Radical Islamisation - Is a reverse Brainwash Possible.

“Debate or denial : the Muslim Dilemma”, an article by Hassan Suroor, set me thinking about educated people who get drawn into the net of Islamic terrorism. Mr Suroor declares in the article that it is time for Muslims to accept that these individuals are not simply misguided youth acting on a whim, but they are people who know what they are doing and they are doing it deliberately in the name of Islam. He says that that they should stop the age old blame game – of finding reasons for such acts in external factors such as Western Foreign Policy as well as social & economic factors such as lack of education & unemployment. According to him, “the sense of fighting for an Islamic cause of creation of a Revolutionary state that will eventually bring in Islamic justice to the world” is the real driving force behind the terrorist plots. Quotes of reformed extremist are included to substantiate this point. The article states that the Holy Koran does promote Violence, even though the contexts are misinterpreted.


I do not agree with article in its entirety, especially where it refers to the Holy Koran and propagation of violence. I would say that the Holy Koran supports violence for the same reasons as it is done in the Bhagavad Gita or Ramayana – So that justice prevails. For that reason, I don’t believe any religious teachings would promote violence. Of course interpretation of these teachings is a different issue for which only individuals or groups to be blamed. The article was disturbing. Even if a part of what was said in it was true, then the entire exercise being carried out by various “players” to negate the effect of radical elements in Islam will be fruitless. Because I am sure, all the efforts, to counter terrorism, other than the armed strikes by the super powers, are all towards elimination of influences of external factors. Even the armed strike, as we have seen, are not at all a solution to counter Islamist terrorism. The escalating violence in Iraq, the re-Talibanisation of many areas of Afghanistan and the retaliatory terror strikes in Tribal areas of Waziristan/NWFP in Pakistan, as well as in Islamabad are all examples to prove this point. These are just revision of the lessons learnt by the US & Russia (erstwhile USSR) in Vietnam & Afghanistan.

What set me thinking, in this article, was that if the Islamist thoughts were the real/major cause for radical uprisings, what could be a possible solution to it. My thinking is centered around a point that if the Islamist Thoughts with the inherent force and the hatred towards the non-believing community and their establishments, can lead to such strong determination which made 9/11 & 7/7 , possible cant the same feeling be utilized towards self development . Here self development has to be projected as a “weapon” which can aid in the creation of a Revolutionary Islamic world.

The Process

Promoting ‘Self Development’ as radical machinery will definitely be a slow process which has to be attempted in the same Islamic background with adequate support of interpretation from the Holy Koran, which is otherwise misused by the radical elements to promote Violence in the minds of the believers, mainly the youth. The idea has to be fed into the minds of the young Islamists, through religious establishments such the Mosques & the Madrassahs and with the same religious fervor, coupled with Hi-adrenaline speeches by religious leaders.

This exercise if at all has to work, has to be taken up by the Moderate Muslims, including religious leaders with non-radical ideologies as well as sections of the community such as Politicians, Scholars & Academics who are true believers. I am sure that a very big group of such individuals who feels the community is under siege and find it irritating to stand up and apologise for the violent behavior of the extremists, would volunteer for such an action.

The communication that has to go, in promoting “Self Development” as a radical tool, is that it is the only means through which they can get back on their Western Tormentors. Attaining High levels of education should be means through which such an end can be attained. The idea behind is individual development leading to community development which will further the development of Islamic Countries. This will enable their voices to be heard by not only by the Westerners but also by all civilized communities of the World. It has to be injected into their minds that uni-polar world order will not facilitate their dream of an Islamist World. And this unipolar nature of the world cannot be dismantled by Armed Struggles, as can be seen from outcomes of such struggles in all these years in different parts of the globe. If high levels of self development can be attained by one and all in the community, the oppressed Islamic Nations can actually become powerful. That will tilt the world order in their favor. When such nations are run by individuals who can work as a group (as they are bound by Islam) and think and decide for themselves, then the policies will not reflect a western influence. And when such Islamic Countries stand together and raise their voice, the western oppressors cannot help but take notice. The Westerners will not dare to bring down such an Islamic Might, as they will not be in a position to hide their actions under the blanket of ‘fighting against terror”, which is their usual excuse. Even those Muslim Nations, who had been subservient to the Western countries because they had no option owing to the economic or military power of the Westerners, will now fall in line with this Self Developed economically powerful group. As the group gets bigger, the World’s second biggest community will slowly but steadily start moving towards the Individual dream that started it all – A revolutionary world with Islamic Justice.

