Valmiki, Orwell & Twitter – The Missing Link

Propaganda is neither new nor innovative. Propaganda techniques Ravana used 5000 years ago, are being used even today.

Media and academia make much noise, speaking in contradictions | Steve Sack’s Cartoon for 2008 election lampooning Mitt Romney on June 25, 2007; image source and courtesy – cagle.com | Click for image

The US is leading a list of governments which requested micro-blogging platform Twitter to provide user account information in the first half of 2012, says a Twitter Transparency Report.

­The company’s first report of its kind, which includes data from January 1, 2012, through to June 30, 2012, shows that 679 out of the 849 requests for user information came from the United States.

Japan is a distant second with 98 cases, and Britain and Canada have 11 each.

Every other listed nation made ten or fewer requests. (Twitter report: US leads government interference list — RT).

Propaganda is nothing new

Where did Ravana hold Sita as prisoner?

In the अशोकवन – Ashoka Park. अशोकवन – Ashoka Park, Ravana’s prison was an exquisite garden, it’s true intent masked by its name and appearance.

Ashoka in Sanskrit means ‘without sorrow or grief’.

Valmiki‘s political commentary is the true reason why Valmiki Ramayana lives – even some 4000-5000 years after it was first composed. The last 1200 years of religiofication that we have seen, in India, has removed the true political commentary that Indian classical texts contain.

These timeless nuggets of insights is why understanding Ravana is important.

Is there anything that that is clear | Cartoon by By Eric Allie – February 07, 2011; source courtesy – townhall.com | Click for image.

1984

George Orwell outlined this propaganda device as Newspeak and doublethink.

In his book 1984, for workers in the Records Department at the Ministry of Truth, doublethink means creating false public records.

Land of The Free

In the US, the land of the free and leader of the free world, has the maximum number of prisoners – mostly African Americans. They are still paying the price for demanding an end to slavery.

It is not surprising that US leads this list on Twitter records. Of course, this information could easily get degraded by Ministry Of Truth Law, which ensure that fewer requests can be made public by Twitter.

Image from Twitter Help Center web page. Image source & courtesy – rt.com

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Related Articles

• Indian Classical Texts: Are they History, Mystery or Mythology? (2ndlook.wordpress.com)

• Rama, the Stitaprajna (thehindu.com)
• Internet diplomacy (economist.com)

Redefining Kashmir, Pakistan – and India

Kashmir crushed by US and British attention (Zahoor's Cartoon: Daily Times).

former Pakistani foreign secretary Najamuddin Shiekh … said that Kashmir problem should be discussed and the back channel negotiation is a best option for resolving the decades-old issue but at the moment no one can say that Pakistan and India could make any progress to chalk out a plan for resolving the Kashmir issue.

Media reports suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP, India’s main opposition party, on Wednesday blamed the Indian government of setting up a “clandestine Kashmir agreement” with Pakistan.

During Indian Parliament Lok Sabha proceedings, BJP leader LK Advani blamed Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of organizing for a “clandestine” deal with Pakistan for secession of Indian- controlled Kashmir in the name of granting it autonomy. (via Talks between Pakistan and India face hurdles).

De-linking Kashmir

India tries to equal Pak? No wonder India is failing in Kashmir? (I don’t know why but both India and Pakistan are quite interested in anatomy; Cartoon - Greater Kashmir)

For many decades now, it has been article of faith with India to deny negotiations with Pakistan on Kashmir. India repeatedly asserts that Indo-Pak talks must be de-linked from Kashmir. A report in Times of India says.

“We cannot de-link regional peace from peace in Kashmir. we have highlighted this thinking in the world and will keep projecting it,” he said. Describing Kashmir as the “jugular vein” of Pakistan, the president said: “soon the time will come when the world will take important decisions regarding Kashmir”.

