I married Iranian girls before their execution - Jerusalem Post

In the Islamic Republic it is illegal to execute a young woman, regardless of her crime, if she is a virgin, he explained. Therefore a "wedding" ceremony is conducted the night before the execution: The young girl is forced to have sexual intercourse with a prison guard - essentially raped by her "husband."

"I regret that, even though the marriages were legal," he said.

Why the regret, if the marriages were "legal?"

"Because," he went on, "I could tell that the girls were more afraid of their 'wedding' night than of the execution that awaited them in the morning. And they would always fight back, so we would have to put sleeping pills in their food. By morning the girls would have an empty expression; it seemed like they were ready or wanted to die.

"I remember hearing them cry and scream after [the rape] was over," he said. "I will never forget how this one girl clawed at her own face and neck with her finger nails afterwards. She had deep scratches all over her." (via I married Iranian girls before their execution | Iran news | Jerusalem Post).

The Law of the Land

The law of the land is supreme. All are equal in the eyes of the law of the land.

Whether is is the US, which is a leader in 'research' to kill in a 'humane' manner - kill people deemed to be prisoners of the State. Or in Iran where people (young girls) are raped to meet the requirements of the law of the land.

These legal systems trace their lineage to the Hammurabic Code. Draco's Laws in Greece, or the lex talionis in Rome, right upto and leading to the world's largest prison population in the US, or the Shariat in Islamic societies. Israeli propaganda apart, the real reason for this state of affairs is the legal philosophy inherited from Hammurabi.

The alternative

The other is the Indic model which traces its lineage to Lipit Ishtar, the Hitties till the advent of the Desert Bloc in India - with the brief Islamic rule from 1200-1400 (the Slave Dynasty, the Khiljis and Tuglaks) to the muddled Indo-Saracenic Moghuls to the downright asuric colonial rule. In spite of this, the Indian system has managed a low crime, low prisoner, low capital sentence, low police regime - which is unique in the world.

Trailing the Buddha

Photographer Benoy K Behl’s pursuit of documenting ancient Indian art and the spread of Buddhism across the world does not show any signs of slowing. He is travelling to Siberia and Afghanistan to shoot art in the monasteries there, and his project will culminate in shows in London and New York, finds Anand Sankar (via Trailing the buddha).

Indian academia abdicates

This short post in Business Standard is an eye opener. It is another case of the Dysfunctional Indian academia, which is the story of abdication by the Indian academia in correcting colonial history. The entire Western historiography, based on a colonial agenda and racial superiority is not being challenged – at least not enough.

To the lengthening line of non-specialists, who are re-writing Indian history, like Amaresh Misra, Parag Tope, Savitri Sawhney, we can now add the name of Benoy K Behl. As this article points out,

Some of Behl’s observations on the Indic vision might ruffle feathers in the academia, amongst certain ideologues. While politely saying that he “stays away from political issues”, he points out: “At some places, they are less confused than us. For example in Bali, they know that the Ramayana sets a benchmark for ethical rule. It is literature, an epic of ideas.

Awesome Work

Capturing Indian history across more than 20 countries, Benoy K Behl has spent,

almost two decades now, he has been trying to document the spread of Buddhism; his work evident in over 30,000 unique photographs that he has taken all over the world.

He has found that

“At many of these places people may not have seen present-day Indians but they still hold Indian culture in great regard”.

Unlearning and learning

Western history in the thralldom of the Greek Miracle and a colonial agenda of minimizing and subverting Indian history, is a bad (though usual) starting point to understand Indian history. To Benoy K Behl,

“The paintings of Ajanta appeared to me as a world of compassion. An entire world is enshrined there. It had an immense effect on me. I found all the things one had believed in and wanted to believe in there. I was really taught by that art. It is a really good way to learn. Western literature did not come in the way of art and me”.

At Ajanta, Behl says he found that the popular view was that the paintings were a “flash in the pan”. And that there was no documentation of what happened before and after these. “Sheer volumes of art are waiting to be discovered and with them, a perspective will emerge. People haven’t bothered to go to these places.

Desert Bloc legacy

Benoy K Behl makes an interesting observation that India discovered religion in the last few centuries. Early India never had religion. Which is exactly what the 2ndlook blog has said for the last few years.

“In ancient times, there was nothing called Hindusism, Jainism or Buddhism. This is a European construct of a divided religion. The philosophy of religion was not limited by these divisions in India or in Asia even”.