The assumption

The assumption that I have made in thought process on this issue is in a way linked to Hasan Suroor’s article. I feel that the indoctrination of violent theology into the minds of the young people, is consistently possible for the radical Islamists, due to certain elements in the story they have to say. In the story, there is a very strong oppressor, who is a non-believer and who is always on the wrong side of the humanity. Also there is a constant struggle against the oppressor by the believing community – Islam, of which they are all proud Members. Another effective attribute is that they are chosen by God himself for which they should consider themselves “blessed”. They only way ahead is to stand together and fight.

Such elements can send strong signals into the young minds of the believers and make it very appealing to them, when served with all right ingredients such as religious fervor and war cries. This becomes a major source of determination with they blow themselves up, with pleasure, if they can take a couple of westerners or Non-believers with them.

The “Islamic Actualisation through self development” theory also should be packaged in the same way. It will have the common enemy – The West. There is also the need for the struggle for attaining high education levels which will lead to a very strong position for the community. Again you are chosen by the God himself and also you will have to stand together and fight to make your voice heard.

Examples can be drawn from similar stories about countries like India (which has a sizeable Muslim population) and Venezuela. India’s opinion, until a few years back was not given any consideration by the Westerners. But now she is able to stand up against the very same US and EU in issues such as WTO because of the economic power attained; which to a great extend is due to the self development of the people. Venezuela is a country which has constantly raised its voice against the US because of its economic power attained by logical utilization of its available resources.


The Viability

I clearly understand that this whole exercise is not going to be easy. But as long as we do not have many options infront of us which may bring an end to the problem of terrorism, which has become an everyday issue affecting the life of common man, I strongly suggest that any non violent measure should be given a fair chance. Another accusation would be that of selling a very far off dream. But what we have to realize is that when the young minds are doctored with radical ideas around the globe they are again being given an unaccomplishable dream of ending the western superiority through various violent means. But they fail to realize that and pursue it with unshakable determination. So why not we try and channel the same strength of determination through a constructive path by selling a dream of a same end which may or may not be attainable.

The Indian President - Need for Enhanced Activism

Another presidential election went by .And once again battlelines were drawn. This was yet another platform where the political godfathers of our country could exercise a show of strength.Unlike yesteryear polls, this time the whole execise was marred by so many controversies.Till yesterday, the name Prathibha Patil did not mean anything to us. But tomorrow she is going to be our first citizen.No,this is not going to be another charecter assasination plot against the presidential candidate of the ruling combine.My worry/ thought process is on an entirely different track.I am trying to understand the essentiality of the whole drama, the political procedure and ofcourse,......the very ceremonial post.

I am not trying to challenge the eligibilty of the great people who have held this post till now and many more to come. They are all achievers with impeccable records and it goes without saying that I have tremendous respect for them. But I strongly believe that these achievements were all prior to them assuming the post of the President.From then on they have mostly done justice to the name , that has become almost a synonym - the rubberstamp.I know there has been exceptions. But were these exceptions of personalities or instances. I strongly believe it is the second.

Let me try and explain what was in my mind when I made the above statement. I was referring to instances when the decisions made by union cabinets were returned for reconsiderations by our presidents. Both the incumbent and his predecessor,as also a few others have exercised this presidential power. And these were in context of very relevant issues such as Gujarat riots and office of profit bill. This is to say that in the last Ten years, the two highly-educated, highly intelligent individuals with strong opinions, between whom this time zone is divided, had only three occasions (that too when taken together ) where they felt that the Union Cabinet's decission was not in the best interest of the nation and its people.Even if you go further back into the history of Indian Republic, you will find not more than two such Presidential Intervention, which was in times of Mr Zail Singh and Mr Venkataraman.I am sure there were more occasions in the last 10 years when Govts acted in partisan manner. The dissolution of Bihar Assembly, I would say was one such recent occasion, where the Presidential consent had to be imported from Russia, from our visiting President at midnight.

Also the last couple of such interventions did not make any real difference whatsoever to the actions it tried to object or to the future relevance of the Presidential post.In these occasions, the decisions were re-presented by the Cabinet without any changes, which then had to accepted by the Presidents, who are then bound by regulations. After the interventions, status quo Ante was maintained,as far as the scope of the presidential powers were concerned. The incidents were forgotten, only to be remebered when an outgoing president's achievements are enlisted by journalists as a farewell. I regret to say this,achievements they were without any real achievement.