In yet another interview with an Indian TV channel, it was Pervez Musharraf, who was tom-tomming Kashmir. He said “I would like to put forward my hope, my hope being we reach peace, we reach an accord on Kashmir, that is my hope.” Similarly, it is the Pakistan’s Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said “New Delhi should engage itself in talks to resolve the Kashmir issue.”

Time magazine reports,

The buzz in New Delhi foreign policy circles is that Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants peace with Pakistan to be the crowning achievement of his second term in office — just as the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal was in the first. Pakistan, meanwhile, is looking for a settlement of its long fight with India over Kashmir, something that the U.S. believes is a key to long-term stability in the region, especially Afghanistan. (via India-Pakistan Talks: New Diplomacy on Kashmir, Terror? – TIME).

Setting the record straight

I wonder why India is always on the defensive when it comes to Kashmir. Indian diplomacy behaves as a thief who is caught in the act. A few base assumptions are in order: -

1. It was India that was partitioned – and Pakistan is an of-shoot of India. This partition was based on a tall claim made by some Muslim leaders that Muslims would be better taken care of by a separate Muslim State, ruled by Muslims.
2. India, reluctantly, agreed to this false claim and logic. Pakistan better deliver on that – sooner rather than later. Indian Muslims in Pakistan, and the ‘muhajirs’ who emigrated, had little choice, and have suffered – immensely. Pakistani leadership is responsible for the same. Otherwise, Pakistan’s has no reason to exist.
3. It is India which is responsible for de-colonization – and Pakistan did not even exist. It was Jinnah who said that he, his secretary and a type writer got Pakistan from India. Let us take Jinnah’s statement at its face value. Good for you. Now deliver.
4. For more than 5000 years, it is India which has taken care of people living in the modern definition of South Asia. India has agreed to include Kashmir in the Indian Union – and a few thousand ‘jihadis’ can change that.
5. If Pakistan has some part of Kashmir, it is fully accountable – to India, the people of India. Every Kashmiri life is a responsibility of the Indian Government – whether it is governed by Pakistan or India.
6. It is time that Pakistan is called to account – for every Kashmiri who is uncared for, has been left behind. It is time that India sets deadlines for Kashmir – and Pakistan must accept and meet those deadlines.

Kashmiris are Indians. No discussions, questions or arguments there.

An enigma, inside a puzzle wrapped in a mystery …

Kashmir remains an interesting complication – from a historical perspective. It was Muslim majority – so Pakistan could take a technical refuge under the Indian actions in Junagadh and Hyderabad. Since, it had a Muslim majority, Pakistan could lay claim to it.

While we violently bleed ...

In Kashmir, the Hindu king wanted to remain independent – and then changed his mind – and decided to join India. Popular leaders of Kashmir, like Sheikh Abdullah, also wanted Kashmir to be a part of India. Since, it had a Muslim majority, Pakistan wanted Kashmir to be a part of Pakistan. There was only one glitch.

The popular leader of Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah refused to even meet up with Pakistani leaders. He wished for an autonomous Kashmir as a part of India. Pakistan, of course, disputes, if the Sheikh Abdullah represented the popular leadership of Kashmir. So, while all these discussions were going on, the Pakistani Government and Army, which still had a significant British component, decided to invade Kashmir. Thus, Kashmir was an issue that was created by British commanders of Indian and Pakistani armies – in 1948. Mountbatten was the Governor General of India at that time.

The Indian Government and Army, headed by Earl Mountbatten, at the invitation of Nehru, messed up this situation.British generals, Roy Bucher (India) and Douglas Gracey (Pakistan) were the commanders-in-chief, succeeding generals Rob Lockhart and Frank Messervy, respectively. Pakistan occupied half of Kashmir. India rushed to the UN – a mistake. UN asked both armies to freeze – which they did. And there they remain – frozen from 1948. All in all, the Kashmir issue is colonial detritus – which both India and Pakistan have not been able to jettison.

History told, let us get on with what needs to be done.