If I may add - The Europeans are a part of The Desert Bloc - where religion was born and propagated.

What Benoy K Behl brings to the table

An independent and interesting perspective. A rare commodity in the best of times. For distressed Indian history, it is invaluable.

Citing an example, Behl says, one of the stories that needs to be documented in India is the contribution of Kumara Jiva, a big name in Chinese Buddhism. “He was the son of Kumara Yana, an Indian nobleman who married Princess Jiva of Kucha (in China). Jiva took her son to the Kashmir valley, where he studied for 19 years. He became the greatest translator for Buddhist scriptures in China, especially the Lotus Sutra.” The Chinese government has built a statue recognising this at the Kizil caves, on the northern Silk Route in the remote Xinjiang Autonomous Region. Behl suggests that India must also “build a statue of Kumara Jiva” in recognition of his origins.

The ancient culture of India is important in world history. European writing has perhaps undermined this.” To substantiate this he says that Ashoka is still revered everywhere from the Volga basin to Japan.

More of Benoy K Behl

The National Geographic has put together some good photographs - and I am sure there are more where these came from.

Threat to bomb Indian community centre in Belfast- Hindustan Times

The Indian Community Centre in Belfast has received a threat letter from Protestant extremists asking immigrants to leave Northern ireland or face bomb attacks.

Besides the Indian centre, the threat letter has been sent to the Belfast Islamic Centre and the Polish Association, reports from Belfast said.

The letter, threatening of racist violence, from the youth wing of the Ulster Defence Association warned: "No sympathy for foreigners, get out of our Queen's country before our bonfire night (July 11) and parade day (July 12)."

"Other than that your building will be blown up. Keep Northern Ireland white. Northern Ireland is only for white British." (via Threat to bomb Indian community centre in Belfast- Hindustan Times).

When the Roma Gypsies were attacked and assaulted, 'knowing' readers responded that it was the fault of the Roma Gypsy!

After all, how can you blame other people? Apparently, the logic why the Roma Gypsies are disliked is, because,

"people dislike a group that don’t pay taxes, don’t integrate into the community, don’t speak the language of their guest country, and are seemingly the origins of most petty crime in any area they descend upon, and yet this same group demand the community supports them, demands that specialist teachers are provided for their offspring, demand they have unfettered access to the same services as the rest of us but don’t pay their way."

What could be more logical, when these Roma,

appear anywhere they want, set up their camps, totally dividing entire communities, demand these things, and then get ... bleeding heart liberals jumping to their defence when the people (btw – they were the people you guys would have been defending 10 years ago, although,to be fair, you probably patronisingly refered to them as ‘proles’) decide to give them a message, and yet you wonder why they’re hated.

Probably, the Indians, Poles and the Muslims also have similar problems - which they themselves cannot see.

But these enlightened British souls from Northern Ireland can see more and further - then we can.

Malaysia Ends Use of English in Science and Math Teaching - NYTimes.com

Malaysia will revert to using its national language, Bahasa Malaysia, to teach science and math starting in 2012, abandoning a six-year English policy that the government said had failed to improve student grades.

The long-awaited decision, announced Wednesday, came after months of lobbying by Malay nationalists and was largely viewed as a political decision by local commentators.

Malaysia has taught science and math in English since 2003, when former Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad implemented the English-language policy in an attempt to help graduates improve their English and employability.

However, the government has found that academic grades in science and math have fallen since English was introduced. (via Malaysia Ends Use of English in Science and Math Teaching - NYTimes.com).

While India is going on an English over-drive, Malaysia has decided to emasculate English in Malaysia. This leaves Malaysia with one last task. Throwing out Roman character for Bahasa Malaysia.

G8 refuses to cut export subsidies

Leaders of five developing countries — India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa — who also met for summit level talks here had separately, called for expediting a global trade agreement that would stimulate the world economy.

But for this to happen, they wanted developed nations to end trade-distorting subsidies and export sops. The G-8 declaration, however, promised only to refrain from taking decisions to increase tariffs above today’s levels.

“We will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new exports restrictions or implementing World Trade Organisation’s inconsistent measures to stimulate exports.”

Leaders of the world’s eight most rich countries, in the same breath, vowed to keep markets open and free and to reject protectionism of any kind. “In difficult times we must avoid past mistakes of protectionist policies, especially given the strong decline in world trade following the economic crisis,” the declaration said. (via G8 refuses to cut export subsidies).

US of A - the most efficient agricultural system in the world?