A Need Analysis.
I dont mean to to be arrogant by thinking in these lines. It is only that I was always quite unsure about the necessity of the Presidential Position in a country like ours. Trying to understand the realneed for a President in a country like ours,some of the points that came to my mind are

-High calibre individuals like Dr APJ Abdul Kalam or Late Mr K R Narayanan definitely gave a whole new look & feel of the Changing India to the World.But the flipside is that, I am not sure whether the same thing can be said about Ms Prathibha Patel, atleast at the time when she is assuming office.

- This position is the only check, if it can be called so, we have on the Union Cabinet, whose decisions President can question.As we all know the mechanism has its shortcomings .

- The Position has derived some transparency to its functioning, thanks to Mr K R Narayanan, who introduced the Rashtrapati Bhavan Communique Method, for sharing his rationale behind exercise of various discretionary powers.

But There are many are reasons that actually question the need for such a Position in our country.

- The Presidential Poll has become a highly politicised activity. As we had seen in the just concluded execise.There was so much of mud slinging, in the form Press Conferences, Public Interest litigations and other high voltage political drama. Our leading Opposition Party,instead of pointing fingers at real problems , went to extend of digging out rumours about the UPA candidate and also alleged, in a high profile Press conference,that their Phone Lines are being Tapped in this regard.So much resources wasted on unwanted political drama. If actually their allegations on phone tapping was true, again another waste of time and resources by the Ruling Combine. We are used to various illegitimate collusions and Horse tradings for the Parliament and State Elections,which unfortunately we cannot help. I clearly dont understand if so much of political activity is worth it for a non-political position.UNPA, the self proclaimed Third Front, dragged Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, into controversies by quoting him unnecessarily. On his side, he should have known better than to fall prey to such political gimmicks. Finally we have all seen what has happened to the UNPA resolution of staying away from elections, when Jayalalitha's MPs turned up for the polls in the last minute.

- A complicated format ( at least that is what I feel) is adopted for the election proceedings.All MPs (LS & RS) and Legislators for State Assemblies are entitled to vote.A formula is given to arrive at value of Vote of each MLA or MP, so that there is uniformity in representation of the state.

Value of an MLA, Vote : State Popultion/1000 x No of State MLAs
Value of an MP's Vote :Total value of all MLAs/Total members of Parliament(RS + LS).

There are a few things i would like to clarify, when I go through this.
a. All this actions to have a proper representaion of nation's will. But finally is this really happening. Are the people getting represented . Is there any communication between them & their elected representatives, to understand what their choices are.I am sure there is not even an attempt.So it is mainly the will of the political parties, rather its leaders, that is at play here.I have a strong feeling, correct me if I am wrong, that a majority wanted Dr APJ to continue.

b. Now this is slightly mathemetical. Honestly i dont have a clear understanding of this , so i will be glad if some one can throw light on this querry I have, which is - It is the same people who elect the MPs & MLAs. So is there duplication of representation happening, when both MPs & MLA are entitled to vote.

Increasing The Scope
Can something be done to make a difference to the ceremonial attributes attached to the Presidential post in our country. If we can collectively device a method to incorporate the direct will of the people in the selection of a President, it may result in credibilty in the selection procedure. The "Rashtrapathi Bhavan Communique" method started by Late Mr K R narayanan, is indeed, a very innovative and transparent communication channel for the Presidential will. This method should be made use of, more often, not only to communicate rationale behind decisions, but also to highlight Presidential Opinions. This has to be coupled with more than one, well publicised channels through which individuals or groups can voice their concerns and opinions to the President.Such a system, to some extend, should act as a check to many a decision of the ruling combines which are not taken with a concern for the common man. Mr APJ Abdul Kalam,was successful in reaching out to various sections of the society, such as farmers, students,etc. His understanding of their psyche was indeed, commendable, as can be seen from his observations in book " Ignited Minds -Unleashing the power within India" . If more sections of the society can be reached out in a similar manner, and their concerns are passed on to the ruling community, it will definetely make some Real Difference.Probably then, the achievements may really become Real.
I understand that my suggestion on the National consensus for a Presidential Candidate, may be difficult to implement. But the rest of my opinions, along with many more to come from people who may respond to my writings, are/will be definitely actionable. It all depends on will of the individual who Occupies the Position. we can only hope that our political leaders consider "Independent Thinking" as one of quality criteria, while choosing a candidate for Presidential Post.