Good cop … bad cop routine – a two-step tango

Lets us not fall for this dumb games …

A patronizing Milliband visited India and his remarks which must have gladdened many a jihadi hearts. A few days  after 26/11 attacks in Mumbai, Condoleeza Rice came calling. Her remarks must have made a few jihadi hearts go black with rage.
Lets us not fall for this dumb games …
This is a good ‘ole’ good-cop-bad-cop routine. India and Pakistan would be dumb to fall for this. We should stop wasting time in engaging with these terminally declining societies. We must get up and get going.

Little choice there.

Kashmir …

It costs Arundhati Roy nothing, sitting comfortably on her half-a-million royalty, with her fangs deep into Indian media, to suggest that India consign another 2 crore (twenty million) Kashmiris into the Pakistani hell. Based on terrorist activities of some 2000 jihadis.

Look .. Who's talking?

If a client state of the US is fomenting terrorism, by using about 4000-5000 people does not mean that the Indian State will shove nearly 25 million Kashmiris into Pakistani maw.

Kashmiris first paid a price for Britain’s imperial designs. Now, this time, Kashmiri-Indians are paying a price, all over again, for US policy failures?

The US misadventure into Afghanistan follows the earlier US decision to convert Peshawar into an arms bazaar. The entire Afghan-Pakistani tribal area has become a battle ground for a civil war. If the US is serious about Pakistan and Afghanistan, let them just leave the sub-continent. Stop playing off one against the other. Pakistan too, needs to grow up. They need to get out of the US orbit.

We can and will solve our problems.

Let’s do the numbers

Indian police has a superb network of ‘humint.’ But, they need more than that – for neutralizing terror.

There are finally less than 1000 SIMI + HuJI activists who could be future terrorists. There are a similar 1000 Kashmiri terrorists. What India needs to do, is to set up a national database on these 1000 suspects – allot (say) teams of 5 policemen each to these 1000 suspects.

Monitoring the activities of the 1000 suspects cannot be a national pastime. With neural networks and similar ‘intelligent’ systems, India police should be able to improve their ‘intelligence.’

Worse than Kumbhakaran …

It is said in the Ramayana that Kumbhakaran woke up twice a year to eat and drink. And went back to sleep promptly after his eating and drinking.

The Abdullah clan is not worried about Kashmiris in POK. The Muftis could not care less. The Indian Government, all our political parties (in alphabetical order – BJP, Communists, Congress,  Kashmiri political outfits) seem to doing one better. In the last 25 years, I have never heard a squeak from anyone about the state of Indians under the Pakistani heel.

Or is it Pakistani hell.

Naxalites, Maoists! Branding does not help.

India

Violence suffuses life in rural India, some latent, a lot of it structural and quite a lot more, murderously bloody. When the forest department declares an entire village as illegal, because it allegedly stands on forest land, evicts the inhabitants, and then, a year later, renotifies the land as revenue land, fit for habitation, and proceeds to parcel out the land to cronies of the local political and bureaucratic elite, how do we describe the treatment meted out to the original inhabitants of the village, dispossessed by the state in the name of the law? Tender loving care? If these villagers resort to violence, they will become law-breakers, and put behind bars. If they petition the higher authorities, these higher authorities will ask for a hefty bribe and do little. If they go to court, the case will come up for hearing after most of the petitioners have lived out their lifespan. Into this vacuum of viable choices, the Maoists saunter in. Every Maoist advance is a tombstone over a fatal failing of democracy. (via Maoists as part of the solution :Cursor:TK Arun’s blog-The Economic Times).

State as a land-grabber

The State as a land-grabber! (Copyright and courtesy - Times of India, Ajit Ninan).

These same tribals, (being branded as Maoists, Naxalites), organized themselves into many armies and fought British armies for more than a 100 years. For the same reasons. Land grabbing by the State. The Indian State would do well to learn from the British experience. Probably, the modern Indian State does not know its own history – and believes in its own propaganda.