Today, an ‘efficient’ and ‘hi-tech’ agricultural farm sector in the US needs more than US$ 7.5 billion (conservative estimates, assuredly) of subsidies to survive. The US-EPA says, “By 1997, a mere 46,000 of the two million farms in this country (America), accounted for 50% of sales of agricultural products (USDA, 1997 Census of Agriculture data)” - and gobble up most of this huge subsidy that lowers Third World agricultural prices.

Giant food corporations, killed buying competition with high prices (to farmers), direct buying from farmers (at higher prices), monoclonal seeds that destroy bio-diversity. And the US consumers are not getting the lower food prices that are being promised in India.

Devastation in the Third World

These subsidies lower agricultural prices, devastate agriculture in Third World countries, creating man-made famines. These man-made famines, of course, gives the West a false sense of superiority. The Indian farmer working without subsidies, with low technology, lower productivity has a cost edge over his European an American counterparts.

The 'backward' Indian farmer

The Indian farmer working without subsidies, with low technology, lower productivity has a cost edge over his European an American counterparts. With the declining power and use of the dollar, the US is fighting a losing battle against agricultural subsidies. The US depends on less than 50,000 corporate ‘farmers’ for 50% of ts production. These corporate ‘farmers’ will abandon agriculture at the first sign of reduced subsidies.

Over the next 20-30 years, this leaves India (and Russia) to cater to global food shortfalls. The Western industrial model is in its sunset phase. The Indian agricultural model can be the big winner in the next few decades – under the right stewardship.

Indian agriculture has a great future – and don’t you ignore it! On the other hand, industrial over-production, debt-financed over-consumption, American economic model, funded in the past by Bretton Woods /Petro-dollars /Sino-dollars, is about to end.

And that is the reason why the West (America and Europe) will not lower barriers or subsidies.

Giant food corporations, killed buying competition with high prices (to farmers), direct buying from farmers (at higher prices), monoclonal seeds that destroy bio-diversity. And the US consumers are not getting the lower food prices that are being promised in India.

And then the propaganda overdrive

Of course, then out came the spin-meisters. The PR machines.

"There is an urgent need for decisive action to free humankind from hunger and poverty," G8 leaders said in a statement issued on the last day of their summit in Italy, at which they were joined by African heads of state. (via G8 announces $15 bn food security package- International Business-News-The Economic Times).

First the protection ... then the subsidies ... then the distortions ... then the aid.

"The sums just aren't adding up. Is this all really new money or are they fishing some of it out of the recycling bin?" asked spokesman Otive Igbuzor.

Historian on a mission to save little-known Buddhist caves in Mumbai - The Times of India

Two years ago, a historian, while researching traditional Indian methods of water harvesting, stumbled upon a series of ancient Buddhist caves in Borivli, which its custodians scarcely knew or cared about.

Initially, she was scared that the historical caves would crumble under the weight of the slum colonies that encroached upon them, but now she fears that the construction works being conducted on an adjacent plot might bring the structures down. (via Historian on a mission to save little-known caves - The Times of India).

While India has managed to obtain funding for 'saving' the gargoyle-infested colonial railway structures from UNESCO, breast beating activists have managed to increase awareness of structures funded by colonial loot and drug trade (of opium).

In all this, two things are forgotten.

One - Colonial versions show the start of Mumbai's history when the Portuguese gave Mumbai as dowry to the British in 1661 - including a Government of Maharashtra website.

If there was no Mumbai before the British, where did these Buddhist caves (at Magathane, Kanheri, etc.) come from? Or did I miss the 'fact' that British first came to India in the 2nd century, made these Buddhist caves - and came back again to India in the 17th century, built these Gothic Victorian structures, and went away - which we 'uncultured' Indians are trying to save?

Two - The liberal establishment in India is worried about all the colonial 'heritage' and structures. Old Mumbai mills are included - but not the even more ancient Buddhist structures. The Mumbai Municipal Commissioner, while decrying the attempts by the Indian neo-Colonial Rulers, to 'save' Mumbai colonial past, makes no mention of these Buddhist caves. While Kipling's bungalow is a 'hallowed' institution, these Buddhist caves are dying of 'active neglect'.

