way exploitation puts the exploiter at the mercy of his victim, and the dependence itself begets racialism. It is a bitter and tragic fact that, for the [Europeans in Algeria], being a man means first and foremost superiority to the Moslems. But what if the Moslem finds in his turn that his manhood depends on equality with the [settler]? It is then that the European begins to feel his very existence diminished and cheapened.”

If we substitute the word settler with immigrant and do a mirror image of the situation we see the same scenario in Paris.

France may not have a Aminah Assilmi, Or a Rosa Parks but France has, Simone de Beauvoir, Claude Lanzmann and Jean Paul Sartre. Sartre was able to change the colonial nature of France. The words of Sarte may explain some of what is going on. In the preface to Frantz Fanon’s “The Wretched of the Earth,” Sartre wrote:

“The European lite undertook to manufacture a native lite. They picked out promising adolescents; they branded them, as with a red-hot iron, with the principles of western culture, they stuffed their mouths full with high-sounding phrases, grand glutinous words that stuck to the teeth. After a short stay in the mother country they were sent home, whitewashed. These walking lies had nothing left to say to their brothers; they only echoed. From Paris, from London, from Amsterdam we would utter the words ‘Parthenon! Brotherhood!’ and somewhere in Africa or Asia lips would open ... thenon! ... therhood!’ It was the golden age驅 Then, indeed, Europe could believe in her mission; she had hellenized the Asians; she had created a new breed, the Graeco-Latin Negroes.”

Here are some other quotes from him Jean Paul Sartre:

“Man can count on no one but himself; he is alone, abandoned on Earth in the midst of his infinite responsibilities, without help, with no other aim than the one he sets for himself, with no other destiny than the one he forges for himself on this Earth.’’ Jean Paul Sartre

“Existence is prior to essence. Man is nothing at birth and throughout his life he is no more than the sum of his past commitments. To believe in anything outside his own will is to be guilty of ‘bad Faith.’ Existentialist despair and anguish is the acknowledgement that man is condemned to freedom. There is no God, so man must rely upon his own fallible will and moral insight. He cannot escape choosing.” Jean Paul Sartre

“the idea of struggle between classes must be given its fullest meaning; in other words, even in the case of economic development within one country. Jean Paul Sartre

PROLOGUE

October 25, 2006 -- A new book in Germany is casting light on Israel's
covert program to provoke violence among Muslims in Western Europe and engage in "false flag" operations in order for Western governments to blame Muslim radicals.
The book, Der Krieg im Dunkeln (War in the Dark) by Udo Ulfkotte, formerly a correspondent for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, provides details of the operations of two Israeli intelligence units -- the Metsada, which specializes in sabotage, including "false flag" terrorist attacks and assassinations; and LAP (Lohamah Psichlogit), which engages in psychological warfare.
Ulfkotte's previous book on Islamist extremism, titled The War In Our Cities, was withdrawn from the German market because of "massive legal pressures by Islamic plaintiffs."
Ulfkotte claims that British and German intelligence agents encountered Metsada and LAP agents in France stirring up violence during the November 2005 riots, blamed on Islamic extremists. WMR has also reported that Interior Minister and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who is supported by pro-right wing Israeli (Likud/Netanyahu/Olmert) factions in France, coordinated and continues to coordinate the paying of agents provocateurs to engage in violence in the predominantly Muslim Banlieus of Paris and other cities.
The November 2005 riots spread from Paris to Rouen, Lille, Nice, Dijon, Strasbourg, Marseilles (where Mossad's Brach C, also responsible for Paris and London, maintains a large station), Bordeaux, Rennes, Pau, Orleans, Toulouse, Lyon, Roubaix, Avignon, Saint-Dizier, Drancy, Evreux, Nantes, Dunkirk, Montpellier, Valenciennes, Cannes, and Tourcoing.
Ulfkotte also quotes a British MI-6 source who reported that Israel's goal is to portray Muslims as unpredictable threats who cannot be integrated into Western society."

This is not the final curtain.Mr. Ulfkotte has tried to weasel out these charges.

http://dailysketcher.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html

According to Jawaharlal Nehru (Glipmses of World History and other books). Buddhism was hounded out of India by Brahman Cruelty and Hindu intolerance. According to the great Kashmiri historians, Kalhan and Ratnakar the Buddhist monks were tortured, and their temples converted into Hindu temples. The 2nd century historian Ashokavadana describes in detail the campaign of destruction Buddhist temples, and pillage carried on by King Pusyamitra. The Divyavadana ascribes to him the razing of  stupas and viharas built by Ashoka, and describes him as one who wanted to undo the work of Ashoka. Brahmanism (a strict social organization on the basis of some religious ideas) tried to dilute Buddhism by presenting it as a kind of Hinduism. Thus, from the 7th century Buddha was included in the list of Avataras of Vishnu. Incorporating Buddha into Hinduism is rejected by pure Buddhists all over the world. With the decline of the Guptas, the nomadic tribes of Central Asia called the Huns invaded India. Their leader Tormana invaded Kashmir (500 AD).

Jawaharlal Nehru in his book Glimpses of World History says “Skandagupta, the fifth of the Gupta line had to face this Hun invasion...gradually they spread all over Gandhara and the greater part of Northern India. They tortured the Buddhists and committed all manner of frightfulness....There must have been continuous warfare against them, but the Guptas could not drive them away. Fresh waves of Huns came .”..

Jawaharlal Nehru says the following about the Hindu Huns ...”Torman installed himself king . He was bad enough, but after him came his son Miharagula, who was an unmitigated savage and fiendishly cruel. Kalhana in his history of Kashmir--the Rajatrangini--tells us that one of his Miharagulas amusements was to have elephants thrown over the great precipices into the valley below. “

Nehru says, “The treatment of men was sometimes worse then that of animals (some of the animals like cows were actually revered because they were Gods). Lower caste Hindus had a miserable life. Other historians have commented that the treatment of women was even worse, specially women of lower castes, they were considered the property of the upper caste Hindus, to be molested and/or raped at will. In many cases the new bride had to stay a night with the village Brahman before she was married off. Kashmir converted to Islam during this time period. It was cruelty like this that led to the whole sale conversion to Islam. The new religion offered them equality and saved them from the Brahmans.”

Today only 7 million Buddhists remain in India, the land of the Birth of Lord Buddha. If India wants to show repentance towards Buddhists, Hinduism needs to acknowledge the independence of Buddhism as a religion, and rebuilding of Buddhists temples all over India.

SIOE sees Islamic influences all around them in Europe. We agree with them. Europe is awash in Islamic symbols and influences. The SOIE & Frank Vanhecke can take steps to eradicate these immediately. Part of Mr. Eert’s agenda is to ban the Quran, limit and reverse Muslim immigration to the Netherlands. Perhaps as a precursor to banning the Quran and reducing Muslim immigration. Filip Dewinter, Anders Gravers, Stephen Garsh,

Geert Wilders, Frank Vanhecke, & Filip Dewinter should begin eliminating existing Muslim influences in the Netherlands.

1) Let us start with Tulips. Tulips (from the original Turkish “Topi Lale”) are of Islamic Turkish origins and a tulip flower represents the Arabic word "Allah" in Arabic. See “Tulipomania”. Frank Vanhecke & Geert Wilders should eliminate all tulips from the Netherlands. I feel sorry for Geert. Each time he sees a tulip he gets infuriated because it displays “Allah” in Arabic. To Arabs the Rose is called “flower of Muhammad” and the Arabic word Muhammad is seen in the rose. The SIOE, Frank Vanhecke, Filip Dewinter, Greet and others should ban roses from Belgium, Netherlands and Europe also.

2) Sugar (from the Arabic “sukkar”) was brought back by the Crusades from Muslim Jerusalem. SIOE, Frank Vanhecke, Stephen Garsh, & Geert Wilders and others should ban all sugar from the Netherlands, Belgium and Europe.

3) Windmills were developed as a result of Muslim technology developed in Muslim Spain, Ottomans and the Arabs. Frank Vanhecke & Geert Wilders should immediately ban all windmills in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Europe.

4) Stitched cloth was an Arab invention in Spain. Frank Vanhecke & Geert Wilders should immediately ban stitched cloth in Belgium, Netherlands and Europe.

5) The English word “collegiate” is of Arabic origins from the Arabic “kulliat”. Oxford was formed by returning Crusader monks from Egypt that had seen the Middle Easter university called “Al-Azhar”. Frank Vanhecke. Stephen Garsh and Geert Wilders should eliminate this Islamic influence in the Europe and ban all colleges in the Belgium, Netherlands and Europe.

