LIVE AND DIE. IRAN AS MESSIANIC CULT.

 

 BY K P PASWAN

Years ago a very handsome Jewish youth described Iran, than ruled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenie as the Messianic cult,  the youth was destined to become the prime minister of the Jewish state, but his concept of Messianic apocalyptic cult is proving wrong. The existence of Israel has been recognized by  many Muslims majority states including states, which participated in the war of 1956/57 against Israel. Iran is not in a position to play the role of Messianic apocalyptic cult. It is so because Iran itself fears its own annihilation,  not by Israel, but by a group of Islamic nations.

 NUCLEAR POWER.  Iran is on the threshold of becoming a nuclear power. Pakistan as a nuclear power is posing threat to more powerful India. But Iran’s nuclear arsenal means, threat to weaker Islamic states and the mighty USA. There is another joker on this planet who is obsessed with the idea of annihilating the mightiest power on the earth and  his name happened to be Kim Jon Un  of N Korea.  China is bound to defend N Korea by a treaty of 1963 even if it means direct confrontation  with USA.  But Iran is not N Korea. Iran has the wealth and capacity to defend its sovereignty against all odds, but is afraid of economic sanctions. Iran has defied the Security Council’s direction to stop enriching Uranium and declared war on Iran’s internal reformists, who they suspect are agents of the West. But the dangers are that if  Iran develops nuclear weapons they  might fall into the hands of terrorists.  It has elements of democracy, an elected parliament and an elected president. But ultimate political power lies in the hand of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,  who with elite, but corrupt Revolutionary Guard and a group of corrupt billionaire Clerics are hell bent on shaping the destiny of a prosperous Iran.

Contrary to Saudi Arabia, young people in the street of Tehran and in other town dress themselves in latest fashion, even if the jeans clad women  are obliged by  Mullahs to wear headscarf. But they are  bored by the slogan of a long ago revolution, and impatient to move on. If given an option, educated Iranian women would not mind migrating in large number to Canada and work there as health workers and teachers. It has been developing ever since  the Ayatollahs and his coterie  began to fear that  their revolution would not survive the encroachment of Western ideas, satellite televisions and the rise of a generation that had no direct memory of revolution.

 PROGRESS. Americans say that Iran may have nuclear bomb by the end of 2021 but is it possible? Making and preparing the fuel is the hardest part. Iran may have 3000 centrifuges hooked up by the end of this year and their maximum is up to  5000 centrifuges How to put up  centrifuges into a nuclear weapon  will take time, but some body is keenly watching every step being taken by the Ayatollahs and Mullahs. And that somebody is none other than the man who once denounced Iran as a Messianic apocalyptic cult. Iran has its own nuclear raw materials and possesses much of the relevant technology A further danger is that if , once Iran went nuclear others in the region like Turkey and Saudi Arabia might feel to compel to follow.

 While some of its neighbors  struggle with commodity based economics, Iran is busy reinventing itself as logistic and service hubs. Several things have come together to produce extraordinary boom. Despite of economic sanction , the economy will expand by more than 10 percent, this is faster than elsewhere in central Asia (Source IMF) The late Shah was an autocrat, but cared for general uplift of common Iranian and did not care for the Clerics and the Mullahs. Actually Iran under the ousted king made rapid progress in the field of industries. He created necessary infrastructure for manufacturing activities. Rome was not built in one day and certainly modern Iran was not created by Ayatollah and greedy Mullahs. In religious matters the Shah simply ignored the Clerics and this resulted in general uprising in the only Shiite majority state on the earth.

 The Late Shah Pehlevi also supplied oil to Israel invoking the wrath of other Islamic states. So with the ouster of the Iranian king, the first Ayatollah Khomeini found an Iran already on the path of an emerging economy. The ousted King of Iran also conceived idea of generating nuclear power for peaceful purpose . With the introduction of internet based communication a new dimension was added to economics. With so much oil revenue under his disposal, the first Ayatollahs Rohilla Khomeini was compelled to spread education and create more infrastructures for future economic growth. Study of contemporary Iran revels interesting facts. While prescribing strict dress code for women,they were also encouraged to receive modern education, this run contrary to the philosophy of Wahhabi and Taliban who oppose modern education for women.

 CORRUPTION The present Ayatollahs  is not without scandal free. A handful of families continue to control the national wealth and  most of the high ranking Revolutionary Guards and Clerics are highly corrupt. If Iran’s boom is to propel it swiftly to developed country  over the next decade, it would help, if  it rested  on a strong institutional foundation propel.   The West is not at all convinced that escalation of sanction would help ease the tension, this could simply provoke an embattled Iran to adopt more belligerence towards Saudi Arabia and USA and above all Israel.

