Author: जयकृष्णः | ജയകൃഷ്ണൻ

A disturbing photograph

Saturday’s WSJ had a chilling photo on the front page. It showed a bunch of blindfolded men standing in an open field and facing them were another group of people with rifles in preparation for a mass execution. The command to fire had been given and men had started falling down. The picture shows men at the far end already on the ground, while the man on the far right still standing, waiting for the bullet to pierce his heart.  The photo captures that instant between life and death. It won the Pulitzer prize and the photographer’s name was withheld – till now.

This photo was taken in Iran in Aug. 27, 1979. Islamic radicals had overthrown the Shah and Ayatollah Khomeini had taken control. The Kurds were looking for autonomy and troops were sent to supress it.

At the airport, Mr. Razmi stood ready outside the makeshift courtroom as 10 handcuffed men filled a wooden bench before the judge, a black-bearded Shiite cleric named Sadegh Khalkhali. An injured 11th prisoner lay on a stretcher beside the door.

The judge removed his turban, Mr. Bahrami recalls. He removed his shoes. He put his feet on a chair. Scanning the prisoners through thick eyeglasses, he asked their names. Officers of the court told of the defendants’ alleged crimes — of trafficking arms, inciting riots and murder. The prisoners, some with leftward or nationalist leanings, denied the accusations.

No evidence was presented, Mr. Bahrami says. “It was pure speculation.” After roughly 30 minutes, Mr. Khalkhali declared the 11 men “corrupt on earth” — mofsedin fel arz — the Koranic phrase he cited before issuing a sentence of death. A few of the men cried.

The caravan passed roughly 30 airport workers, both men say. Up front walked Mr. Razmi. In the rear, both men say, was Ali Karimi, one of the judge’s bodyguards, wearing white shoes, white pants, white shirt, sunglasses and twin hip holsters. After about 100 yards, an officer halted the condemned on a plain of dry dirt. All but one of the executioners tied about their own heads Iranian shawls called chafiyehs. Both the faces of the Shiites and the eyes of the Kurds were now concealed.[A Chilling Photograph’s Hidden History]

Tale of Two Communist States

It was the best of times

Sidestepping political and ideological differences, American and Indian diplomats as well as Left bigwigs are preparing the ground for what will be a pathbreaking first official visit by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, the Marxist Chief Minister of West Bengal, to the US sometime next year.

In fact, Industry Minister Sen had last December made a presentation to major US oil companies at a top hotel in the Capital on the setting up of a chemical hub in the state. Bhattacharjee was also present at the meeting.

On the IT sector front, Minister Debesh Das wants Bengal to provide 10 to 15 per cent of the country’s total IT revenue — it now stands at around 3 per cent. “We are late starters in IT, but we have the advantage of infrastructure in terms of power, housing and connectivity,” Das said. [In clear signal to investors, Buddha, team plan US trips]

It was the worst of times

The don and the goon are sublimating God, in His own country. Police say the gangs could run into “a few thousands”, with capital Thiruvananthapuram alone home to some 700 gangs. In the three years to 2004, when the menace began to peak, there were more than 39,000 cases of goonda attacks. Police are still processing figures for the last two years.

No longer is the goonda a semiliterate blunt instrument working for the neighbourhood assault or extortion outfit. Kerala has equally virulent political goons, corralled in legitimate jobs and put to use when required. Migrant labourers, farm hands, even college students, including those in professional courses, are known to moonlight for work that needs only threats. Then there are the so-called tie-wearing goondas, who work for, banks, loan sharks, mobile service providers.

The prostitution racket, including organized girl running to service the Gulf markets, is another money spinner; after the land and real estate operations. Though state intelligence estimates peg the sex and land mafia’s turnover at about Rs 15,000 crore, police sources say this could really be “many times more.”[Goon trouble in God’s own country]

The goonda menace did not start instantly after the Communists took power in the state, but trouble has been brewing for sometime. While they were in the opposition, the Communists were harping on this point. They organized marches to various police stations to protest against the break down of law and order in the state and blamed the Congress Govt. for turning a blind eye. The Congress Govt. introduced the Kerala Felonious Activities (Prevention) Bill – 2005,’ would empower the police to keep suspected anti-social elements under preventive detention up to six months, but the Communists dropped it as it had some undemocratic provisions. How much ever the public suffers, the Govt. has to make sure that a poor goonda does not suffer from some undemocratic treatment.

If such measures do not make Kerala an investment paradise, then I don’t know what will.

The Safe Base in Paradise

Frederick Forsyth’s new novel The Afghan is about how Islamic Terrorists hijack a ship, convert it into a floating bomb and plan to explode it in the vicinity of another ship carrying the leaders of the G-8 countries. Like all other Forsyth novels like The Day of the Jackal and The Fist of God, this one captivates you till the end with edge of the seat suspense. In one of the scenes in the novel, two crew mates of a ship docked somewhere in the West Indies are murdered and two terrorists who are Kerala Muslims take their place. Forsyth explains that majority of the Indian Muslims are peaceful, there are some indoctrinated ones in Kerala.

