Since the Mumbai tragedy and my comments on the events unfolding after that I have been inundated with comments, questions, propositions and quite often rants by my readers especially from India. Some of the dear readers were quite rational and tried their level best to change my views. Others were kind enough to appreciate the things that I have been trying to do since the day one. And then there were those who were actually screaming madly at me only because I happen to be a Pakistani and Muslim birth. To the last category I have to submit that I can understand your pain. The fact that you took the pains of coming to my site and submit your views proves that the power of the written word has not dimmed. Also that despite all your pent up anger that is naturally understandable you believe in the civilized codes of communication and hence have preferred pen over the sword. To the first category I may state that your efforts to change me are appreciated. I believe in changing for the sake of improvement and will never be blamed of refusing to see logic when it looks into my face. But it so happens that these matters which came under discussion have been the core of experience and thoughts since my very early age and before you gave me these logics I have already pondered over them a thousand times. Hence it is not easy to dissuade me from what I am thinking.
Then there is the class of kind people who actually really appreciated me. For instance read the note from a Mr Vikram Shete who made me feel that all my efforts have not gone waster. He writes and I quote:

“Hello Farrukh Sir (please accept me calling you Sir.. reasons unfolded below)
I was almost on the verge of believing that Pakistan media is worse than Indian media but thanks to efforts from media personnel like you and nikhil wagle, which i happened to see (fortunately) today, i have reasons to believe otherwise.
The Indian media which i respected before the Mumbai horror, disappointed me totally during and after the mayhem. On top of that some of the videos on youtube of Brass Tacks were even more disappointing as in either case TRP was at stake… There was no analysis and no pros and cons..

Anyways having read some of the points and specifically the last para of the article “Attack Pakistan Then!!! Happy?” i was glad to see that sanity prevails! Me and my roomates had several overnight discussions of a probable war.. Its so true that if the leaders do declare it, the common man will go for it till the last breath and within months the leaders will sign a treaty and thats it.. things would be back to as they were…!! need a more mature thought process and solution..
thank you Sir for helping me keep faith in media!

regards,
Vikram Shete”