Radically rethinking Indian agriculture

In recent weeks, there have been growing apprehensions that the monsoons of 2009 will fall short of normal. This has again raised fears of rising food prices, collapse in rural incomes and possibly farmer suicides. Many a tear will be shed for rural India. Predictably, there will calls for greater support for the agriculture sector in the form of subsidised fertilisers/pesticides, cheap electricity for pumping ground water and farm loan waivers. We have been doing this now for generations now and our impoverished farmers still commit suicide. Surely, it’s time to rethink this strategy. (via Sanjeev Sanyal: Radically rethinking agriculture).

The Good ...

Sanjeev Sanyal's article does raise some interesting points - and usual points. After a promising start he then loses his way half way through.

He demolishes the idea that "the route to prosperity in rural India lies in accelerating farm production. Agriculture ... contributes 16.5 per cent of the economy ... great exertion ... cannot ... (make it) grow much more than 3 per cent per annum on a sustained basis (when the rest of the economy routinely does 7-8 per cent)."

He correctly points out that "India ... produces enough food to feed itself but ... 20 per cent of output is wasted (a) problem ... of distribution and storage, (and with) population growth is now 1.6 per cent per year ... we need to grow production by no more than this rate. ... we should ... slow agricultural growth ... if we do not want ... greater wastage or a structural price decline ...a buffer for drought years ... is better management of bumper crops rather than ever more production. India should shift focus from increasing agricultural production to improving its efficiency (with) investment(s) ... in storage and distribution."

His best one is the warning that "farming comes with a large environmental cost ... the Green Revolution is anything but “green”. Current farming techniques are severely damaging to the environment through the depletion of ground water, conversion of forest land and over-use of pesticides, fertilisers and other chemicals ... sacrificing the long-term viability of the farm sector. It ... made sense in the ‘70s to force a level-shift in food-grain production but why should we be still sacrificing the food security of future generations?"

He reminds us that "it makes ... sense to strictly conserve ground water and use it only when the monsoons fail. Special attention should be given to water management (as opposed to extraction). Agriculture consumes 80 per cent of the country’s fresh-water in order to produce just 16.5 per cent of GDP ... poor use of a scarce resource."

The Bad ...

After such good work, he succumbs to the banal - with some usual conclusions. He thinks that,

very large investments in water systems are needed to maintain even the current growth path.

Large investments in water systems are a bad, imported idea. India's successful water management model is the nearly local 500,000 water bodies - ponds, lakes, anicuts, barrages, bunds, talabs, bawlees, wells. These water bodies stored surface water - and sustained Indian agriculture for the last 2000 years. Post-colonial India's quest for Nehruvian "temples of modern India" spurred huge and wasteful investment in large hydro-electric dams. Reviving Indian water systems and rivers will take some 10 years and Rs.25,000 crores. About the cost of two large dams.

With around 70 per cent of the population still in the villages, it is absurd to hope that such a small and slow-growing part of the economy can bring salvation to such a large population.

Mr.Sanyal, you should consider the following, before you make such a sweeping statement. With the declining power and use of the dollar, the US is fighting a losing battle against agricultural subsidies. The US depends on less than 50,000 corporate 'farmers' for 50% of ts production. These corporate 'farmers' will abandon agriculture at the first sign of reduced subsidies. Over the next 20-30 years, this leaves India (and Russia) to cater to global food shortfalls. The Western industrial model is in its sunset phase. The Indian agricultural model can be the big winner in the next few decades - under the right stewardship.

And in the meantime, he himself follows up with an observation, "studies by economists like Dipankar Gupta suggest, non-agricultural activity already accounts for around half of rural India’s economy and provides employment to 35-45 per cent of the rural workforce."

Third, encouraging agricultural growth for exports in not a viable option for India. Export of agricultural products is tantamount to export of water. International trade may make sense for some niche products like tea or for managing natural cycles in food-stocks. However, it cannot be a central strategy for a water-starved country like India. It is especially careless to be thinking about exporting water when climate change may be putting even current supplies at risk.

As pointed out earlier, both water management and agricultural exports is something that is both feasible and sensible thing to do. This is something that India must prepare itself for.

The truly ugly

Meanwhile, policies should be aimed at encouraging the process of moving the rural economy away from agriculture.

The Ikshavaku clan, (of Ramchandra in the Ramayana fame), became a ruling family for developing the agricultural strain of sugarcane. Bhagwan Krishna came to be known as Natho, for domesticating wild bulls. Balarama is the 7th avataar of Vishnu - whose 'weapon' was the plough - the founder of Indian agricultural practice.

The Indian agriculturist has made a remarkable recovery after the colonial collapse - and he may still surprise you.

