Month: February 2018

Terror Financing, FATF and Crumbling Edifices

Pakistan has its own inherent challenges, as a country it has really not provided an institution to address bur rather subverted those democratic processes. Protection of the terrorist is the extremist narcissistic reaction and doesn’t address the root cause of alleviating nation and its miseries. Rather protection of terrorism is more of a reaction than a reflection and will only sideline and ostracize it and fall in the hands of Chinese hegemonist and imperialism.

It’s best they give in to international watchdog, renounce support and help eradicate terrorism from its soil and soul. The hope for capturing Kashmir or saving their land from imperialism or disintegration or disintegration is gradually diminishing.

Often, it is perceived that “Pakistani nationals have a peculiar mentality of establishing its supremacy through religion and religious pathways. It carries hatred for other religion and Nations. It’s hard to teach them anything. Hatred for India and Indians is deeply rooted even in the new generation of Pakistan. It’s being systematically implanted and imbibed in their minds, so difficult to eradicate. It’s best we move on with our goals and neglect them. No point proving or sermonizing anything to those Pakistanis…that Nation is on self-destruction mode so leave them to their fate”.

What is felt above is true about the political and military establishment, we have to first differentiate between Pakistan (Establishment) from Pakistanis. I met several Pakistanis in the last few decades. Citizens are like all of us, ordinary gullible and impressionable. What we are fed is what we harbor. We all, irrespective of border, have same concerns, same aspirations in life. No Pakistani or Indian wants a war. We all harbor the same suspicion and the zest to patch over as human.

In fact, when we step out of our country, we all harbor a bias, this includes we Indians and Pakistanis alike. However, those who have shared roots across the border, have a broader perspective and good will. As you leave out side (the country of your origin) for a longer period, you tend to develop a diminished acuity towards those biases. The Pakistani I mentioned is a very moderate one. If you read his note carefully, he just shared the news but we presumed what we wanted to. My response to him was part of a constant emphasis on the establishments vexed approach towards India as a country.

And I have forgotten to tell you, they feel torn apart, they love their country but can’t be part of the restive land. Their ladies are very less conservative than ours, their mindset and forwardism is like those under the rule of Shah of Iran (now dethroned). Many ladies hate to be under veil and they hate all the more to go back to Pakistan. That’s where they have to significantly compromise their freedom, which they so much enjoy here.

Pakistani establishment is different though, over the years, it has become a rallying point for those within the military, to maintain its control over the state and polity. It is not in their interest to have a restful populace. Just imagine the blissful utopian state wherein India and Pakistan are at peace, we have no border skirmishes and no border at all. Do you truly need that army on either side? Fanning those differences is in the interest of the military establishment.

We should avoid mixing religion and nationhood. Not all Muslims hate us as a nation. Muslims as a group has certain idiosyncrasies and those are across the board with other religions. As nations and as people,  we see a different breadth and depth of relations between individuals and nations. It’s only when we have a conflict that we see those problems and Kashmir is an area of conflict.

Peace is all about shared interest and shared conflict. When we move the fulcrum, we see instability.

Interesting reading…

Pakistan – A Rhetorical Democracy? https://wp.me/p7XEWW-11m

Implosions in Pakistan https://wp.me/p7XEWW-Qn

… a broken promise or a grand deception? https://wp.me/p7XEWW-Oo

 

Sudden Cardiac Standstill

Recently, I heard about a lot of cases due to sudden cardiac arrest. Almost all are young adults, one was 21 years old, the other 29-year-old, and the third one 39-year-old.

Sudden Cardiac Arrest is getting common by the day. Often we think it is unlikely to happen to us. We are so remotely concerned, that we never realize it may happen within our close circle – family, friends, colleagues, or acquaintances. It is not a remote possibility, it can happen anytime within our network.

Too often, we are under the wrong notion that the EMR (911) will be there and fix it. However, their response time varies according to the circumstances, and often, it is late. Can we think of avoiding such grievous situations before they happen? Right from the causes, the identification while we are developing that vulnerability, and finally, to manage while it actually happens until the EMR (911) is there to manage further?