Official history, strangely, does not tell us that between 1800-1947, apart from the Anglo-Indian War of 1857, there were more than 75 battles, skirmishes, revolts, mutinies, involving thousands, up to lakhs of Indians, across India. And more than double that many conspiracies, hold-ups, explosions, bombings, which were not organized. These more than 200 violent actions have been completely glossed over by post-colonial India’s historians. Obviously, more than 200 incidents of violent opposition to British misrule over 150 years (1800-1947) deserves better treatment by official historians. Especially, the people who fought most of these battles.

The tribals.

Guha welcomes Raghu Ramachandra

The Indian State would also do well to remember that Raghu Ramachandra respected the rights of the tribals. He entered into the forest, on his way to exile, only after being welcomed into the forest by Guha, the forest king, hunter king of the Nishada tribe – the ruler of the forests. Please note the importance of the word – tath – thereupon. Important word that.

tataH niSaada adhipatim dR^iSTvaa duuraat avasthitam |
saha saumitriNaa raamaH samaagacchad guhena saH || 2-50-35

35. dR^ishhTvaa= seeing; duuraat= from the distance; nishhaadaadhipatim= the king of Nishada; upasthitam= coming; saH raamaH= that Rama; soumitriNaa saha= along with Lakshmana; tataH= thereupon; samaagachchhat= went forth to meet; guhena= Guha.

Seeing from a distance the king of Nishada coming, Rama along with Lakshmana thereupon went forth to meet Guha.

Such centuries of tradition are being trampled by the Indian State – which continues with some colonial practices.

Bad idea. This land-grabbing.

Asur tribe descendants in modern India

Indian pauranik history makes sense after ‘asuras’ as a verbal cue for slavery and slave masters /traders is used.

Western rendition of Tomyris with Cyrus’ head – Peter Paul Rubens, 1630 | Click for image.

“Mahishasur was the most powerful man in the two universes (Swarga and Prithvi). The Devas knew that if he lived for long, human beings would stop worshipping them. So they joined hands and killed him through deceit. If this is how the gods are, why worship them?” said Daharu Asur. So passionate are the Asurs about this that Daharu started talking rapidly in his native language, not realizing that no one else could understand a word of it. After prolonged persuasion he agreed to speak in broken Hindi.

“We hate the gods and goddesses. Our forefathers stopped worshipping them and we strictly follow the path they showed us. We have learnt from our forefathers that gods can do no good to anybody. They only aim to get worshipped, at any cost,” he said. The Asurs worship only their ancestors or nature, offering them haria (rice beer) and chicken on a sacred day. (via Here, kids behead lions and Durga Puja is a period of mourning – Kolkata – City – The Times of India).

Asuras in Indic history

Indian pauranik and classical history begins to make sense only after ‘asuras’ as a verbal cue for slavery and slave masters /traders is used.

Similarly, the story of Bali, the ‘righteous’ Asura king, who was sent to the patalaloka, by Vamana, makes sense, the moment ‘demons’ are defined as slave-owners and enslavers.

Therefore, once asura for slave traders /owners is used, the reading of Indian Vedas, Puranas, Upanishads, Mahabharat and Ramayana, everything, begins to makes much sense – especially historical sense. Without this interpretation, there are missing elements. For instance, the story of Bali and Vamana, the horror stricken response of readers to Sita-apaharan by Ravana and others.

Jataka stories, cautionary tales for adults, mainly considered as children’s stories in the West, also reflect social mores and realities of the times. This Jataka story (click on the link) refers to a “demon’ (another word for a slave trader) and cautions travellers and merchants about slave traders. This ‘demon’ kidnaps the merchant – but leaves the goods behind.

An old undated photograph of Asur tribesmen.

Asuras in Indic History

Interesting are the many Mahishasurmardini statues, coins and seals, especially by the Gupta kings and coins by many other Indic rulers, recovered from Afghanistan and Iran.  The issuance of Mahishasurmardini seals and coins continued, going by by appearances, celebrated the victory of Tomyris, over Cyrus, for the next 800-1000 years. Such coins, seals and statues have been foundin modern day Iran, Afghanistan, which support this linkage.