6) Since Beethoven and Baach were also influenced by Turkish and Muslim music (during the siege of Vienna and the interaction with the Ottomans), perhaps the SIOE should ban music from the greatest musicians of our time and eliminate “symbols” and drums from all music because they were originally invented by Muslims. I would love to see Mr. Wilders facial expressions when he hears Beethoven’s 9^th symphony “A la Turka”. Fleminca dancing is also of Turkish origin, so the SIOE should ban it in the Netherlands, Belgium and Europe.

7) The SIOE, Frank Vanhecke & Stephen Garsh should also ban Arabic words and symbols in the Netherlands, Belgium & Europe. He should begin with banning the “ ‘Arabic’ numerals” (the numbering system used by the world) and revert back to the Roman numeral system. He should also ban Chemistry (Al Chemia), Algebra (Al Gebran) and all words beginning with “Al” including Alchohol.

8) Most importantly the SIOE, Frank Vanhecke and Stephen Garsh should ban hookas and hashish most of which comes from Muslim countires.

The list is long, Croissants, Marsipan, the Dome structures of building, gothic architecture, trial by jury, paper, printing, gunpowder, the compass all have Islamic origins. Frank Vanhecke, Stephen Garsh & Geert Wilders should eliminate all these from the Netherlands, Belgium and Europe.

I agree with William Dalrymple's (Myths and madrassas [Nov 24]) thesis that the "madrassas" (actually madarssas) in Pakistan are not graduating terrorists as some have claimed. The madarssas are seminaries, the predecessor of "colleges" (from the Arabic kulliat) with a long history of creating knowledge; Andalusian ones actually spawning the renaissance in Europe, and Indian ones effecting British and Hindu knowledge ... John Locke and Isaac Newton certainly had Muslim influences. Thomas Jefferson, writing The Jefferson Bible, seems to have a heavy Islamic influence. Per Barbara Metcalfe, the philosophies of the Deobandis have to be taken in the context of colonialism and not mixed up with the current crisis in Afghanistan. [Ecumenical] Muslim saints like Moinuddin Chisti (I am named after him) in India are revered by Hindus, Muslims and Christian alike and millions of Muslims and non-Muslims visit their graves each year. This is part of our joint Hindi-Muslim symbiosis. During the anti-British agitation the Deobandis remained non-violent. [Mahatma] Gandhi and [Jawaharlal] Nehru were partners in the anti-British but non-violent Khilafat movement that was spearheaded by the Deobandis ... Discussing the current madarssas, Dalrymple properly reminds us about the geopolitical intricacies of today's international relations. Many bigots today have selective amnesia. Muslims refuse to be held responsible for the foreign-policy failures and shortsighted policies of Western governments who created the Frankenstein monsters that are today threatening Muslims and non-Muslims alike. The literacy statistics about Pakistan are wrong and any comparison has to take into account the condition of Muslims prior to 1947. Indian numbers have to be compared with China, not Pakistan, which prior to 1947 was a neglected and discriminated economic backwater of the subcontinent. One example: Pakistan had one university and one textile mill within its borders in 1947. Today Pakistan has built hundreds. Much needs to be done, though. A 7% growth rate will address education and illiteracy ...

This is with ref to the vapidly insipid article "The Revolt of Arab-Iranians" by Amir Taheri. Mr. Amir Tahiri is notoriously well known Islamphobe and anti-Arab miscreant funded by a very powerful lobby in the United States. He is sponsored all over the country to demolish the image of Arabs, Saudis and Muslims in the USA. A simple Google search will reveal the true craven colors of Mr. Taheri. I am amazed that the esteemed Arab News acknowledged this highly controversial Islamphobe to print this highly provocative article. Mr. Taheri’s screed is part of the assiduous political pabulum psy-ops operation disguised as parochial discrimination, undertaken to partition the ummah, bifurcate Iran and fragment all Muslim countries into vassal states.

Mr. Taheri’s unmitigated bigoted drivel is biased, it has serious errors in it and is typical of the anti-Muslim and tripe so pervasive these days. It is most disappointing how the Arab News chose to reproduce such a rambling crypto-racist screed. Mr. Taheri’s teutonic bloviations are an admixture of discredited Neocon assertions, unsubstantiated, or outright distortion, and pure unadulterated balderdash. His nauseating fixation upon and paranoid conspiratorial delusions about Iran are a transparent attempt to justify the murderous rampage, carnage and barbarism faced by West Asia. The twaddle fails to illuminate the confusing deluge of eerily inept and counter-intuitive claptrap masquerading as fact in the clumsily stage-managed "global war on terror" environment.

Graham Usher’s unmitigated bigoted drivel is biased, it has serious errors in it and is typical of the anti-Pakistan tripe so pervasive these days. It is most disappointing how Al-Ahram chose to reproduce such a rambling crypto-racist screed. The author’s teutonic bloviations are an admixture of discredited Neocon assertions, unsubstantiated, or outright Indian distortion, and pure unadulterated balderdash. His nauseating fixation upon and paranoid conspiratorial delusions about Pakistanis are a transparent attempt to justify the murderous rampage, carnage and barbarism faced by West Asia. The twaddle fails to illuminate the confusing deluge of eerily inept and counter-intuitive claptrap masquerading as fact in the clumsily stage-managed "global war on terror" environment.

Unfortunately this abominable hater mongering animus is prevalent in the obsequiously sycophantic media which is perpetually fawning to the Neocon screed and kowtowing to the hatemongering empire of Murdock luxuriating in leafy living rooms. The incongruity of a submissive press is an oxymoronic phenomenon which only a “1984-Brazil”H.G. Wells’ surrealist could appreciate. Americans refuse to take foster-parentage of the sarcophagus of a failed foreign policy of the perfidiously myopic irredentist and revanchist Neocons. America has rejected their disquisitions and fulminations and the world clamors for the denouement of their sick vamparish philosophy.

Graham Usher’s selective amnesia fails to consider the fact that more than 1000 Pakistanis have died fighting the so called “war on terror”, and Pakistan has been a US ally since 1947. Pakistanis say “we don’t want your favors or your hate”. Leave Pakistan and Pakistanis alone.

Fools paradise by Graham Usher

Here come more half-truths from Mr. Usher. The author’s unmitigated bigoted drivel displays only superficial knowledge of Pakistan. The tripe totally lacks any imperious intellect of the nuances of the complex Pakistani issues.

The term of the president expires now. There is no other assembly to re-elect him except the one that is sitting. The President has said that a vote of no-confidence will be taken from the new assembly.

The author’s unoriginal parroted, biased and acerbic drivel is worse than his  erroneous putrid anti-Pakistan ad hominem. Is there an echo in here? His "master's voice" can be clearly “heard” and seen in this dictated transcription. The author is good at transliterating regurgitated hypocritical claptrap. This abominable soporific screed is typical of the ignominious anti-Pakistan cacophonous tripe so pervasive in the columnists of the photo-copying variety, that are nurtured in the augean stables of shoddy yellow journalism.

It is very disappointing to see that this esteemed paper chose to reproduce such reprehensible rambling crypto-racist screed.

His Excellency Lord Nazir

House of Lords,

London, England, UK

Cc; Queen Elizabeth, Queen of England,

Lord Chancellor of House of Lords

SUBJECT: Correcting you comment and refuting the Urban myth that the “West was building universities while “we” were building Taj Mahals.”

SUMMARY OF THIS LETTER:

This letter offers you arguments on why your statement was incorrect--- “While West was building Universities, while we were building “mahallats" Taj Mahal

ONE CANNOT BUILD CITIES FORTS, BUILDINGS & DUPLICATE THEM WITHOUT KNOWLEDGE IMPARTATION “UNIVERSITIES”

Oxford was modeled on Al-Azhar University by returning Crusaders,.

Ancient Indian and Pakistan (2500 BC 9000 BC) had universities.

The word “collegiate comes from the Arabic “kulliat”.

Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd in Muslim Spain translated and enhanced Greek knowledge that was taken by the Europeans.

The Magna Carta was imported from Muslim Spain

(see research by John Maksudi).

The American constitution and Jefferson used Islamic principles (Huq al Insaan, Huq Qol etc.) to develop the Bill of Rights.

The Muslims and Mughals built forts, cities, buildings, houses, roads, mosques, hospitals, a postal system, fountains—all impossible without knowledge, research and centers of learning

I have provided an extensive ref. list.

Kindly withdraw your comments and to maintain your credibility please do not repeat it again.

Dear Lord Nazir:

As Salam Alaikum!