Mr. Shete, thank you very much for helping me keep faith in the consciencious readers like you. If we have a few more people like you on both sides of the border this region definitely can be better place.
A reader has complained that I answer only hatemails. Far from it. The only problem was that I was too busy and hence could not answer your comments point by point. Now that I have found a few moments I’ll try my level best to answer you. But before we start will it not be prudent to tell you what I believe? First of all, I love my country. I am a Pakistani by birth and this country has made me what I am today. I couldn’t be more thankful. Regarding India I believe that it is a great country, a mighty civilization with a beautiful heritage and enormous moral power. Somehow the term moral power to me is more important than any superpower status. I am a firm believer in democracy and also Indian democracy. At a time when many hawks in support of Musharraf and opposition to democracy were trying to project Indian democracy as a sham I was regularly pointing out that if Indians can have such a wonderful system why cannot we Pakistanis, mostly of the same racial stock, have it too. Believe me nothing in Islam or Pakistani culture makes it impossible to be a democracy. During Musharraf’s second, albeit shortlived, martial law we were tortured and harassed we stood the ground and today we have a democratic government in place. American people despite the indoctrination of eight years stood up and refused to be subject of generalizations. They also have changed their destiny. As recognition of this courageous struggle you’ll see that my site’s one banner pays tribute to the American leadership. To some of you Pakistanis might be untouchables but remember you have no idea what we have been through for the last seven years. When on February 28 we all went to poll we all were worried for the lives of our families but we still went and made a difference. To many American people might be colonizers but no one will notice what a remarkable courageous change Obama’s election is. These things make nations proud not wars or their nuclear arsenals. While Pakistan has nothing comparable with the United States I see two remarkable nations struggling to bring out the best in humanity. Indian people then are even better example. The issue however is not of any nation’s superiority but the desire to root out a menace which has conquered us without even our noticing during the last ten to twelve years. I’ll explain all this in a moment but before that I need to tell you where do we go from here.
People don’t understand that the change in science fictions we and our elders have been reading is here. Could you imagine this degree of integration that internet, blackberries and heaven knows how many other things just twenty years ago? Twenty years ago we had only telephone sets. How difficult it was for an average Pakistani to call India without being bugged by the intelligence agencies and vice versa? Almost impossible. But the fact that we today we are casually chatting on the internet proves that without even understanding it we are part of one nation, the human nation. I know this concept is very difficult to digest but the decline of the nation states had started even in the early nineties. You like it or not what to talk of India-Pakistan or Afghanistan-Pakistan border but all international borders in a span of ten to fifteen years are going to be depleted. You don’t realize but the thirst for democracy around the world, the growth of English as an international language and why even the rise of Obama all prove that these borders will become progressively become irrelevant. And then the issues of population growth and global warming are also here to stay. Humanity is not simply growing but simply multiplying. In this situation for the sake of safe havens, more energy and better chances of survival we’ll have to colonize space. You believe that these views are bizzare and unrealistic? Just do me a favor, take a printout of this post and preserve it for fifteen years. Then after that much time you’ll see if I am right or not.
Do you think after such a change the issue of the structure on the Babri Mosque/ Ram janam bhoomi site or for that matter the site of the Dome of Rock will be of any consequence? The religious among us may say yes but honestly in that case except for our emotions and the nostalgia nothing will hold us back to such reductionist matters. You know why we are like this today? Because the world we live in is the world of anarchy, we live in the world of natural selection where resources are just limited and consumers unlimited. That is why we all fight among ourselves for your extinction may ensure my survival. Like the great industrial revolution we now have one great opportunity that may change this principle of anarchy. We are bickering and fighting because we are trapped in this small shell of limited resources. Time has come to open the shell of determinism and limited resources and feel the cosmic ocean we are in.
This notion however does not suit those who have built their economy upon the status quo. I mean the conservatives in each state and the religious fanatics. In the Muslim world the Al Qaeda and the clergy, in USA the neocons, in India the saffron brigade and together all states. These elements do not let us see that even the postmodern state is nothing more than an improved version of tribalism.
I believe that it all started with the demise of the Soviet Union that each state had to search for a new priah to exploit FOTA (the fear of the alternative or FOTCO – the fear of the cultural other). Why? What else could justify the existence of mighty standing armies and huge defense budgets? It was then that a courageous visionary by the name of the US Vice President Al Gore brought the internet technology out of the military labs. This technology initially perpetuated the western culture giving birth simultaneously to Francis Fukuyama’s somewhat incorrect notion of the End of History and also a characteristic xenophobia in the under represented cultures. On one side attempts were made to revitalize the pan Islamism and on the other Sangh Parivar staged a come back in India. I have already mentioned somewhere else that ground to project Islam as a potential threat and Muslims as new commies was sown as early as in 1982 when Man who saw tomorrow was released featuring Nostradamus’s predictions was released. He was only one of the countless medieval prophets but the choice of his works was particularly a political tool for he had warned of the coming of a Muslim king of terror. History is full of such weirdos and you can pick and use whoever you like. So we have finally ended up with a Muslim terror king holed up somewhere in Afghanistan then.
But look at the situation in India. India had remained a secular country firmly committed to the principles of great men like Nehru and Gandhi. Yet this xenophobia coupled by the assassination of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi with the help of the communal riots following the demise of Babri Mosque facilitated the rise of the BJP. Well this happens in democracy when people pick the wrong guys just to change taste. BJP had made no bones about its ambitions. We know what happened then in the name of Hindutva. But the greater problem occurred when the secular state structure of India which had always shunted the religious fanatics in civil military bureaucracy started losing cohesion against the strides of organized fanaticism. Fanatics got promoted and such elements have carved their niche in the Indian establishment. How else would you explain the existence of a Colonel Purohit and his likes? The country which had contented itself being part of the Non Alligned Movement hence started dreaming of becoming a super power itself. Believe me I have no objection to India becoming a great power. Since it is of almost the same racial stock as I am I believe it can contribute something constructive to the world affairs. My only problem is that I have always been averse to the concept of Bipolarity, Unipolarity and Multipolarity. When we all are human beings what poles are we talking of? I firmly believe that there should be no nuclear weapons and there should be no military power. Local police everywhere yes but no armies. Honestly it is not such an impossible thing to expect. When Airforces of the world can work together to colonize space not earth, when the army engineers can be employed to make better abodes in the space why waste their talents here.
Coming back to the point, Indian establishment then started dreaming ambitiously. After the rise of the neocons and the 9/11 and international mafia has developed which includes your neocons, our neocons, the American neocons and god knows how many others. In short the last ten years have witnessed the last desperate revolt of the conservative forces. You call the Mumbai attacks your 26/11. Have you noted that this expression itself represents the craving to be recognized a super power?

When Indian establishment was being gripped by the fanatics, Pakistani establishment after 9/11 played another game. It was clear that it could not use religion any longer as the pretext to rule so it started appealing to its people in the name of nationalism and it projected to the west simultaneously that the Pakistani people are dangerous. From Altaf Hussain to Fazlur Rehman those who have promoted extremism are the establishment’s own creations. Despite having their international ties they only serve as the agents of the very same establishment in terrorizing people. The frail democracy in Pakistan is their answer. If democracy continues to function in Pakistan these elements will automatically be defeated. Pakistan no doubt has an extremist problem but this problem is local not international. No matter what you say countless intelligence inputs that I am privy to prove that either Osama is dead or is not in Pakistan. Why doesn’t this news reach you? Simple because the constant existence of such a fear factor helps the conservative establishments. The fundos that we have are weak and while they can kill us they cannot mount an international attack. Trust me I know what I am saying.
Americans and the Israelis are already bringing the change for moderation. Oh yes Israel too had witnessed the rise of the extremists. Why else was Yitzhak Rabin assassinated? It is India in this picture which will one day have to bring that change too. I believe that as a law of nature the Congress led alliance was given a chance by democracy to root out such elements from the establishment. It has thus far failed. It is my belief that to end this tyranny the Indian democracy will finally have to turn finally to the Left and Mayawatti. Folks change has to come and will come. It is better to be prepared.
(The second episode answering your questions directly will appear under title Part two. Take good care of yourself.)

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