The possible link between Ahura Mazda and Mahishasura (Sanskrit root of Mazda Ahura?) has been the source of much speculation. Ahasuerus, the Persian King, in the Hebrew Book Of Esther and Ezra, is considered by some to be Xerxes. The commonality of Sanskritic language, symbols between Zend Avestha and Aryan India are well known for me repeat. After all, Zarathushtra was also from Bactra (hellenized form of Bharata-ah).

As the Achaemenid Dynasty inherited the Assyrian Kingdom, they also made for a Persian linguistic makeover. From Dravidian-Elamite language to Sanskritic-Old Persian (influenced by Sanskritic-Assyrian linguistic systems). This, however, did not change everything. The Elamite element in Zoroastrian revolt against the daiwas (devas), continues today in Elamite-Dravidian-Tamil Nadu, where asura kings like Ravana and Neduncheziyan are respected.

Rome and Persia

After the defeat and death of Darius, the eclipse of the Achaemenid Dynasty gave rise to the दुरातान्त्रिक duratantrik regimes of Greece, Rome, and the Desert Bloc regimes of Islamic dynasties and the European colonial powers. For sometime, Indic सुरतान्त्रिक suratantrik forces supported the Sassanian kingdom in Persia to over-throw the Greek rulers and keep the successor Roman Empire at bay.

The battle between Durga and Mahishasura – at Mahishasura-mardini temple, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu

With the help of the Indian elephant corps, the Sassanians stopped the Romans at Persian borders in 363 AD. Roman forces retreated, when confronted by Indo-Sassanian armies with Indian elephants. For the next nearly 400 years, Romans were wary of any large expeditions into Indo-Persian territories. It is interesting that the enemies of the daiwas (enemy of devas are the asuras, in Indian scriptures), the Zoroastrians (followers of Ahura Mazda, speculatively Mahishasura) allied themselves with a Suren.

Only fade away

Of General Suren, not much is known – which by now, should not surprise us. Some ancient maps show the Gandhara-Takshashila region as Suren. Suren also supposedly ‘lacked strategic vision’ – these days, called ‘killer instinct’, for which he was shortly later killed. But it is interesting that the enemies of the daiwas (enemy of devas are the asuras, in Indian scriptures), the Zoroastrians (followers of Ahura Mazda, speculatively Mahishasura) allied themselves with a Suren. The House of Suren’s had traditional rights to install the crown of Persian rulers.

A 1000 years later, the Sassanian army, had forgotten their lessons – and could not use their few elephants to full effect, against the Islamic Arabs.

Model for Indic assimilation

A probable model for Indic assimilation is the synthesis of Parsis (Zoroastrian) in India. Zarathustra, a Bactrian, established the Zoroastrian faith, which became significantly popular in the Persia and the North West swath of India. The Achaemenid Dynasty succeeded the Elamites (Dravidian Indians) in Iran – and the took over the Assyrian Empire. With the change in regime, came a change in the linguistic policy. Elamite-Dravidian language was replaced by Sanskritic-Old Persian.

Till about 8th century BC, the Zoroastrians were based in Iran. Within a few years, after the fall of Zoroastrian Sassanian kingdom, under persecution by the Islamic conquerors, in Persia, the first set of Zoroastrians made their way back to  India. Over the next 200 years, from 8th century to 10th century, the Zoroastrians returned to the larger Bactra  – Bharat(ah).

The second major influx of Zoroastrians, was in the 17th-19th century. The second wave of immigrants mostly carry the ‘Irani’ surname and were significantly associated with setting up tea parlours. India was the mother lode to which these populations reverted. The commonalities between Vedic and Zoroastrians texts are significant and well known to repeat here.

Asur tribe photograph. Courtesy – raviwar.com

Slave Memory In Indian Society

There are also no historical records of slave trades, prices, quantities, ownership anywhere in India. In fact, Sanskritic Indian languages have no word for slaves.