You are a voice of reason and sanity. I am proud of your accomplishments, and like to listen to you defending Islam and Muslims in the UK. You are an asset to the community. I was however astonished by your comment on ARY TV Network that “while the West was making universities, ‘they’ were building the Taj Mahal and “mahalaat”. The sad truth is that even Lords do not read Islamic history. Perhaps a lesson in Islamic and Subcontinental history may be in order.

1. THE FIRST WORD OF THE QURAN IS “IQRA”—“read/Recite”. Our prophet set up an example of reading and writing. Captured soldiers could win their freedom if they imparted their knowledge to a Muslim. Our prophet also said “Go to China if you have to learn”.

2. ORIGINS OF THE WORD COLLEGIATE: The world “Collegiate” comes from the Arabic word “kulliat”. The same word of “completeness is translated as “university”. The Crusades returning from the holy land saw Muslim universities and colleges (kulliat) and set up Oxford.

3. AL AZHAR WAS SHINING CITY ON HILL WHEN LONDON WAS A SHANTY TOWN: Al-Azhar university was a shining model on the hill when. London and Paris were shanty-towns in the 15^th century, whereas Cordoba, Cairo, Lahore, Delhi and Agra were huge cosmopolitan centers of excellence where art, music, literature, libraries flourished.

4. BUILDING MAGNIFICENT BUILDING REQUIRES TRAINED ENGINEERS, PRODUCTION PLANNING, ARCHITECTS: Building the Taj requires architects, construction engineers, skilled laborers, architects, landscapers, material engineers, designers, artists. Where does the Lord think they came from? Certainly they did not arrive from the sky. They learned their skills somewhere, and someone trained them. All this knowledge existed in the Mughal empire and it was replicated all over the empire. There were centers of knowledge, and training all over the Subcontinent which imparted the following knowledge:

I. Architects (who drew the vision of the Rest House ‘sarais’, Roads, houses, Taj, mosques, bridges, mosques etc.)

II. Designers and sketchers who created the vision of the houses, Taj, mosques, bridges, mosques etc.)

III. Financial Planners who managed the cost of the projects

IV. Taxation Experts who received taxes into the treasury

V. Land Acquisitions experts and Surveyors

VI. Risk Mitigation Experts (who design the minarets so that they would not fall on the dome etc. etc.)

VII. Quality Control Experts

VIII. Painters & Artists

IX. Landscaping Experts

X. Hydraulic Experts

XI. Physicists

XII. Musical Experts

XIII. Art experts

XIV. Construction experts

XV. Civil Engineers

XVI. Road building

XVII. Postal Service

XVIII. Patwari and Taxation System

XIX. Construction of Military Forts

XX. Military Sciences

XXI. Religious Sciences

XXII. Medical Sciences

XXIII. Silk production experts

XXIV. Marble and material Engineers

XXV. Transportation experts

XXVI. Warehousing experts

XXVII. Cement experts

XXVIII. Simulation experts

XXIX. Prototype builders.

XXX. Poetry

XXXI. Literature

XXXII. Agri-business experts

XXXIII. Canal designers, and architects and diggers.

XXXIV. Dam builders

These professionals were tutored, trained organized and taught in universities and institutions. The professionals did not arrive in the Subcontinent with Lord Clive. They were there way before

1. COLONIALISM DESTROYED THE CENTERS OF LEARNING IN BENGAL AND THE REST OF INDIA

2. DEVANAGRI SCRIPT MADE MUSLIMS ILLITERATE: In 1940 the Devanagri script was imposed on the entire subcontinent. It rendered all the Muslims illiterate in one stroke and in one day. They never recovered from this. The landowners were agriculture experts.

3. INDUS VALLEY CIVILIZATION-ANCIENT PAKISTAN WAS ADVANCED: was the most advanced Civilization on earth and existed 5000 to 9000 years ago. It existed on the banks of the Indus, or modern Pakistan (See Indus Saga by Aitizaz Ahsan)

4. THE GREEKS FOUND ANCIENT PAKISTAN AS AN ADVANCED SOCIETY: Taxila (Urdu: ٹیکسلا, Sanskrit: तक्षशिला Takṣaśilā, Pali:Takkasilā) is an important archaeological site in Pakistan containing the ruins of the Gandhāran city of Takshashila (also Takkasila or Taxila) an important Vedic/Hindu^[1] and Buddhist^[2] centre of learning from the 6th century BCE^[3] to the 5th century CE.^{[4] [5]} In 1980, Taxila was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site with multiple locations.^[6]
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxila

6. MULTAN WAS ONLY ONE OF THE HUNDREDS OF CENTERS OF LEARNING DURING THE MUGHAL ERA: Multan which was a great center of learning during Mughal reign.

7. FARANGI MAHAL WAS A CENTER OF LEARNING FOR SIX HUNDRED YEARS I LUCKNOW INDIA: Farangi Mahal imparted knowledge in logic, medicine, philosophy, literature, and religious sciences.

8. VARNASI WAS A CENTER OF LEARNING FOR 200 YEARS: Varanasi has been a center of pilgrimage and learning for over 2000 years and
   1. Legend has it that centuries ago, to the south of Raj Ghat, there was a forest at the confluence of five streams with the Ganga. There were ashrams in the forest that were centers of learning, presided over by learned sages or rishis, who encouraged the development of new schools of thought. . The tradition of scholarship has continued into the present times. In 1916, the rationalist leader and educationist Madan Mohan Malviya laid the foundation of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), aiming for a synthesis of ancient Indian culture and modern science.
   2. A few years later, in 1921, the Kashi Vidyapeeth was established in the city with the encouragement of Mahatma Gandhi. Earlier, in 1791, the British colonial rulers set up the prestigious Sanskrit College here
   3. The Cholas' rival of the Western Chalukya Empire also rose to power by the end of the century. In this century the Turkish Seljuk dynasty comes to power in the Middle East over the now fragmented Abbasid realm, while the first of the Crusades were waged towards the close of the century.

9. AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY THE FIRST UNIVERSITY OF THE WORLD: It was built by the Shi'a Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171) who established Cairo as their capital. It is connected to Al-Azhar mosque in Old Cairo, Al-Azhar ( in Arabic: the most flourished and shining) was so called either because it was surrounded by great glittering places, or as a hopeful disposition, or after the name of Sayeda Fatima Al-Zahra', daughter of Muhammad. The mosque was built in two years from 969 AD, the year in which its foundation was laid. The school of theology (Madrasah) connected with it was founded in 988 AD. Studies began in Al-Azhar in Ramadan by October 975 AD, when Chief Justice Abul Hasan Ali Ibn Al-No'man started teaching the book "Al-Ikhtisar", on the Shiite Jurisprudence. It became a Sunni school towards the end of the Middle Ages, an orientation it retains to this day.

10. MUSLIMS PROVIDED THE SEEDS OF THE RENAISSANCE: It is commonly believed that the Renaissance, the rediscovery of the treasures of classical antiquity, took place in the fifteenth century AD...this conception is misleading. The `renaissance began in the Dark Ages with the translation of Greek works into Syrian and Arabic...the original works were known to but a few, and since then many of them have been lost. The part played by the Syrians in the east may be compared to that the Arabs and the Jews played in western Europe. ¹² David Diringer, The Book Before Printing : Ancient, Medieval and Oriental (NY: Dover, 1982), 302.

11. CORDOBA WAS SHINING CITY ON THE HILL WHEN LONDON WAS A SHANTY TOWN: Among European cities, Córdoba under the Caliphate, with a population of perhaps 500,000, eventually overtook Constantinople as the largest and most prosperous city in Europe.^[13] Within the Islamic world, Córdoba was one of the leading cultural centers. The work of its most important philosophers and scientists (notably Abulcasis and Averroes) had a major influence on the intellectual life of medieval Europe. Muslims and non-Muslims often came from abroad to study in the famous libraries and universities of al-Andalus. The most noted of these was Michael Scot, who took the works of Ibn Rushd ("Averroes") and Ibn Sina ("Avicenna") to Italy. This transmission was to have a significant impact on the formation of the European Renaissance.
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Andalus

13. IQBAL WRITES ABOUT ANDALUSIA IN 1932: In 1932, after attending the Third Round Table Conference held in London to discuss a future constitution for British India, the Urdu poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal visited Madrid, Toledo, Granada, Cordoba, and Seville. This visit inspired six poems including his ode Masjid-e-Qartaba in praise of the Mosque of Cordoba. Iqbal exclaimed¹
    "Ka‘ba of the friends of art! Majesty of the revealed faiths! Through whom the Andalusian land is revered as a shrine"
    Many modern Muslim writers-Iqbal himself as well as Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, the Chairman of the Muslim delegation to the Third Round Table Conference and later President of the League of Nations-were deeply nostalgic about al-Andalus and mourned its loss to the Christian Reconquista. But in these stanzas Iqbal seems to look beyond. Not only is he swept away by the artistic beauty of the physical elements of the mosque, but he peers behind its walls into the social, spiritual, intellectual, literary, aesthetic, and indeed political fabric of the peoples of this land. It is their aspirations and ideals which make this Mosque a symbol of the majesty of all the revealed faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. What were these ideals and aspirations? The answer, of course lies in the spirit of tolerance and open-mindedness of the peoples of this land. Iqbal and his contemporaries wrote amidst the gathering winds of discord and hate against neighbours of different colours, ethnicities, or faiths. In Andalusia they saw an example to be studied and emulated.² Today, this example is even more relevant as the monotheistic faiths, gripped by extremists, are caught in a downward spiral of suspicion and mutual recrimination. http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/06/191andalusia-harmony-of-three.html

14. PAKISTAN’S MODERN NUCLEAR AND MISSILE PROGRAM WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT THE PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES.