The aspirations of rural India have already shifted — the literate children of subsistence farmers want real jobs, not pesticides. Why should we stop them? However, this requires a big shift in policy mindset. For instance, we need to shift from a regime of cheap but irregular power supply (which may work for irrigation) to one that is fully-priced but regular (necessary for the non-farm sector). This is our best bet for making India drought-resistant.

After ceaseless bombardment of advertising, with Indian languages weakening due to massive Government subsidies to English language education, is the movement to urban lifestyle a surprise? Not to me Mr.Sanyal. Though, why you are surprised, Mr.Sanyal is a puzzle to me. We need to invest in rural India. Currently rural credit is way below its contribution to GDP - and the low price realizations for agricultural output makes the case for investments stronger.

Next, we need to revisit general governance in rural India. The traditional structures may have worked for subsistence farming (even this is debatable) but they will not support large investments in industry, construction and services. The government needs to focus on how to deliver policing, enforcement of contracts, property rights and so on.

This is about shifting from a world of farm-loan waivers to one that can support large-scale mobilisation and investment of capital in these areas. The Naxalite movement that affects a fourth of India is not due to the failure of agriculture but the failure of governance. At the same time, note that the cause of property rights and governance is not served by the indiscriminate use of “eminent domain” to acquire large chunks of land for so-called SEZs.

When you refer to 'traditional structures', are you talking about 'general governance' of the colonial Raj - that post-colonial India continued with? Or are you talking about the pre-Raj structures? The Indian peasant was the first and the only peasant in the world to own his property - till 'Desert Bloc' rulers started a 800 year trend of 'landgrab'. Yes. India does need to re-visit 'general governance'! We need traditional governance - and not the 'modern' colonial baggage, that India has not discarded.

We need to give back the lands that were grabbed from the poor Indian peasant and the poor Indian tribal.

The need is for a framework of governance that allows industry and services to grow organically in response to local conditions.

Finally, there should be a greater effort to provide urban amenities for education, health, shopping and leisure at places that are accessible to the rural hinterland. Together with the shift to non-farm jobs, this provision of amenities will inevitably lead to urbanisation. This is a good thing and should be encouraged. However, urbanisation is not just about migration to the mega-cities of Delhi and Mumbai ... mofussil towns need to be revived as social and economic hubs

Indian agriculture has a great future - and don't you ignore it, Mr.Sanyal. On the other hand, industrial over-production, debt-financed over-consumption, American economic model, funded by petro-dollars /Sino-dollars, is about to end.

India cannot go down that path.

Pakistan on Frontier of Fight Against Terrorism - Asif Ali Zardari - washingtonpost.com

The West, most notably the United States, has been all too willing to dance with dictators in pursuit of perceived short-term goals. The litany of these policies and their consequences clutter the earth, from the Marcos regime in the Philippines, to the Shah in Iran, to Mohammed Zia ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf in Pakistan. Invariably, each case has proved that myopic strategies that sacrifice principle lead to unanticipated long-term consequences. (via Asif Ali Zardari - Pakistan on Frontier of Fight Against Terrorism - washingtonpost.com).

December 17, 2007

More than 18 months ago, the 2ndlook blog, traced the source of all terror in the modern world to the very door-step of the US of A.

In today’s world, behind all terror you will similarly see another baleful influence. No, it is not Osama bin Laden. The source of modern terrorism is the USA. (Decemeber 17th 2007 - from Behind The Web Of Terror).

October 6, 2008

The 2ndlook blog did a Quicktake on the commendable, new Pakistani attitude - best represented by Asif Ali Zardari.

Zardari’s vision (first time, during an interview on Times Now), was for a Pakistan which would serve as a facilitator for good Indo-China relations on one hand – and a Pakistan that is ‘lucky’ to share common borders with the world’s two emerging economies – India and China.

This is the kind of vision that India-China and Pakistan must share and work with. Of course, India needs to be motivated by these statements on one side! On the other India must keep consolidating gains at each step. We cannot let paranoia come between us – and blind faith in human goodwill, blind us to realities of Pakistani politics.

After all, Musharraf did a Kargil after the Lahore Accord – and Zardari questioned the validity of a signed agreement. (from A New Beginning! by 2ndlook).

We must take up Zardari's offer

Zardari's most valuable statement is an echo of Indic values was made to Pakistani bureaucrats, "For power to be effectively used for long lasting public good, it must be dispersed as widely as possible''. It is America and Britain which created the border problems, funded and armed these countries and stoked the rivalries.