By the 10th century, Slave memory faded out in India. The Indic word for slave owning cultures, asur, became disconnected with slave ownership. The understanding of the word ‘asura’ changed – and foreign words like ‘ghulam’ made their way into Indic languages.

To rediscover that the descendants of the legendary asurs are with us today – alive, well and living with their old ‘enemies‘ is a tribute to Indic mindset, which humanizes instead of demonizing. To find their history intact, after more than a 3000 years, passed on in the oral tradition, is verily a wonder.

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Related articles

• Hindus Upset Over Asura’s Wrath (escapistmagazine.com)
• An Iraq And Afghan Veteran Speaks About Satanic Freemasons in the U.S. Military (disquietreservations.blogspot.com)
• End of the World Myth: Zoroastrian Version (glitternight.com)
• A brief synopsis of Atash Niyayesh (zoroastrians.net)

Pokhran-II: an H-bomb disaster

China would be undeterred by our A-bomb arsenal of the yields indicated above. So we reiterate our considered view — shared by the majority of our nuclear scientists, strategic analysts and, above all, our military — that a solely A-bomb arsenal is inadequate as a deterrent against China. Otherwise, why did four prime ministers want a TN device (H-bomb) and why did the then Prime Minister Vajpayee and his NSA Brajesh Mishra direct and insist with the BARC-DRDO leadership — Kalam, Chidambaram, Santhanam and Kakodkar — that at least one P-2 test must be of a TN device? (via K Santhanam & Ashok Parthasarathi: Pokhran-II: an H-bomb disaster).

At the cusp of history

India, is at the cusp of becoming a military power, which will make the cost of an military confrontation unacceptable to the aggressor. However, the position at the cusp, is statistically, always the most tricky. India, though far better prepared than in 1962 and 1965,  has not yet become a unquestioned military force – and is yet a thresh-hold power.

Prospective aggressors would do well to remember that in 1971, India opened war on two fronts against Pakistan. On the Western front, Indian armed forces held out against a US-equipped, armed, financed and supported Pakistan. On the Eastern front, Indian Armed Forces captured more than 90,000 Pakistani soldiers as POWs, which is the largest POW capture in post WW2 wars.

At another level, there is the reductionist perspective, that beyond a point, nuclear arsenals can only “make the rubble bounce.”

In modern warfare

To my mind, more critical than thermonuclear or the H-bomb, is the delivery mechanism. India, must focus on missiles which can shoot down incoming missiles and at the same time evade enemy radar and defence missiles. This will be the low cost, high impact defence strategy which can make India handle this cusp situation better. These can be low range to medium range missiles – which will target military installations and NOT civilian targets.

The other aspect is that an arms race is a mug’s game. What gives military victories is the difference between armies. Armed parity will ensure a prolonged war of attrition – and not victory. India should not try for parity – but a differentiating factor.

What can make a difference

There may even be merit in having micro A-bombs which will vaporize invading forces. Instead of spending more and money on bigger and bigger bombs, it may be counter-intuitive to make smaller, more compact bombs. These can be used against invading forces – instead of the Nagasaki-Hiroshima model.

My favorite battle story

From the Ramayana – Hanuman kills Dhumaraksha.

Dhumaraksha’s fearsome chariot, with braying and neighing  mules, clashing cymbals and rolling bells, clanging metal and fearsome pennants, featuring vultures, rolls out from the Lanka’s gates, onto the battlefield. Wreaking havoc on the vanarsena.

The sight of the chariot inspires fear – and the vanarsena is on their feet, without chariots, some 2000 miles from home, with nil supply lines, against a renowned Asura force. After watching the battle sway back and forth, seeing the flagging morale of his warriors, Hanuman picks up a huge boulder and crushes Dhumaraksha’s chariot. Dhumraksha himself jumps off the  chariot and escapes death. Now on the ground, on his feet, Dhumaraksha is quickly killed by Hanuman.

So, there is some sense in not getting too sophisticated, after all.