15. PAKISTANI MUSIC IS SECOND TO NONE: Pakistani musicians have always setup centers of learning and expanded the horizons.

16. PAKISTANI CALLIGRAPHY & PAINTING: The centers of learning in Pakistan have carried on for centuries. How could they be developed without universities, centers of learning and colleges.

17. MUSLIM ARCHITECTURE WAS COPIED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SYNAGOGUES, OUR CAPITOL BUILDING GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE

18. EMPEROR JEHANGIR WAS THE RICHEST MAN ON THIS EARTH

I am shocked you made the statement, and want it retracted. Please do not make it again.

Here is an article that you may want to read.

Best Regards & Was Salaam

Moin Ansari

Attachments: Article on Muslim Spain and Ref. List of Books proving my point

Muslim Spain and European Culture

©1995-2000  Dean Derhak

  When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance there was a place of humanistic beauty in Muslim Spain? Not only was it artistic, scientific and commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry. Moors, as the Spaniards call the Muslims, populated Spain for nearly 700 years. As you'll see, it was their civilization that enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the renaissance. Many of their cultural and intellectual influences still live with us today.

     Way back during the eighth century, Europe was still knee-deep in the Medieval period. That's not the only thing they were knee-deep in. In his book, "The Day The Universe Changed," the historian James Burke describes how the typical European townspeople lived:

"The inhabitants threw all their refuse into the drains in the center of the narrow streets. The stench must have been overwhelming, though it appears to have gone virtually unnoticed. Mixed with excrement and urine would be the soiled reeds and straw used to cover the dirt floors. (p. 32)

     This squalid society was organized under a feudal system and had little that would resemble a commercial economy. Along with other restrictions, the Catholic Church forbade the lending of money - which didn't help get things booming much. "Anti-Semitism, previously rare, began to increase. Money lending, which was forbidden by the Church, was permitted under Jewish law." (Burke, 1985, p. 32) Jews worked to develop a currency although they were heavily persecuted for it. Medieval Europe was a miserable lot, which ran high in illiteracy, superstition, barbarism and filth.

     During this same time, Arabs entered Europe from the South. ABD AL-RAHMAN I, a survivor of a family of caliphs of the Arab empire, reached Spain in the mid-700's. He became the first Caliph of Al-Andalus, the Moorish part of Spain, which occupied most of the Iberian Peninsula. He also set up the UMAYYAD Dynasty that ruled Al-Andalus for over three-hundred years. (Grolier, History of Spain). Al Andalus means, "the land of the vandals," from which comes the modern name Andalusia.

     At first, the land resembled the rest of Europe in all its squalor. But within two-hundred years the Moors had turned Al-Andalus into a bastion of culture, commerce and beauty. "Irrigation systems imported from Syria and Arabia turned the dry plains... into an agricultural cornucopia. Olives and wheat had always grown there. The Arabs added pomegranates, oranges, lemons, aubergines, artichokes, cumin, coriander, bananas, almonds, pams, henna, woad, madder, saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, peaches, apricots and rice." (Burke, 1985, p. 37)

     By the beginning of the ninth century, Moorish Spain was the gem of Europe with its capital city, Cordova. With the establishment of Abdurrahman III - "the great caliphate of Cordova" - came the golden age of Al-Andalus. Cordova, in southern Spain, was the intellectual center of Europe.

     At a time when London was a tiny mud-hut village that "could not boast of a single streetlamp" (Digest, 1973, p. 622), in Cordova "there were half a million inhabitants, living in 113,000 houses. There were 700 mosques and 300 public baths spread throughout the city and its twenty-one suburbs. The streets were paved and lit." (Burke, 1985, p. 38) The houses had marble balconies for summer and hot-air ducts under the mosaic floors for the winter. They were adorned with gardens with artificial fountains and orchards". (Digest, 1973, p. 622) "Paper, a material still unknown to the west, was everywhere. There were bookshops and more than seventy libraries." (Burke, 1985, p. 38).

In his book titled, "Spain In The Modern World," James Cleuge explains the significance of Cordova in Medieval Europe:

"For there was nothing like it, at that epoch, in the rest of Europe. The best minds in that continent looked to Spain for everything which most clearly differentiates a human being from a tiger." (Cleugh, 1953, p. 70)

     During the end of the first millennium, Cordova was the intellectual well from which European humanity came to drink. Students from France and England traveled there to sit at the feet of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars, to learn philosophy, science and medicine (Digest, 1973, p. 622). In the great library of Cordova alone, there were some 600,000 manuscripts (Burke, 1978, p. 122).

     This rich and sophisticated society took a tolerant view towards other faiths. Tolerance was unheard of in the rest of Europe. But in Moorish Spain, "thousands of Jews and Christians lived in peace and harmony with their Muslim overlords." (Burke, 1985, p. 38) The society had a literary rather than religious base. Economically their prosperity was unparalleled for centuries. The aristocracy promoted private land ownership and encouraged Jews in banking. There was little or no Muslim prostelyzing. Instead, non-believers simply paid an extra tax!

     "Their society had become too sophisticated to be fanatical. Christians and Moslems, with Jews as their intermediaries and interpreters, lived side by side and fought, not each other, but other mixed communities." (Cleugh, 1953, p. 71)

http://www.xmission.com/~dderhak/index/moors.htm

Muslim Sicily

"The Prosperity of the island surpasses description, It is…a daughter of Spain…"

Written by Gian Luigi Scarfiotti and Paul Lunde
Additional photographs by Gian Luigi Scarfiotti

Returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1184, the famous Muslim traveler Ibn Jubair was shipwrecked in the Straits of Messina off the coast of Sicily. The inhabitants of Messina, hearing calls of distress, immediately launched their boats, hoping to profit from the situation by charging large fees for rescuing the passengers. The poorer Muslim pilgrims were unable to pay the high fees demanded, and were at a loss to know what to do.

At that point, Ibn Jubair reports, an authoritative figure rode down to the shore and issued an order. And the Muslims found themselves carried to shore free.

Bewildered by this turn of events, Ibn Jubair went to thank their deliverer, and discovered that he was the ruler of Sicily himself who, although a Norman Christian, welcomed Ibn Jubair and the other Muslims and promised them protection during their sojourn in his dominion.

As the Norman Christians had ruled Sicily for 100 years, Ibn Jubair was astounded at this reception. And there were other surprises to come. He found that even the Christians spoke Arabic, that the government officials were still largely Muslim and that the heritage of some 200 previous years of Muslim rule of Sicily was still intact.

The Normans, originally were from Scandinavia. In their search for new lands to conquer, and sun to bask in, they had wandered into southern Italy, and seen that the land was to their liking. Although their numbers were small, the Normans were formidable military men: they did not hesitate to take what they wanted, and what they wanted above all was that beautiful and productive island that had been ruled by the Muslims for some 200 years.

The Norman kingdom of Sicily is a bright spot in the turbulent history of the Middle Ages. Although Norman rule coincided with the very period that produced the Crusades - the first took place four years after the Normans conquered Sicily - they governed their ethnically, religiously and linguistically mixed population with a degree of tolerance and sympathy unequaled in the Middle Ages and rarely found today. But their achievements in statecraft, administration, learning, architecture, agriculture and science were largely an inheritance from Sicily's Islamic past Credit must certainly go to the imagination and energy of such men as Roger II, sponsor of Islam's great geographer al-Idrisi (see Aramco World, July-August 1977), but they could have accomplished little without the Muslim inhabitants.