There have been incidents in Kerala showing that trouble is brewing in the paradise. One such incident was the Marad massacre.

On May 2, 2003, armed men hacked eight fishermen to death in Marad, Kerala. The judicial commission report which probed this incident found all arms of the “secular” Congress Govt., which was ruling till now, guilty . According to the commission, atleast one senior politician belonging to the Muslim League, a coalition buddy of Congress, had advance knowledge of this conspiracy. The other findings of the commission are explosive and “vote bank” politics was explcitly blamed for this.[Courting the fundamentalists]

Recently it was revealed that Mohammad Fahad, one of the two Pakistani militants arrested in Mysore was based in Kozhikode.

Fahad, hailing from north Nizamabad in Karachi, was issued an Indian visa on November 30, 2005 for 45 days. The Karnataka police had confirmed that he overstayed his time. His stepbrother Abdul Khader, it is learnt, has been taken into custody by the Karnataka police. Abdul Khader is running a fancy shop in Mysore and both his kids are studying in Bangalore, while his wife is residing at Kappad.

Police sources said that the raids at the industrial unit had been carried out for two reasons. The police suspect that the company owner has some relationship with Abdulla Koya. Apart from that a blast had occurred at the site five years ago, the police said.[Massive search operation in Kozhikode district]

So far we have not seen any international terrorists from Kerala, but with political parties actively courting terrorists for staying in power, Kerala could serve a base for such folks.
Cross-posted to the INI Signal.

Guns, Rock Climbing and iPods

Sometimes international politics and diplomacy offers more chance of fun than watching kids play in a day care center. The first one comes from Colonel Muammar Gaddafi who landed in Nigeria with some 200 armed body guards. When the Nigerians refused the body guards to carry arms, Gaddafi threatened to walk some 40 kms to the capital city from the airport. With some intervention from President Obasanjo, the Libyans backed down, though it would have been more fun to see Gaddafi walk all that distance.

The second piece of funny news from that land where Uncle Castro rules from the bed. Right now the biggest threat to Cuban national security comes from – Rock Climbers (gasp!). The reason is that Castro launched his 1959 revolution from a camp in the Sierra Maestra Mountains and now the the Cuban Govt. thinks that all people who climb mountains are about to conduct another revolution. Also some of the Cubans climb mountains with Americans. Due to this now Cubans are required to get a permit before climbing, with only one problem that no one knows how to get a permit.

If tiny countries can act juvenile, it is hard for the lone superpower to stay away. In a move which is sure to bring down the regime of Kim Jong Il, United States has banned the export of iPods, plasma televisions and Segway electric scooters to North Korea. When Kim knows that he will have to listen to music on the Zune, watch the latest James Bond movie on a normal television and will have to walk instead of zipping on the Segway, he is sure to roll back his nuclear programme and come out from the Dark Side.

I thought I would stay away from blogging for the holidays, but all these folks won’t let me.

Even before Castro is dead..

In this age and era how do you still run a Communist country or state? By switching to capitalism, of course. We have seen this in China, Russia and West Bengal. Now it is happening in Cuba as well and they are not even waiting for Fidel to die

Between 1989 and 1993, Cuba’s gross domestic product fell 35%, while the island’s foreign trade slumped by 75%, says Carmelo Mesa-Lago, professor emeritus of economy at University of Pittsburgh.

As living standards plummeted, Havana residents ate many of the city’s cats. An epidemic of optic neuropathy, caused by deficiencies in nutrition and resulting in temporary blindness, struck down some 35,000 Cubans. For Raúl, economic security became a critical part of national security. “Beans are more important than cannon,” he told troops in 1994.

Although Mr. Castro has steadfastly opposed economic reforms during his 47-year communist regime, his younger brother and anointed successor, Raúl, has shown a deep interest in free-market experiments in the past. As defense minister since the 1959 revolution, he has frequently looked to the military as his laboratory.

But the seeds of economic reform in Cuba may be planted more firmly than many suspect. One piece of evidence: Raúl has traveled to China a number of times to study Beijing’s economic policies and in 2003 he invited the leading economic adviser to then Chinese premier Zhu Rongji, who played a leading role in opening up China to foreign trade and investment, to give a series of lectures in Cuba. Fidel Castro, who deeply opposes reforms, was a notable no-show, says Domingo Amuchastegui, a former Cuban intelligence officer who now lives in the U.S. and keeps close tabs on political developments on the island.[Cuba’s Military Puts Business On Front Lines (subscription reqd)]

A memorial for vipassana

Once Buddhism spread from India to neighboring countries, Buddha’s teachings were also preserved in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Laos. In Burma, through a teacher-student relation, the practice of vipassana was also preserved for almost 2000 years. Sayagyi U Ba Khin (1899-1971), the first accountant general of independent Burma taught it to S N Goenka and ever since that Goenka has led the establishment of dhamma centers to teach vipassana free of cost around the world.