 RECONCILIATION. An attempt at reconciliation between The US and Iran sputtered into life with the entry of Joe Biden into White House. Iran’s internationally recognized president Ruhani was but hitherto ineffective president who favored reconciliation, but few experts were betting on success. Reconciliation with Iran means annoying Sunnis majority neighboring states and the Pentagon may resort orthodox methods not to antagonise Saudi Arabia by supplying sophisticated killing machines perhaps more deadly than nuclear arsenals. And that may distract Iran from gaining a nuclear bomb. Donald Trump’s policy War on terror was  a bumper  Stricter but unlikely to be followed by Biden. Situation has rapidly changed in the middle east as is evident from recognition of Israel by its neighboring countries. It appears Biden is no longer a policy   neophyte but he has himself positioned as the voice of his party’s left wing who are generally  anti sematic. Anti West and anti USA. Agitation  in Iran has been  fueled by  a brew of misunderstanding and opportunism that prevails in much of the Middle East.In that sense this anti West feeling in the Shiite nation has resulted in religiously infused brand of democracy in Sunni majority states

.Meanwhile Iran has elected a new hardliner president Ebrahim Raisi, who is popularly known as hanging judge. Ebrahim Raisi has been called as Butcher of Tehran by Israel.

 After change of Guards in the White House,  hectic political activities in Central Asia are being seen. This is not surprising, traditionally, The Democrats are anti Iran and pro Saudis, after all it was democrats who conferred upon China as the most favored nation. We see a different form of political equations in Central Asia. Iran is no more serious of destroying Israel, which is capable of defending itself without the  help of US.  It is doubtful if any Iranian leaders including a neurotic Ahmadinejad and the paranoid Ayatollah, ever talked of destroying the Jewish state, Iranians are simply interested in creating a Shiite Palestine state and is funding terrorist organization like HizBulla and the Hamas .

FEAR OF ATTACK.     CIA never tells a wanted Iranian that you are wanted, just entertain them, befriend them and eliminate them as is evident from killing of Iranian General Soleimani  in an American air raid. But brutal killing of a leading Iranian Nuclear scientist prove that the Mossad is far advanced in applying the principle ‘just eliminate’ them without courting a friendship.

APPLE AND F.B.I. Three years ago there was terror attack by a Lone Wolf in the US in a night club, wherein a large number of Transgenders were merrymaking, more than 50 of these unfortunate persons were killed by an Afghan terrorist, who was also shot dead. Later on the FBI found that the dead Afghan had conversation with some persons by an Apple smartphone. The FBI sought assistance of Tim Cook. who refused to assist in the name of privacy and roared like an African lion ‘I am Proud to be an American Homo Sexual. FBI lost case in a court of law and after searching every nook and corner of the earth, turned to MOSSAD, who cracked the smartphone’s  code and the companions of the Lone Wolf are languishing in maximum security prison. 

In a way Israel has learnt to live with in such a hostile situation, The US may resort to air attack upon the Iranian nuclear manufacturing centers but for Israel, it is impossible to cross 1100km (Iraq and Syria both Iran’s allies). Mossad simply  will go to Iran in groups, cause havoc and slip away. it is called as Dogs of War. Israel  has learned lesson from the Munich Olympic where the German intelligence displayed its incompetence by allowing the Palestinians terrorists to butcher sportsmen from the Jewish state., in a way Indian RAW is more superior than German intelligence Agency. So Iran will never dare to nuke the Jewish state without losing at least 10 millions Iranian. Iran with deadly nuclear arsenals will fight its only rival Saudi Arabia for supremacy

 THE FIRE IN HELL. Saudi Arabia is constantly exporting Wahhabi and Salafis to different parts of Gray Area who preach Jihads, but Iran afraid of being surrounded by hostile elements would simply export its own brand of terrorists only to Gaza and Hamas controlled territory, as Iran has no poison in the form of Wahhabi and Salafis. Joe Biden knows that reconciliation with Iran and not economic sanction may prevent Iran from tilting to China and  Russia and thereby preventing a new variant of Cold War. But what an irony!. Iran has already tilted towards China and Russia and Saudi Arabia losing battle in Yemen has  frightened the Pentagon.

FINAL WORDS.