Muslim interest in Sicily goes back to the very threshold of Islamic history. The first military expedition against the island took place during the caliphate of 'Uthman, only 20 years after the death of the Prophet, Muhammad, when Mu'awiya, the governor of Syria, sent a naval expedition. This was an extension of the battles that were taking place in the east, where the most formidable enemy the Muslims faced was the Byzantine empire. Sicily was a Byzantine province and from its strategic location in the Mediterranean the Byzantines were able to control shipping and launch naval attacks against the coastal cities of the Muslim Levant and North Africa.

Through the years, many efforts were made by the Muslims to invade Sicily, but it was not until June of 827 that they finally obtained a foothold by taking Mazara on the western end of the island.

That first attack was launched from the Muslim province of Ifriqiyya - roughly corresponding to modern Tunisia - which was then governed by the Aghlabids, a dynasty going back to the days of Harun al-Rashid. Unable to tolerate Byzantine control of the seaways, and learning that Sicily was torn with internal strife, the Aghlabids decided the moment was propitious for a full-scale attack. Oddly, the man chosen to lead this expedition had never wielded a sword in his life, still less led men into battle. His name was Asad ibn al-Furat ("Lion, son of the Euphrates"), and he was a respected qadi and scholar from the dry of Kairouan. Before embarking, Asad ibn al-Furat addressed his troops in the ribat - the fortified religious hospice - of the port of Sousse in what is surely one of the most remarkable exhortations ever given by a military commander:

"There is no god but God alone, Who has no peer! I swear, O soldiers, that I have not been appointed to this command by my father, or my grandfather, nor do I know of anyone to whom such a thing has happened, for I have been given this appointment because of my achievements with the pen, not the sword. I urge you all to spare no effort, no fatigue, in searching out wisdom and learning! Seek it out and store it up, add to it, and persevere through all difficulties, and you will be assured of a place both in this life, and in the life to come!"

Unlike Spain, which fell like ripe fruit, the conquest of Sicily, after Mazara fell, took 75 years. But immigration and settlement on the land began almost immediately. The island was divided into three administrative districts, the names of which survive to this day. Val di Mazara, the first to be established, comprised the western end of the island; its capital was Palermo. The central regions, including Syracuse, were called the Val di Noto, while the remaining area of the island - the last to be conquered - was called the Val Demone, and included Catania and Messina. The word "val" is derived from the Arabic word meaning "province"

The history of Sicily under Muslim rule reflected the political changes that were taking place in North Africa and further east. The Aghlabids were succeeded by the Fatimids, who in turn gave way to the Kalbids. But the unique achievements of the period were not political, and are hardly mentioned in the works of the historians. Under the Muslims, Sicily once more became a granary to the world, as it had been under the Romans. While both the Byzantines and the Romans before them had been interested almost solely in the cultivation of grain, however, the Arabs introduced many new crops: cotton, hemp, date palms, sugar cane, mulberries and citrus fruits. The cultivation of these crops was made possible by new irrigation techniques brought in by the conquerors. These innovations, especially the breaking up of the large estates and the redistribution of land, meant an end to the long years of economic and social depression. Sicily began to bloom.

The revolution in agriculture generated a number of related industries, such as textiles, sugar manufacture, rope-making, matting, silk, and paper - the latter introduced to Europe by way of Sicily. The beautiful silks of Sicily became internationally known, and garments made of them were the prized possessions of both Muslim and Christian rulers. This industry continued to flourish under the Normans - and Sicilian silks carried an embroidered mark, the tiraz, that guaranteed their provenance. One example which has survived - the "Mantle of Roger II" now housed in the National Museum of Vienna - suggests the richness and quality of this work.

As they had wherever they went, the Muslims also extended and beautified such cities as Messina, Syracuse, Sciacca, Mazara, and Castrogiovanni. But the finest was Palermo, called Al-Banurmu or simply al-Madina, "the City," which Ibn Jubair described in glowing terms:

"The capital is endowed with two gifts, splendor and wealth. It contains all the real and imagined beauty that anyone could wish. Splendor and grace adorn the piazzas and the countryside; the streets and highways are wide, and the eye is dazzled by the beauty of its situation. It is a city full of marvels, with buildings similar to those of Cordoba, built of limestone. A permanent stream of water from four springs runs through the city. There are so many mosques that they are impossible to count. Most of them also serve as schools. The eye is dazzled by all this splendor."

Although dimmed by age, modern Palermo still retains traces of that splendor - not only in the few surviving monuments of the time, but in the layout of the streets. The plan of the Arab city has been meticulously reconstructed by Professor Rosario La Duca. The center of the Norman city was the Palazzo Reale, still known locally as "il Cassaro" from the Arabic word al-qasr, meaning "fortress." Not far from the port is the area known as the Kalsa. It dates back to the year 937, when an outer line of defense was built against any attack from the sea. In Arabic it was known as al-Khalisa - hence Kalsa. It was encircled by a high wall with four gates, and formed the administrative center of Sicily. Inside the walls were a richly decorated mosque, barracks for the troops, the arsenal, and the headquarters of the government ministries.

Nowhere is the feel of Arab Sicily more alive than in the outdoor markets of Palermo. Although the number of these has been reduced by later town planning, the ones that survive - particularly those of Capo and Ballaro - are organized like the suqs of North Africa. (See Aramco World , September-October, 1978). If one imagines the inhabitants of modern Palermo in long flowing robes, the illusion is complete, for the features of the people, their methods of salesmanship, the sights and smells, all are evocative of the Arab world.

The markets are not the only palaces that preserve a living trace of the past. Many street names are still recognizably Arabic, and in some cases not only the original name, but the function, has been preserved. The district of the Lattarini has harbored perfumers and grocers since the ninth century. The Arabs called it suq al- 'attarin, the market of the perfumers, and it was situated near the mosque of Ibn Siqlab, described by Ibn Hawqal in the 10th century.

The Muslims' architectural legacy is more difficult to detect; as with so many other things, Sicily's architecture is a melange of styles and periods. The Palazzo Reale, for example, rests on Phoenician foundations, on top of which the Romans built, to be followed by the Byzantines, then the Arabs, then the Normans, the Swabians, and finally the Spanish. And the Palermo Cathedral, originally a Byzantine church and then a mosque, still bears - on one of the columns at the entry to the Cathedral - a verse from the Koran. The column itself once supported the roof of a Roman temple.

There are only two wholly Arab works of architecture left in Sicily today. One is the castle known as La Favara, from its Arabic name al-Fawwara, the gushing spring. It was the residence of the Emir Ja'far (997-1019), whose name is commemorated in a street sign that leads to the Castle. It was restored by King Roger, who built a small church within its precincts.

The other surviving example of Arab architecture is the baths of Cefala Diana, 30 kilometers outside Palermo on the road to Agrigento. Although now in poor repair, these baths were still in use as recently as 50 years ago. They were built in the 11th century, and were visited by Ibn Jubair.

The Arab presence in Sicily was the stimulus for the tremendous upsurge in artistic activity which characterized Norman Sicily, especially during the reign of Roger II. But as Arab and Norman activity were so inextricably intertwined, it is clearer to call the results 'Arabo-Norman," althouth in fact it did not end with the collapse of Norman Sicily.

Earlier generations of scholars were inclined to consider the art and architecture of Norman Sicily as more Norman than Arab. But Professor Giuseppe Bellafiore, dean of architectural history at the University of Palermo, has written in a recent book: ". . . the purely Norman element in Arabo-Norman architecture is less than the name might suggest. The Norman rulers had the tact and the foresight to accept, and even like, what they found. Yet they retained the tenuous links which they had with the land of their origin. The strength and efficiency of the Norman administration derived from its policy of deliberate flexibility toward the existing Muslim order on the island. Thus culture in general, and artistic tradition in particular, owed little to the Norman's own land of origin."

With this in mind, it is easier to understand the legacy of the Arabs in the arts and architecture. Virtually all monuments, the cathedrals, the palaces and castles built under the Normans were Arab in the sense that the craftsmen were Arab, as were the architects. One must also remember that there was a third element in the mixture - the Byzantine, for the Byzantines too contributed to creation of the architectural style so characteristic of Sicily. The Cappella Palatina in the Palazzo Reale is a good example of how all three strands combined to create something new and exciting. The marvelous ceiling with its carved and painted decoration is the work of Arab craftsmen, while the glowing mosaics which adorn the walls of the chapel are purely Byzantine.

One of the most splendid residences of the Norman kings is the Zisa, whose name conceals the Arabic word al-Aziz, "the mighty". It is currently being restored. The Cuba and the Cubula are now within the city limits of Palermo, but when they were built were in the countryside, and probably served the Norman kings as hunting lodges or summer retreats. Their names are apt, for they are cube-shaped.