What do you say might be the causes? What can be done to protect? If that does happen (right now in front of your eyes), are we adequately prepared to handle it? There are several causes, but knowing your understanding and readiness to handle them is important. Please read what you need to do, just in case you meet with this eventuality.

Do we know the cause and are we adequately prepared to handle that? Of course, this is not a replacement for professional advice or management. Immediate action is to get professional doctors to help. Earlier, we lost one of the most talented and venerated actresses due to sudden cardiac arrest. What can we learn from such an unanticipated loss?

Despite all efforts sometimes we are helpless. However, efforts are the only thing we have in our control, having said that, as I was talking about this earlier, we all need CPR training. However, I avoided directly prescribing before knowing the awareness. During the initial phase itself, several amongst us live in that risk zone. How do we identify if we fall in that zone? How deeply are we exposed and impacted to that risk? What is it that drives us into and out of that risk zone? Second, what do we do once we have identified our own risk? How best to reduce? Will it happen overnight? Is overnight fixing possible? How do we plan and implement a roadmap for better health?

The last and the most important, for several months now, I have been evangelizing the cause of CPR, which I talked about before posting the generic concern this morning. Often CPR given at the right moment is helpful. If late (around 7-10 minutes), becomes ineffective, not that heart cannot be revived but irrevocable damage has already occurred by then. If someone continues the pumping until medical help arrives, that becomes a godsend opportunity. Spirituality and good practices play a significant role in establishing or rebalancing. However, that what goes through those seven openings is only one aspect. We definitely need a comprehensive approach and plan.

Whether it is a 39, 21, or 29 yr old, do we know the precipitating factors? How can we stop walking that path? And if that happens in your presence, what would you do to stop it?

It’s time to audit and fix.

Coalescence of Chaos or a Catastrophic War?

Coalescence of Chaos or a catastrophic war?

Another catastrophic war (if not a third world war) is more likely to happen if we imagine it to be impossible. Looking at the way major democracies across the globe are subjugated by autocrats, it is very much possible for pan-global war to erupt, and when such a calamity happens, it will pretty much engulf us suddenly, with minimal notice.

Democracies getting gagged in no hidden fact, either in China, Russia, Middle East, Turkey, Iran, North Korea are few major pockets where democracies are marginalized and despots have established their writ. All sane opposition is either marginalized or converted to a rubber stamp. These despots have shown that the experiment with democracy too is gradually coming to an end. Add to that, the weapons of mass destruction, either be nuclear, chemicals and biological. As if that is not sufficient, add that immense fire power.

https://wp.me/p7XEWW-12x

War’s are nice until those are rhetorics. Once they pass that stage, it is always sufferings. That does not mean one should evade any war at any cost. It means unless bigger values are at stake, and we get an outcome that catapults a nation to moral standing, one should not indulge in a war. The other way around, protection of the borders is the prime duty of a country, and not doing so is a sin. War is definitely needed for safeguarding the borders. Otherwise, all war results in dismal atrocities.

War.JPG

 

I see regional coalescence and confluence of wars emerging in discrete geographic areas.

1. The Syria, Turkey, Israel Iran Iraq, Russia, US and Saudi instability emerging out of complex threads like ISIS, Assad’s dictatorship and mass prosecution of his population.
2. The Congo Rwanda quagmire
3. The Southeast Asian cauldron of Koreas, China, Russia, US
4. The South China Sea
5. The everglades of Russia and Eastern Europe with Crimea and Ukraine

Of course, I haven’t added Venezuela to the mix.

This is only infographic, devoid of intelligence. Now add a weakening US influence world across, the recession in Europe, Brexit and dilution of the European Union.

Add to this the emerging threat of Chinese hegemony, Russian urge to be superpower while being deprived of basic economic successes.

As though Human intelligence was not enough, now we need Artificial Intelligence to understand and solve this quagmire.

The other day I talked about local IMA elections and how we need Social Engineering.

Not sure if democracy was the right answer to replace feudalism but across the globe, we definitely see failure of democracy.

To summarize, at atomic, local and wider swaths of global areas, we see pandemic of chaos confluence from all dimensions.

Does that mean we are landing in chaos and anarchy?