 The handsome Jewish youth who coined Messianic cult for Iranian regime was PM of the Jewish state. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and BenzamineNetanyaho were sincerely following the principle, Live and Die.

FEAR OF SHADOW, IMPEACHING TRUMP.

BY K P PASWAN

After swearing of Joe Biden as the new president of the mightiest nation of the earth, there was growing demand for Trump’s blood. Trump's opponents still, do not consider Coronavirus as a major threat  to the USA. but thought banning Trump for contesting presidential in 2024 more important. Constitutional obligations did not warrant such steps,as impeachment has been rejected.Further punishment if any, is unlikely to stand in a court of law. 

 Whether the presidential election was rigged or not, but the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump lost the election. Than who advised Trump, that the election was stolen by the Democrats? Certainly neither the Pentagon nor the department of justice. There was an attempt by Nancy Pelosi and her supporters to involve the Texas Senator Rafael Eduard Cruz and Senator Hawley for inciting the crowd to attack the Congress, on the morning of 6^th Jan, while a few Senators of Democratic party including  Bernie Sander  accused Donald Trump for instigating the crowd, little knowing that Trump was not present nor guided the ruffians to the path of the Congress. 

One particular American English channel has launched media trial against the former president by quoting again and again unproven facts. Credit goes to Jo Biden for maintaining studied silence. Nancy Pelosi's aim was to oust Donald Trump. She succeeded in her ambition, than why she is afraid of Trump's shadow. If Biden say that Impeachment was right, it does not mean he is serious.

JOE BIDEN.

He is the second Catholic president and perhaps more religious than John Kennedy, the first Catholic president of the USA, Biden is a seasoned politician who has witnessed many ups and down in American politics. He will have to face the reality. He needs funds to contain the coronavirus. But the pertinent question is the source of money for the rescue package, if he turns to internal borrowing, than he will have to overlook the philosophy of worthy Jerome Powell, the brilliant Chairman of the  Fed Reserve who fears inflation. 

Surprisingly an American English channel is openly supporting help package from China  An alternative for Biden will be to turn China, who is bound to  be overwhelmed and gladly will help USA. Trump was dead against such destructive idea. In fact there are reasons to believe that Trump was going to force China to write off the entire debt which US owed to China. Moreover such type of rescue package would helped illegal migrants. It is a stark reality that more than400000 illegal immigrants from Latin American countries smuggle themselves through the  desert bordering Arizona. At present more than one million (1000000)  undocumented residents  constitute higher percentage of illegal residents in the bordering states with Latin American nations. If Joe Biden considers this paradox, than he would be following the policy of Trump. Interestingly the Democrats are in favor of general amnesty to illegal immigrants Again in his executive order, Biden has openly advocated Made in America first and his executive order is nothing but Trump’s America first. Right now,more than 35000 illegal migrants, majority of them unaccompanied children from Mexico are waiting to enter USA and Biden has not shown any inclination to welcome them.

 RESCUE PACKAGE FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

Genuine citizens adversely affected by Wuhan virus need immediate attention. If more than 500000Americans died due to Corona virus in one year than by his own prediction, Biden says 'more than 200000,more Americans were going to die in next few months'. Biden is toeing the line of Trump. Indian immigrants legal or illegal are contributing to the economic growth, is evident from the high positions occupied by Indians in private firms. But illegal immigrants from Latin countries are mostly criminals,drug peddlers,and drug lords. Latin Americans political failure matters not just because of economic stagnation. Weak, deceitful and corrupt politicians risk, destroying the  flagging enthusiasm of genuine voters in several states of US. 

The Democrats were  favored over the Republicans on the issue of immigration and a strong push back on immigrants  beats Republicans attack by Ted Cruz, accusing Democrats of supporting illegal immigrants. If an honest Biden goes by these facts, he will have to forgive Trump even if it means rebuking Bernie Sanders,Nancy Pelosi and above all Alexandria Cortez and Omar Ilhan and Elizabeth Warren. A famous Democrat Senator once remarked ‘ If these illegal immigrants  work hard and keep their nose clean there should be a path of citizenship.

 BLACK LIVES MATTER.

 George Floyd was a criminal and drug addict, who avoided harsh punishment, simply admitting his guilt. He was brutally killed by a cop, and the killing ignited suppressed inferiority complex of the blacks. If we do remember Rodney Lever, a Black criminal who, a decode ago was king of the road and when he was beaten by the security forces, there was violent agitation and for the first the, president of US called the federal army to quell the violence. Everybody's life matters, irrespective of race and color  but everybody is required to obey laws. Gun culture in the US claims, every year a large number of innocent people but no body resort to violent agitation. 