A golden pagoda, the world’s largest stone monument and the first dome in human history of this size without any supporting pillars will be innagurated in Mumbai this week. This large meditation hall which can hold upto 8000 meditators will also be holding the authentic relics of the Buddha.

This pillarless 27-meter-high dome is attracting architectural wonder considering that thousands of stones, each weighing about 600-700 kilograms, are suspended without any external support. “These massive stones seemingly float over our heads, locked into place by the interlocking principle of one stone gripping and holding another. The more weight that is added to the stones, the more firmly the stones grip and hold each other,” said M M Khandhar, a veteran construction engineer with experience of building projects in the US. When fully complete, the pagoda will be 100 meters high.

The biggest stone dome with a hollow interior built anywhere in the world before the Global Pagoda was the Gol Gumbaj Dome in Bijapur, southern India, which is 40 meters in diameter. The Global Pagoda is more than twice its size.

“We initially contemplated building the pagoda in reinforced concrete and steel. But the project aim is to build a structure to last for a thousand years, so we decided to use the basic building principles that have existed in ancient India for centuries, combined with latest construction technologies,” explained the Mumbai-based Global Vipassana Foundation that is executing the project. “The construction plans were finalized following advice from consultants and research studies, including one by the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai.”

When Goenkaji first expressed his wish to have such a dome built without any pillars in the meditation hall, to avoid inconvenience to meditators, almost all consultants and technical personnel expressed their doubts, saying this was almost impossible.

Chandubhai Sompura, an Indian architect, provided the breakthrough by demonstrating the idea of the locking system of stones using bars of soap cut into the same shape as the present stones are cut. A stone has grooves cut both horizontally and vertically, and is designed to interlock in both directions and hold the stones in place. [Asia’s spectacular monument of gratitude]

NPR Links (1)

National Public Radio  and local affiliates like KQED in San Francisco and WHYY in Philadelphia bring some of the best interviews and discussions you can hear in American Media. Here are some interviews worth listening. (Click on the Listen button on the page)

Well deserved Nobel Prize

Even though the Nobel Commitee gives awards to terrorists like Yasser Arafat, war criminals like Henry Kissinger and writers like Harold Pinter who is more famous for his anti-American rants, once in a while they give it to someone deserving like Mohammed Yunus.

“Every single individual on earth has both the potential and the right to live a decent life,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said. “Across cultures and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.”
“Eradication of poverty can give you real peace,” the 66-year-old Mr. Yunus told reporters in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, according to Reuters. “Now the war against poverty will be further intensified across the world.”

Mr. Yunus, who has a Ph.D. in economics from Vanderbilt University, has said he was inspired to start Grameen by a chance meeting with a poor woman in 1974. She made bamboo stools for a living, but had to borrow money at rates as high as 10% a week to purchase materials. The exorbitant interest left her with the tiniest of profits.

Mr. Yunus, according to his autobiography, dipped into his own pocket and lent a group of 42 basket weavers the equivalent of $27. Even that small amount improved living standards. Equally importantly, he has said, the women repaid the loans.[Microloan’ Father Yunus Is Awarded Nobel Peace Prize]

Microfinance has now led to the idea of Microinsurance which is  like life and disability coverage for low-income people in emerging markets to protect the family if the bread winner dies or falls sick.

Bajaj Allianz, an Allianz Indian joint venture, offered its first microinsurance product in the subcontinent in 2003. In August Allianz said its Indonesian unit started a microinsurance pilot project. The aim is to design and sell a product that will cover the outstanding balance of a loan in the event that the person who took out the loan dies. The policy would also pay the loan taker’s family double the loan amount.
..
Nonetheless, charitable groups such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation USA, the Munich Re Foundation, and ACCION International are also pushing microinsurance. They see it as a complement to microfinance loans, something that can increase financial sophistication in far-flung places, while protecting people who are vulnerable from ruin when breadwinners get sick or die.[Out of ‘Microfinance’ Work Springs Insuring Loans for Impoverished]

Chola period bronze idols discovered

Three bronze idols of Lord Siva and Goddess Parvati were unearthed at Airavateeswara Temple, Darasuram, in Thanjavur district. The Siva idol, measuring two feet four inches x one ft five inches and Parvati measuring one ft three inches x two feet, were found in the north west corner of the cloister `Mandapa’ at a depth of 2.5 ft during conservation work carried out by Archaeological Survey of India, Chennai circle.
According to Sathyabhama Badreenath, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Chennai circle, the idols are a part of the Somaskanda group though they are two separate pieces. Siva is seated in `Sukhasana’ position with four arms, the upper arm carrying `mriga’ and `mazhu’ (battle axe) while the lower arms are in `abhaya’ and `simhakarna’ positions.
The idol is adorned with Jatamakuta, Udharabhanda, etc. Parvati is also in `Sukhasana’ position and her right hand looks as if she is holding a lotus. [ Chola period bronze idols discovered]

The article has pictures of both the idols.