lend a HAND or lead the WAY
Number 10, October 2008
Terrorism as a Mystery
by Asma Khan
“Terrorism”; whenever we come across this word, creates the image of a long-bearded man clad in kurta and pyjama. As soon as any brutal incident of terror takes place Islamic militants or jihadis are declared as the perpetrators. The police agencies very actively proceed in their investigations. Dozens of maulanas are rounded off as the prime suspects as they are believed to be the masterminds of the incident.
One almost feels like hailing the super-cops for their heroic deeds if only one were not at the receiving end. Our police forces are able to trace the culprits within a few days, if not hours, of the incident and are able to disclose their links with the Muslim community in double quick time. It is another matter that none of the super intelligence agencies could anticipate those coming “black deeds” before the bomb could be planted!! The performance of the Delhi police, which otherwise has failed to solve the much talked about Aarushi murder case till date, is very impressive indeed.
We are told that an outfit called 'Indian Mujahideen' is responsible for a series of the brutal bomb blasts. But who are these people? Does any outfit of this name really exist and how come Muslims know next to nothing about this organization except what is dished out to the general public by the police and the media? Does the term 'Mujahideen' mean that they are the followers of Islam with long beards, clad in kurta and pyjama? Why the American from whose computer the E-mail was sent, was allowed to vanish from the country?
Recently, a VHP leader was murdered in Orissa which resulted in the vandalizing of churches and Christian prayer halls. The Maoist group claimed the responsibility of the murder but the claim was discarded and was believed to be fake. If that can be a fake then why can’t this episode of Indian Mujahdeen be also fake with all its obvious contradictions?
People are living an insecure life and are angry at all those who are responsible for the security. The law and order situation is worrying. Instead of deceiving people by humiliating and torturing innocents, police should seriously perform their duties. They should catch the real culprits otherwise innocents will keep suffering and the real perpetrators will have the last laugh to keep repeating these sinful acts.
can be reached at: asma07khan@yahoo.com
.... Floods – the Scourge
There is a talk now of Bihar Flood Information Management System (High sounding, isn’t it?). But a Collector, like a Daroga is supposed to have information about his area, isn’t he, unless he is too busy doing something else, like the Daroga. And even if the Collector knows that the embankment is going to breach tomorrow, what the hell can he do? Will he go and stop the gushing waves by waving the UPSC results that made him the IAS? I don’t expect such ‘harakiri’ of the drowning ship’s captain kind, in these days of laptop-management.
The answer lies in finding out why we cannot do the de-silting of the rivers. Can we entrust to an engineer’s team this job, and hope that the engineer will not busy himself making fake bills one after another, which obviously cannot be verified by a lazy inspection of the bureaucrat? Can we have a vigilance team (read the police bureaucrat) that can be relied upon not to engage in a mutual contract with the engineers making it necessary to have yet another vigilance team to have a vigil on them, and so on? By the way about forty years back there used to be a number dredging boats (carried on from the British time) in the holy Ganga which used to non-stop do the digging of the river and removing the silts.
These are actually the moral or immoral aspects of the problem. Otherwise the technical solutions are rather easy. And yet these technocrats blunder for reasons best known to them. Instead of harping on barrage and embankments, (Any idea which is more money-making type, constructing or digging?), just dig man, dig. Dig your existing rivers, dig parallel rivers as China did, and dig vast reservoirs at the epicenter of our ‘taals’. How will you find the epicenter? Easy, no engineer is required. Watch for the last patch of land that dries up in a ‘taal’, that is the epicenter. Passingly, I would also like to ask where have gone the chain of ‘Nahars’ and ‘Chilkas’ that the British had dug for us?! Meanwhile let us mourn the dead and the dying.
can be reached at manhaq@yahoo.com
Love as an antidote of pain
by Sohaib Zaman
Here is an ordinary story of extraordinary worth as it brings out the best of human nature at a time when there is a race to move away from anything that is good in life.
Asma Zaman is the name of a house lady married to an uncommon man named Md.Badiuzaman. Janab Badiuzzaman sb, as a writer, is a well known name. Few people would remember that he was also an Additional District Magistrate in the government of Bihar before his retirement some 29 years ago. But that was when being an ADM had not become an industry and BPL rations used to reach their rightful recipients, the Below Poverty Liners. Obviously Mr. Badiuzzam had a tough time rearing a large family with the government pittance which also involved maintaining a façade of respectability as a high official. The result was that life was ever lived in penury. But Asma Zaman on her part was the strength behind him who as a wife never cribbed about any adversity or scarcity in life. She became a source of inspiration for Badiuzzam sb who finding time away from the dreariness of office work, submerged himself to the study of Iqbaliyat and today at the age of 85 he has earned a place for himself in the writer’s fraternity. There is no one who has any link with the subject of Iqbal’s writings, and who would not know the name of Janab Badiuzzam sb.
Asma Khatoon was not only his wife, but was a true companion of this creative genius. As wife, she was not only his inspiration, but an elixir of life which helped him cope with every passing season. Unlike Shahjahan who made Taj Mahal in the memory of his beloved wife, Badiuzzam sb could not even make a house to live in. Nevertheless, his love and affection for his wife perhaps surpassed that of Shahjahan’s. Every husband loves and cares for his wife, but there comes a time when he looses his strength to serve, and needs someone to help him. This was not to be with Badiuzzam sb because Asman Jahan was struck with a debilitating disease which needed close care. This old man however never lacked the will to do so. As a person of his age, he never asked anyone to help him; his only strength being his madness to live every second of his life, so that he could be with his beloved wife. It was a treat to see the power of love surpassing the boundaries of age and debility, when in his eighties, he would attend to her with all the strength that he had.
Love’s tree however is never barren. His sons made a comfortable house for him in Haroon Nagar, and a number of grandchildren dote upon him, myself not excluded. Yes, I am his proud grandson. I had seen my grandmother always ill, and my grandfather doing everything to keep her happy, till her death did them apart!! In her dying days my grandmother was passing through a lot of pain but still my grandfather’s love seemed to be relieving that pain of hers. I felt it was easy for her to fight that pain. There is no better medicine to fight pain in life, than human love!!
can be reached at itsmeonlinetoday@gmail.com
Tips to do
- To rid the smell of fish from your hands: Wash your hands with a little apple vinegar.
- To avoid tears while cutting onions: Chew gum.
- To boil potatoes quickly: Skin one potato from one side only before boiling .
- To boil eggs quickly: Add salt to the water and boil.
- To check freshness of fish: Put it in a bowl of cold water. If the fish floats, it’s fresh.
- To check freshness of eggs: Put the egg in water. If it becomes horizontal, it’s fresh. If it becomes slanting, it’s 3-4 days old. If it becomes vertical, it’s 10 days old. If it floats, it’s stale.
Interesting
Yet, there was a time 170 years ago, when its prime minister, the duke of Wellington, opposed parliamentary reforms, and suggested “You must build your Houses of Parliament on the river Thames, so that the populace cannot exact its demands by sitting down round you”.