 UNITED OR DIVIDED AMERICA.

President Biden has promised to unite the great nation, but his supporters are going in the opposite direction. Certainly the national unity is the primary concern for the victorious leaders, but one false move and the division is complete. So will the Democrat’s hardliners turn out to be a mistake? Erecting a long wall bordering Mexico was not inaugurated by Trump.In 2006 the Congress voted by  283 in favor of a wall and 138  opposing to construct  fence almost 20000 kms long border with Mexico. At that time Mexico was under the presidency, who was accused of receiving bribes from Mexican drug lords, the current president of Mexico is perhaps one of the honest politicians of the world and he is not opposing  erection of fence. Donald Trump hired more patrol agents and used  high technology to detect border crossing, Biden's supporters are dead against such moves of the former president, and want to ease the tension for the benefit of illegal immigrants which is going to become a strong vote bank in the coming mid term election for the Congress in 2022,Americans would be watching the  mid term election with interest. Because this midterm election may shape the political system of the US.

LEADERSHIP CRISIS. There is an acute crisis of leadership in the Democrats. The great Eugene McCarthy is dead but his philosophy still matters. The Democrats need another McCarthy. The Republicans do not has this problem. Trump is lost in the crowd and if emerges, he will have to adopt democratic ways to enter the W.H.

MUSLIMS CONUNDRUM.

Trump did not ban the entry of Muslims of  all Islamic countries He picked up a few, namely Iran, wherein Ayatollah and Mullahs are loathed by general public. Post revolution, the Iranians are highly educated, broad minded and women enjoy greater freedom unheard in Saudi Arabia. In Iran, it appear people, would continue to support Ayatollah khamenei, provided Mullahs do not interfere in their private life. Donald Trump simply tried to punish these Clerics. The same principle applies to other affected countries.Somalia a Muslim majority state has no government worth the name, a woman of Somali origin entered the US legally, became a citizen Illegally ,won the election as a Democrat for the Congress and now she wants to advice the Democrats  "how to run America".

AHEAD OF TIME AND POLITICAL ISOLATION.

Donald Trump was not a seasoned politician.  He has a history of marriages and divorces and rumored to have relations ship with several women. It is doubtful if he ever cared for the political party, he represented and reached the Capitol hill on his own. Hire and fire appears to have been an essential feature of his political philosophy. One of the blunders made by Trump was abandoning the Obama Health Care. It was a genuine attempt to provide less expensive medical care to all the Americans and Trump had no better alternatives. Professionals,seasoned politicians and career diplomats were hired in the morning only to be fired in the evening. Rex Tillerson,  Nikki Hailey and John Bolton were fired for no apparent reasons. He cared much for the US and less for the trusted Allies of US.  

POLITICAL ISOLATION.There is no dispute that NATO and the Security Council have become obsolete, but sudden downgrading of NATO and mocking of Security Council led to his political isolation. He was ahead of his time. Trump’s downgrading  of NATO by cutting expenses boosted the image of Russia by stipulating that Russia is no more a threat to Europe, but his actions also dampened the spirits of European allies, especially Germany which was saving 70% of cost incurred on NATO. China was not,. and still is not trusted anywhere in the world.  Trump’s love  and hate for China created a ground for a robust economic recovery of the US,for a while it appeared the US has achieved its glorious past, enjoyed before and after second world war, but all was lost by the arrival of Chinese virus. Political isolation and pandemic contributed his downfall.

CHINA NOT AN ENEMY.

 For both Trump and Biden, China is not an enemy and in the face of even a limited war between China and India the US will side with China. Fortunately, India is in the hand of a PM who is proving to be the last of the Mohican and in the case of 1962 like situations, the dictator Xi Jinping may meet his final match in the person of a hermit PM of India.The Dictator's(Xi jinping)  fumbled attempt to cover entire Africa and parts of Asia under its umbrella, show sign of nervousness and unlikely to succeed due to strong firewall created by India. Trump and Biden know that India has acquired capacity and capability to thwart the Chinese Strongman' any attempt to impose hegemony in the region. In extreme case of hostility( not likely), China may suffer unbearable collateral damage and the Chinese Dictator may find himself in a desert with no water.     