Throughout the Val di Mazara are visible traces of the Arab past. The plans of cities like Trapani, Marsala, and Mazara itself recall the men who built them. One district of Mazara is still called La Kasbah, and in recent years this quarter has been occupied by Tunisian and Algerian immigrants. The wheel turns full circle.

Sicily of course abounds in Arabic place names, such as Alcantara (from the Arabic qantara, bridge), Gibellina, from the Arabic word jabal, mountain, and so forth. The dialect spoken in Sicily is full of Arabic words, as one would expect, and some of these, such as zagara, the orange flower, have entered standard Italian.

But the Arab past of Sicily which must now be painfully recovered from the few material remains which survive, is nowhere more evident than in the intellectual and scientific legacy which was passed from the Arabs of Sicily to Italy and then to all of Europe. Under the rule of the extraordinary Roger II, Sicily became a clearing house where eastern and western scholars met for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire, and in an atmosphere of tolerance and beauty exchanged the ideas that were to wake Europe from the dark ages and herald the coming of the Renaissance. The Arab tradition of tolerance toward other religions, perpetuated under the Norman kings, led to free discussion and a climate of intellectual freedom that was the envy of the world. Astronomy, medicine, philosophy and mathematics were the subjects of discussion, and books on these subjects were translated into Latin and became the standard textbooks in the universities that in the 12th century were beginning to be founded throughout Europe. The University of Salerno, founded in the 13th century, became the most famous medical school in the world, and it was there that Avicenna (Ibn Sina) was translated into Latin, and the first scientific dissections were performed.

The people of Sicily have not forgotten their Islamic past. It lives on in the puppet shows, in which beautifully dressed two and three-foot puppets enact the great battles of the past, the legends that were told so long ago in the market places of Palermo and Messina. Professional story tellers - like the rawis who until recently throughout the Arab east told the tales of the Banu Hilal and Antar ibn Shaddad (see Aramco World , July-August, 1978) - still exist in Sicily, and hold their audiences enthralled as they sit before lively folk paintings depicting the heroes and heroines of their tales.

In Italy the subject of Sicily's Arab past, long neglected despite the pioneering work of the great 19th century historian Michele Amari, has suddenly flowered once more. In 1959 the University of Palermo established once again a chair in Arabic language and literature.

The brilliant past of Sicily is all too often ignored, and still inadequately assessed. But the visitor to the island is immediately touched by a breath of that far-away and exotic culture that once flourished so near the heartland of Europe. The great Sicilian Arab poet Ibn Hamdis, who in his life knew the pain of exile from his beloved island, wrote, more than seven centuries ago:

"I spoke the word Sicily and longing troubled my heart. A man exiled from a paradise can do nothing but tell of the things he has lost."

Gian Luigi Scarfiotti studied classics in Italy and economics in Switzerland. After six years as director of a company he turned to free-lance writing and photography.

Paul Lunde is a staff writer for Aramco World specializing in Islamic history.

The Daughter of Spain

In the morning of the 1st day (of Ramadan, Dec. 6, 1184) we observed before us the Mountain of Fire, the famous volcano of Sicily. . . A favorable wind then. . . brought us to the mouth of the strait. . . The sea in this strait, which runs between the mainland and the island of Sicily, pours through like the 'bursting of the dam', and from the intensity of the contraction and the pressure, boils like a cauldron. . . .

"When it came to midnight on Sunday the 3rd of the blessed month (of Ramadan) . . . the sudden cries of the sailors gave us the grievous knowledge that the ship had been driven by the force of the wind towards one of the shore lines and had struck it. At once the captain ordered that the sails be lowered, but the sail on the [main] mast would not come down. . . When they had labored in vain, the captain cut it with a knife. . . [but] the ship stuck by its keel to the ground. . . .

"The sun then rose and small boats came out to us. Our cries had fallen on the city, and the King of Sicily. . .himself came out with some of his retinue to survey the affair. . . and this [Christian] King, when he perceived some needy Muslims staring from the ship,. . . ordered that they be given one hundred [pieces] of his coinage in order that they might alight."

Messina and Palermo

This city (Messina) is the [market]of the [Christian] merchants, the focus of ships from the world over, and thronging always with companies of travelers by reason of the lowness of prices. . . Its markets are animated and teeming, and it has ample commodities to ensure a luxurious life. Your days and nights in this town you will pass in full security, even though your countenance, your manners and your tongue are strange. . . You will observe ships ranged along the quay like horses lined at their pickets or in their stables. . . . The prosperity of the island surpasses description. It is enough to say that it is a daughter of Spain in the extent of its cultivation, in the luxuriance of its harvests, and in its well-being. . . .

"The finest town in Sicily and the seat of its sovereign is known to the Muslims as al-Madina, and to the Christians as Palermo. It has Muslim citizens who possess mosques, and their own markets, in the many suburbs. The rest of the Muslims live in the farms (of the island) and in all its villages and towns, such as Syracuse and others. . . .

"The Muslims of this city preserve the remaining evidence of the faith. They keep in repair the greater number of their mosques, and come to prayers at the call of the muezzin. In their own suburbs they live apart from the Christians. The markets are full of them and they are the merchants of the place. . . They have a qadi to whom they refer their lawsuits, and a. . . mosque where, in this holy month [Ramadan] they assemble under its lamps.

"The Christian women of this city follow the fashion of Muslim women, are fluent of speech, wrap their cloaks about them, and are veiled. They go forth on this Feast Day dressed in robes of gold-embroidered silk, wrapped in elegant cloaks, concealed by colored veils, and shod with gilt slippers."

The King

"This King possesses splendid palaces and elegant gardens, particularly in the capital of his kingdom, al-Madina [Palermo]. In Messina he has a palace, white like a dove, which overlooks the shore. . . William is engrossed in the pleasures of his land, the arrangement of its laws, the laying down of procedure, the allocation of the functions of his chief officials, the enlargement of the splendor of the realm, and the display of his pomp, in a manner that resembles the Muslim kings. His kingdom is very large. He pays much attention to his (Muslim) physicians and . . . also takes great care of them. He will even, when told that a physician. . . is passing through his land, order his detainment, and then provide him with means of living so that he will forget his native land. . . . One of the most remarkable things told of him is that he reads and writes Arabic. . . ."

Travels of Ibn Jubair, R. J. C. Broadhurst, Jonathan Cape, London, 1952

This article appeared on pages 22-32 of the November/December 1978 print edition of Saudi Aramco World.

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Mr. Cohen, why do you repeat nonsense all the time? ...err ignore that...it was a rhetorical question...we already know the answer.

“Alastair Lamb, Incomplete Partition (OUP, 1998) comes to the conclusion that the instrument of accession was not signed on the date claimed by the Indian government to legitimise its sending of troops into Kashmir. American scholar Stanley Wolpert relates the accession story in his 1996 book, Nehru: A tryst with Destiny, basing it on the lack of concordance between versions of the accession. Wolpert writes that Menon returned from Srinagar on 26 October 'with no Instrument of Accession' to report on the perilous condition in Kashmir to the Defence Committee. Only after Mountbatten had allowed the airlift of Indian troops on 27 October, did Menon and Mahajan set out for Jammu 'to get the Instrument of Accession'. The Maharaja signed the Instrument after the Indian troops had assumed control of the state of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar. If Wolpert's version is accepted then the 'conspiracy' of legalising the airlift becomes acceptable. Lamb thinks that it is possible that 'certainly Menon, perhaps Mountbatten, perhaps Nehru and perhaps Patel' were involved in this conspiracy. Lamb also claims that the document of accession does not exist.”

THE GEOGRAPHIC TWO NATION THEORY
The Indus valley Civilization existed in what is today Pakistan. Pakistan
is the natural inheritor of the Indus Valley Civilization, just like
modern day China is the natural inheritor of the Chinese civilization (not
called China then), and modern day Egypt in the natural inheritor of the
Egyptian civilization (not called Egypt then). “Indus-valley-istan”
existed 5000 years ago. Pakistan existed 5000 years ago, even though it
was not called Pakistan. This is the geographic two nation theory.

Long before the Crescent and Star flew atop Islamabad, long before
Mohammed Bin Qasim invaded Sind, and long before the Mughals spread
prosperity in all the nooks and corners of the subcontinent, long before
the Sikh dynasty briefly controlled Kashmir, and long before the Chundra
Gupta Vikramadatya ruled India, the people of  Punjab, Sindh, Sarhad, and
Kashmir were tied together as the people of Pakistan.