The human instinct for survival is so strong that despite these challenges, a solution should emerge. Humanity themselves will discover the cause of the problems and produce a solution with ingenuity…. or at least we hope so. (Shashank/mymilieu.org).

Fear of war looms over Syria neighbors, Iran says
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43150440

A Sombre reality

It is no blasphemy. Sanatan Dharma, commonly called Hindu religion, has its own artifacts and deficits. However, its greatest strengths lie in its ability to question itself, introspect and build a logical foundation for the next generation of thoughts. This very ethos of the religion aligns well with the natural pursuit of human intelligence. It is this fundamental posit that has lead to its longevity through the annals of millenia and history. However, we also have to realize that, somewhere the safeguardians have introduced aberrations and fossilized those practices not enumerated by our religious texts.

In this blog, I have taken a critical view of two such percepts – the varna system and the deprecation of women as a second class citizen by a patriarchal society. https://wp.me/p7XEWW-12n

Sounds sombre… it will only stop with women being assertive of their own rights.

So i was writing this week in response to the reaction of a Christian from a southern Indian state who felt India is changing, it was never like this before…Let’s admit, we bastardized our own religion, fossilized the great ideas given by our Lords and created this Varna system.

Concurrently, we men (gender inclusive) also created and institutionalized patriarchal system, a dominance of a male gender over female, irrespective of the merits and often at the cost of innate vulnerabilities that the fair gender is born with.

Both are in servitude towards dominance of a state, that worked for millennia, at the cost of many. It’s a time for change. Seeming change in political ideology won’t be any resemblance to the actual and deemed change to these fundamental aberrations of justice.

Both, the class and varna mobility as well as gender equality has to rein in for a true freedom.

‘I couldn’t mourn my grandmother because I had my period’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-42608302

Padmavat – a reflection from desent

Nov 27, 2017

Freedom doesn’t mean you can run naked on the street. You still have a social responsibility and Bhansali doesn’t get the right to do whatever under the pretext of freedom of speech or expression.

Why should a movie, even though labeled fictional, distort history that embodies the character. Rani Padmavati is deeply inscribed in our psyche and part of the fundamental character that builds our ethos.

Given the influence of movies in shaping memory and creating a lasting impression, we should not let such esoteric depictions to portray and play with our ethos.

That movie can be named ‘Queen Elizabeth’ or maybe some other name, and Bhansali can still earn money without showing Rajput culture.

India Padmavati: Body found near fort linked to film protest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42107416

Afghanistan – A Century in turmoil

This is an interesting story of a country that was moving towards enlightenment and true democratic system of governance but slipped on its way into deep chaos and turmoil. Contemporary historians blame US- USSR polarity and rivalry for this but you may find insight and glimpses of a different nature to the build up to such catastrophic fall.

I call it into two phases – first phase being, In my view, the rich-poor divide, democratization of polity by Daoud Khan, the successor to Zahir Khan and aggressive influence of communist all culminated into an era of soviet occupation.

The second phase was the soviet occupation and the disenchantment and fundamental malalignment of human endeavor associated with bolshevik philosophy and the succeeding revolt (supported by US led capitalist) to throw the Russian. This second phase saw the rise of radical muslims (the poor muslims transformed into Taliban). That heralded the third phase, which is currently ongoing.

… I am still reflecting on how unfurling events, if not controlled, can immerse a country and its generation, into deep chism and chaos. Any thought?

 

A short history of Life: Afghanistan’s lost magazine
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-42878241

Groundhog – Predicting Weather

It will be interesting to know that America too has its believes (and dark faith). This one, the Ground Hog, they say, has predicted end of winter and onset of spring for the last 100 plus years. Farmers in US have used Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions in planting crop. Prediction of spring (and end of winter) becomes important as emphasizes the time of sowing, a ‘Go To Market’ strategy to make best yield out of farming efforts. Obviously, world across, farmers have been doing that but the Ground Hog is one such faith embedded within the American pysche.

Read the complete story of Ground Hog and the celebration. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/group-normal-guys-wearing-top-hats-and-tuxes-keep-groundhog-day-running-180961954/?utm_source=onesignal.