But economically India is far away from attaining status of Great Economic Power, despite a boon in Stock Market. A leading banker in China was executed for money laundering, but in India, money launderers, swindlers and tax evaders enjoy five star facility and rarely convicted There is no large scale migration of Techno giants of American and German origin from China to India. They are migrating to tiny Vietnam which has more of deadly Wet markets than Wuhan but the Corona did not originate in Vietnam. So like Trump, Biden by compulsion will have to  stand by India in distress. China is telling India " We are superiors and you kneel before us and India is giving damn attention

FINAL WORDS.

The present days US does not stay where it was in 1950/60.NASA is not the same,once headed by Berner Brown. Nancy Pelosi and Bernie Sander fear Trump's shadow but also fear their own shadow.Despite of these drawbacks,the world needs a dynamic and united US and certainly not the untrustworthy China.

 

 

LONE WOLF, GRAY AREAS.(updated)

 

 Religion Based Terrorism.

By K P PASWAN

Credit goes to FBI for coining these two terms, before defeating ISIS. Defeated but not out and still active as this ISIS is a philosophy espoused by a handful of religious lunatics and encouraged by autocrats of Middle East.

Lone wolf denotes a terrorist acting on  his own aided by his friends or family members, while Grey area includes whole of Europe America and a few other countries excluding India. Recent spurt in terrorists activities is universally attributed to radicalization of Islam, but views differ on this point. The great holocaust which witnessed slaughter of Jews is not religious based terrorism. In 1913 under Ottoman empire, the Armenians who are mostly Christians were systematically killed in large number, but it was declared as Genocide only in 2017, much to the charging to the contemporary Turkish politicians in  power  who are bent upon refuting such allegations.

There are certain group of people appearing on TV debate and declaring "Terrorists have no religion. They are wrong, every terrorist live and die for his religion", this is an universal truth.

RADICALIZATION.

Radicalization has aroused  massive public interest and is starting to resemble the anguished  debate all over the world. It is said that radicalization of Muslims began with the formation of Israel  and reached its zenith with Iranian revolution in 1979 Truth lies in between them. The late Ayatollah Rohilla Khumanie  stayed in France for a long time, enjoyed the hospitality of exiled Iranians  and prepared the ground of bloody revolution. Some of the world's dreaded terrorists have been nursed and trained in  countries like Great Britain, France Germany and the USA, whatever the precise reasons for growing radicalization of a section of Muslims, the row has unveiled tension in the West.

 MODERN EDUCATION. After the collapse of colonization, western system of education played an important role in the social life of Muslims of a few countries. Kemal Ata Turk was the first Muslim leader who completely westernized Turkey by replacing Sharia with western system of jurisprudence and kept tight control over Mosques and refused to submit to the whims of the Clerics of his time. Jawaharlal Nehru, the greatest of Statesman of his time and as the prime minister of India was greatly influenced by his philosophy.

RISE OF DICTATORS.

Rise of dictators like Munawar Gadhafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq inspired the Muslims youths to become more and more radicalized, but here we don't see  the rise of terrorism in the present form, Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein were devoted Muslims, but not communal, they had their own political philosophy based on their religious belief  and stuck to them till their end.They never indulged in killing of Yezidis or people belonging to other faith. Opponents of these dictators were mostly Muslims who were killed with callous brutality by Saddam Hussein and Gadafi.Even though Qaddafi was involved in Lockerbie air attack, but he never encouraged terror attack, as we see today.

RISE OF AL QAEDA AND ISIS BOKO HARAM.

Much has been written on Al Qaeda and Boko Ha ram, so our subject matter here is ISIS. After the US intervention in Iraq, seeds were shown for the up rise of ISIS. Iraq is predominantly a Shiite state with minority Sunnis always in limelight for wrong reasons.Saddam Hussein was an avowed Sunni  ruled Iraq with an iron hand. Sectarian divide was crushed with merciless cruelty. With the toppling of Saddam Hussein and the humiliation meted out to him after his capture, prepared the fertile ground of the emergence of ISIS. The trained soldiers of Saddam Hussein and his  Bath party occupied large swathe of territories belonging to Iraq and Syria. They snatched large oil fields from the US backed Govt of Al Nurie, the new PM of Iraq.

 One highly educated Islamic Sunni preacher Abu Bakr Baghdadi declared himself as Caliphate, but he needed a capital, which was impossible to build up in Iraq so they  turned to Syria, another country with mixed population. Roqqa a small city in Syria bordering Iraq is a strong hold of Sunnis, it is also known as Drug peddling center.. Rise of ISIS or DAESH is interesting as unlike Al Qaida which unleashed a reign of terror against the USA, culminating in dreaded attack on twin towers in the USA, ISIS has a well coordinated and long term planning to unite the entire Islamic world.