According to the "Indian Act of Independence", the more than 500 states had only two choices, either join India or join Pakistan. There was no third choice. Hyderabad tried to exercise the third choice, and faced Indian Police action and elimination. Manvanagar and Junagarh acceded to Pakistan, but Indian forces occupied them. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the last Pakistani head of state to mention Junagarh and Manvanagar. When I was growing up our Pakistani atlases showed Junagarh and Manvanagar as Pakistani territory.

The status of Kashmir is disputed.  India claims that the original article of accession to India has been "lost", if it ever existed. The article of accession was never actually presented to the United Nations. The article of accession as presented to Lord Mountbatten had serious forgery issues based on the date and where and when it was signed. Apparently Hari Sing was not present in the place where it was purportedly signed. Alister Lamb has written a book on the subject, and I have written many articles on it, even posted on the BJP website. The current president of Azad Kashmir is fully aware of the discrepancies, and started mentioning this fact on Geo TV last week and was rudely interrupted by Mr. Sheheryar. I wonder why?

If Kashmiris are being asked the question of independence than all the 500 states of the Subcontinent should be asked the same question, Awadh, Goa, etc etc. Mizuram, Nagaland, Hydrabad should all be given independence.

Lest some traitors forget, I repeat:---- "Batt keh rahay kaa Hindustaan--Kashmir Banaiga Pakistan". Kashmir is Pakistan's "shehrag'. Pakistan was created on the "Two Nation Theory" where as the Muslim majority areas formed Pakistan. There is no confusion about the TNT. one of our leaders said, "we will eat grass for a thousand years, if we have to, but  'Kashmir baniaga Pakistan' ". Everything else if nonsense. No geopolitical realities can change truth falsehood to truth.

============

How poor is India? Some startling statistics have just been released by a forgotten wing of Dr Singh’s own administration, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. Around 80 per cent of India’s working population is in this sector. Nearly 80 per cent of this group earns less than 20 rupees a day and 85 per cent of this sub group is trapped in debt. By that usual sleight of hand we have drawn an arbitrary line to define poverty: Rs 12 a day constitutes the poverty line. This encourages the illusion that 77 per cent of India is now above the poverty line. It isn't that much above in any case. Nor is this poverty line index-linked to inflation. Twelve rupees a day buys much less today than it did three years ago. The traditional poverty groups remain where they were: 88 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and Castes, 80 per cent of "Other Backward Classes" and 85 per cent of Muslims belong to the "poor and vulnerable" class.

M. J. Akbar is Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. He can be reached at mjakbar@asianage.com

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ColumnistHomeNew.asp?section=mjakbar&col=yes

Muslims constitute 25.2 per cent of the population of West Bengal, but have only 2.1 per cent of state government jobs. Kerala, which has almost the same percentage of Muslims (24.7 per cent), has given 10.4 per cent of state government jobs to the community. Assam’s ratio is similar: 30.9 per cent and 11.2 per cent. Bihar does better: it gives 7.6 per cent of state jobs to Muslims, who add up to 16.5 per cent of the population. Andhra Pradesh has the best record: 9.2 per cent of the population and 8.8 per cent of jobs. Uttar Pradesh, despite leaders who claim to be more-secular-than-thou has given only 5.1 per cent of state government jobs to an 18.5 per cent population. The situation is no better when it comes to health and education indices.

I recommend that Britain should be suspended from the commonwealth and England expelled from the United Kingdom for the following reasons:

1) Crimes against humanity committed by the East India Company and the colonial British Empire from 1700 to the present times.

2) Burning of women as witches under "Malleus Maleficarum". Up to 9 million women were burned.

3) Subjugating Ireland, Wales and Scotland in gross violation of the rights of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

4) Claiming to be a democracy when the House of Lords is a selected house for the privileged. Not allowing all units of the UK equal representation in a Senate like body.

5) Waging war on Afghanistan more than two times in the past 100 years.

6) Waging war on Iraq more than two times in the past 100 years.

8) Allowing Rhodesia to exist as a racist regime in Zimbabwe.

9) Allowing South African Apartheid to survive for decades.

10) Leaving Palestine, Kashmir and other areas as problems for the successor states.

11) Becoming a lackey and poodle of the United States of America and imposing horrible spellings on us.

12) Electing Tony Blair so many times and calling "Le Mance" as the " 'English' Channel".

13) Allowing uneducated morons like Lord Sarwar to buy his seat in the House of  Lords.

Kargil Internationalized the Kasmir issue and put a death knell to Simla: Rebuttal to Cohen’s Four Crises and a Peace Process

It seems like every few Mr. Cohen in the employment of the Indian Lobby comes out with a new book or writing regurgitating the “same old wine in new bottle”. No matter how many times Mr. Cohen with new acolytes repeats the same old nonsense, it does not make it true. Nawaz Sharif visit to the White House made his life miserable in the dungeons of the Attock Fort. Any other leader that makes similar blunders will also receive the same fate.

Hari Singh, the last Maharaja of Kashmir was a weak vacillating man whose perversions and orgies had given him the reputation of the Himalayan Brogia. Unfortunately, Hari Singh, the man who was Mr. A had titillated the readers of the British penny press before the war, was something else. He was the hereditary Hindu maharaja of the most strategically situated princely state in India.

Demographic logic used by the Radcliff boundary commission to separate India and Pakistan seemed to dictate that Kashmir join with Pakistan. Its people were Moslem. It had been one of the areas originally selected for an Islamic state by Rehmat Ali when he formulated his impossible dream. The k in Pakistan was for Kashmir.

Hari Singh the last playboy Raja of Kashmir was an abdominal character-less hedonist bi-sexual. His only redeeming quality was that he held out against Patels bullying. Hari Singh was escorted out of the state under the curfew of the Indian army. India claims that next day he signed the so called article of accession to India. According to Alistair Lamb a noted historian of Kashmir, has cast several doubts on the article of accession. India's claim to accession is in dispute. The U.N. recognised the dispute, and treats Kashmir as disputed territory between India and Pakistan.

Indian forces landed in Kashmir before the insurrection of the local Kashmiris against the Maharaja (source Alister Lamb).

There are serious question on the dates on which the so called article of accession was signed, sealed or delivered to Lord Mountbatten. The Indian government claims that the so called article of accession is lost, if it ever existed.

Alastair Lamb, Incomplete Partition (OUP, 1998) comes to the conclusion that the instrument of accession was not signed on the date claimed by the Indian government to legitimise its sending of troops into Kashmir. American scholar Stanley Wolpert relates the accession story in his 1996 book, Nehru: A tryst with Destiny, basing it on the lack of concordance between versions of the accession. Wolpert writes that Menon returned from Srinagar on 26 October 'with no Instrument of Accession' to report on the perilous condition in Kashmir to the Defence Committee. Only after Mountbatten had allowed the airlift of Indian troops on 27 October, did Menon and Mahajan set out for Jammu 'to get the Instrument of Accession'. The Maharaja signed the Instrument after the Indian troops had assumed control of the state of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar. If Wolpert's version is accepted then the 'conspiracy' of legalising the airlift becomes acceptable. Lamb thinks that it is possible that 'certainly Menon, perhaps Mountbatten, perhaps Nehru and perhaps Patel' were involved in this conspiracy. Lamb also claims that the document of accession does not exist

Amazingly Mr. Cohen does not mention the UN resolution and India's non-compliance to it. You fail to mention Nehru's commitments to the world, tot he Kashmiris and to Pakistan on holding a plebiscite.Alastair Lamb, Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy 1946-1990 (OUP, 1991) rates Owen Dixon very highly as an investigator and regards his reports to the UN Security Council as most elegantly framed and insightful. After a number of attempts, Dixon failed to convince India to accept new modalities of demilitarisation of the State before holding the plebiscite. He also suggested holding regional plebiscites which would have divided Jammu & Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Josef Korbel, commenting on Dixon's effort in his book Danger in Kashmir (OUP reprint 2002), noted that Dixon 'appeared sceptical of the ability of the United Nations to force upon India any just solution'.

Kashmir in the United Nations

1. Resolution 38 (1948) adopted by the Security Council at its 229th Meeting held on 17 January 1948
2. Resolution 39 (1948) adopted by the Security Council at its 230th Meeting held on 20 January 1948
3. Draft Resolution presented by the President of the Security Council and the Rapporteur on 6 February 1948
4. Resolution 47 (1948) adopted by the Security Council at its 286th Meeting held on 21 April 1948
5. Resolution 51 (1948) adopted by the Security Council at its 312th Meeting held on 3 June 1948
6. Resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan on 13 August 1948
7. Resolution adopted by the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan on 5 January 1949
8. Proposal in respect of Jammu and Kashmir made by General A.G.L. McNaughton, President of the Security Council of the United Nations on 22 December 1949
9. Resolution 80 (1950) adopted by the Security Council at its 470th Meeting held on 14 March 1950
10. Resolution 91 (1951) adopted by the Security Council at its 539th Meeting held on 30 March 1951
11. Resolution 96 (1951) adopted by the Security Council al its 566th Meeting held on 10 November 1951
12. Resolution 98 (1952) adopted by the Security Council at its 611th Meeting held on 23 December 1952
13. Resolution 122 (1957) adopted by the Security Council at its 765th Meeting held on 24 January 1957
14. Draft Resolution presented by Australia, Cuba, U.K. and U.S.A. on 14 February 1957
15. Resolution 123 (1957) adopted by the Security Council at its 774th Meeting held on 21 February 1957
16. Draft Resolution presented by Australia, Columbia,Philippines on 16 November 1957
17. Resolution 126 (1957) adopted by the Security Council at its 808th Meeting held on 2 December 1957
18. Draft Resolution submitted by Ireland to the Security Council on June 22, 1962
19. Statement of the President of the Security Council (French Representative) made on the 18 May 1964 at the 1117th Meeting of the Council (Document No. S/PV. 1117, dated the 18 May l964) summarizing the conclusion of the debate on Kashmir
20. Resolution 209 (1965) adopted by the Security Council at its 1237th Meeting held on 4 September 1965
21. Resolution 210 (1965) adopted by the Security Council at its 1238th Meeting held on 6 September 1965
22. Resolution 211 (1965) adopted by the Security Council at its 1242nd Meeting held on 20 September 1965
23. Resolution 214 (1965) adopted by the Security Council at its 1245th Meeting held on 27 September 1965
24. Resolution 215 (1965) adopted by the Security Council at its1251st Meeting held on 5 November 1965
25. Resolution 303 (1971) adopted by the Security Council at its1606th Meeting held on 6 December 1971
26. Question considered by the Security Council at its 1606th, 1607th and 1608th Meetings held on 4,5 and 6 December 1971
27. Resolution 307 (1971) adopted by the Security Council at its 1616th Meeting held on 21 December 1971

Appeals, therefore, to both parties, in seeking a solution by negotiation under the auspices of the Council, to cooperate with each other and with the Council in developing specific proposals and, to this end, to apply the following principles which, in the opinion of the Council, should, among others, constitute the basis of a just settlement;

1) Acts of violence and hostility must end.

2) The withdrawal and continued exclusion of all irregular forces and armed individuals who have entered Jammu and Kashmir from outside must be brought about, each party using to that end all the influence at its disposal.

3) Regular armed forces in aid of the establishment and maintenance of order must be made available. In this connection the Governments should seek to ensure cooperation between their military forces to establish order and security until the question of accession shall have been determined by the plebiscite.

4) Regular armed forces must be withdrawn as soon as reestablishment of law and order permits.

5) After acts of violence and hostility have ceased, all citizens of the Jammu and Kashmir State, who had left on account of the recent disturbances, shall be invited and be free to return to their homes and to exercise all their rights without any restrictions on legitimate political activity. There shall be no victimization. All political prisoners should be released.

6) The conditions necessary for a free and fair plebiscite on the question of whether the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall accede to India or to Pakistan, including an interim administration which will command confidence and respect of the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir must be established.

7) Such conditions include that the plebiscite must be organized, held and supervised under the authority of the Security Council at the earliest possible date.

Auld Lang Syne and other fine and dandy songs

Empty slogans must be replaced by concrete benchmarks.

By

Moin Ansari

We were impressed by the pomp and ceremony, the artificial coquetry of the occasion and the song and dance at the somber ceremony. We expected “Janessarian” music. As the music started we wondered if they were playing the music from Raibindranath Tagore’s Purano Shei Diner Kotha or not. Then it clicked. This was a farewell song. For a moment we thought that this was a fond farewell and you will be leaving for greener pastures perhaps in Boston. The band reminded us of England, a vestige of our colonial past or perhaps a signal for our neocolonial future. We had heard it before and yes we have experienced it before. Oh! Yes, the military band was playing the music from the old Scottish hymn “Auld Lang Syne”. The music was asking us some questions which could have held deeper meanings

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne

Yes many would like to forget the acquaintance. As they played the "Auld Lang Syne,"-- hymn which is usually reserved for graduating ceremonies, New Year Parties and at farewells ----tears swelled up in the eyes of the General who considers himself a benevolent dictator General Pervez Musharraf. "I am proud of this army, and I was lucky to have commanded the world's best military," Mr. (not General) Musharraf declared. "I will no longer command...but my heart and my mind will always be with you". It is true that he has ruled with a “light hand” in Pakistan but lately as per Asma Gilani “he has lost his marbles”.

General sahib, we love you. We were impressed by the march past and the marching. We would have been more impressed if the starched uniformed soldiers could eliminate the suicide bombings and lawlessness from our land and make it pure once again.

You fired the Supreme Court judges and suspended the constitution of Pakistan. Both are illegal acts and both are in violation of your oath and are treasonable offenses. You did it all in the name of serving his country. That may be so, but we miss our Geo. After you closed down the largest TV network in Pakistan, Pakistanis are going through withdrawal symptoms. We want our Geo back!

Pakistanis do not care for empty slogans. Here are some benchmarks for the politicians and the government.

NEEDS OF THE PAKISTANI NATION

• You have already had almost a decade and now want another 5 years. Here is a list of requirements:
• For our role in the proxy wars of the past century Pakistanis deserve the following. Here a bill to be handed over to “the powers to be”.
• We want Bullet Train running from the Karakorum’s and beyond to Gwader and beyond.
• We want a modern train system and underground railways for our cities.
• We want Water and sewage lines in our major cities and our towns and villages.
• We want 1000 proper schools for our children and we want $100 million
• 2500 brand new world class hospitals. $ 1 Billion million.

·         Compare to the USA: (Total Number of All U.S. Registered Hospitals 5,759. Total Staffed Beds in All U.S. Registered Hospitals  955,768)

• Teach Urdu, English, Farsi, Arabic and Chinese in all schools. Also optional languages Punjabi, Kashmiri, Pahari, Hindkoh, Saraki, Pushto, Baluchi, Brahvi, Sindhi, Darri, Potohari. $ 50 million
• We want 500 modern libraries spread all over the country. Build a library larger than the one in Alexandria. $250 million compare to 117,378 libraries in the USA
• We want a Motorway system to link all cities of Pakistan, North and South, East and West. $10 billion
• We need 10 new major airports linked by High Speed Trains. $10 Billion
• We want 50 million “$100 computers” for Pakistanis in Urdu and all local languages. $100 million
• We want “kachi abadis” to disappear from our cities. We want to see skyscraper and government housing for all the poor who can be used for labor to build the building. $ 5 Billion
• We want 100 power plants to eliminate the shortage of electricity in the country.$ 500 million
• We want 5 major dams and 100 minor dams to prevent the acute water shortage in the country. $ 500 million
• We want 100 ships for the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation so that Pakistan can become a major sea faring nation able to handle the trade. $ 5 Billion
• We have to quadruple the yield for our Cotton, Milk and Wheat production benchmarked against the USA, Australia and Canada. $1 Billion
• Get ship load of Sri Lankan teachers to eliminate illiteracy in Pakistan. $ 10 million
• Get boatloads of Malaysian manufacturers to setup electronic manufacturing in Pakistan
• Get train loads of Koreans to build 10 new planned cities in Pakistan. $ 10 Billion
• Get a plane load of the Swiss to build world class ski resorts and amusement parks and develop our archeological sites as wonders of the world. $ 2 Billion
• Get busloads of Chinese to build industrial parks in Pakistan. $ 10 Billion
• We want to reclaim millions of acres of desert in Baluchsitan for our future generations. $ 3 Billion
• And Oh! Yes Northern Areas are part and parcel of Pakistan not to be bartered away to anyone. Don’t even think of giving up Kashmir!
• Does this list look expensive. Not really. The cost of all this is in the league of $38 Billion that was offered to Turkey for transit rights into Iraq, which the Turkish parliament turned down. Even if it double or triple that amount, we deserve it.

It is expected that the emergency will be lifted soon. We all welcome the. Free and Fair elections which can only be held if the judiciary is restored and the shackles on the media are shattered.

Censorship in the long run will not work. Technology will bypass the draconian laws. Already we can watch Geo on our PCs. Geo and other Pakistani media outlets may decide to set up their operations on a ship floating on international waters and then sending their signal via satellite to the planet..

Now that your skin is off, we expect you to get thick-skinned and able to handle the criticism of the media. We wish you the best and expect the best from you and yes we want our Geo back.