ROQQA.

Roqqa made a prefect capital for the self appointed Caliphate Baghdadi, who was initially helped by USA, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other small autocrats of the middle east. With so many oil fields under its control, the ISIS became the richest terror organization in the world. In 2015 the total wealth of ISIS was estimated as 2 Trillion pound generating 2.9 billion pound per year. Such terrific wealth attracted the notorious arms dealers of the West and the USA. The result was that the ISIS Jihadist  had in their possession more deadly killing machines than the combined armed forces of Iraq and Syria. Daesh was regarded as the most brutal radicals receiving support from oil rich countries. Saudis are famous for patronizing the extreme form of Wahhabi, which constitute  the fundamental ideology of the ISIS. Abu Al Bakr Baghdadi was notorious for living a romantic life, but such a life in a fast lane proved fatal to him. With systematic elimination of  ISIS,Baghdadi"position  became a football being kicked out from  this end to that end, but the death of Baghdadi has not seen any substantial reduction in terror attack.

SUPREMACY OF SCRIPTURES.

There is no logic  for discussing the basis of theology  with the Radicals, that put stress on revelations and its tenants are not open to reinterpretation. There are Islamic theologians who are uncompromising in their attitude  like Salafi and Wahhabi and are responsible  for the radicalization of innocent Muslims youths from Sunnis majority states. Bellicose utterances of some of the hard core preachers  of Salafi ideologue  has created enough rancor in  Central Asia. Without generous funding no radical groups can flourish and  ISIS is the product of such funding. But sooner or later the so called Arabic Spring is going to have negative impact  upon the political system in the middle east.

 Revenue from oil also known as petro dollars cannot be the fundamental of an emerging economy. Crown Prince,  MSB of Saudi Arabia, attempt to invite foreign investment is a right step to boost economy. But any attempt to democratization of oil rich Saudi Arabia and other countries  with a dose of secularism cannot succeed unless Wahhabi and Salafism are either tamed or neutralised,the process has started as is evident from a series of social reforms under taken by the dynamic Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE WEST.

It is wrong to assume that  oil exploration by the USA and the WEST led to the exploitation of Muslim youths. Barring exception all these  oil rich Islamic nations are being ruled by  self elected or self appointed autocrats and capricious monarchs, who as per their religious edicts are directly responsible to GOD.  Impressive infrastructures created  by the western powers in oil rich countries like Saudi Arabia,Libya,Iraq and other smaller Islamic states  failed in equitable distribution of wealth  among the poor Muslims of other Islamic nations  resulting in mass exodus of poor Muslims to the West. Growing unemployment in these Islamic countries contributed to a rise in  crimes,drugs trafficking and other social evils and made Muslim youths vulnerable  to the appeal of religious extremism. Since  Emirs and political elites in these countries are corrupt there was enough scope for the western powers  to meddle in internal politics of these Sheikhdoms. Any talk of social reforms  were resisted by the fanatics for whom these reforms meant weakness

NEW LIBERALS.

Doubts were raised about true teachings of this great religion like the status of women in Islam. As a result,  a large number of Muslim scholars belonging to Egypt, Algeria and other countries commented brilliantly and these commentaries in the form of books were made available to  the general public.These revelations resulted in healthy debates, and are not liked by certain orthodox clerics as their views run contrary to the interpretations of these great scholars. 

AN ERA OF CONFLICTS

The liberals are publicly outraged, but privately pleased to paint Saudi Arabia as intolerant zealots, seeking to impose  poison of Wahhabi upon the non believers. There is no escape from religious based terrorism. Liberal democracy with liberal society in the West  are the source of inspiration for these radicals. Preachers of hate can grow in countries like Great Britain,France,Germany,Netherland and a few others but not in a Sunni majority or a Shiite majority state.

 Whatever the precise reasons  for growing radicalization of a section of  Muslims , the row has unveiled tension in the West. Under Joe Biden the USA is likely to come closer to Iran and a furious Saudi Arabia  may go to any extent  to preserve its supremacy over other Sunni majority countries Saudi Arabia and its allies cannot afford to sustain prolonged Sunni- Shiite conflict  in the face of a formidable challenge from a Shiite Iran. In absence of a central authority, Iran is calling the shot while Saudi Arabia is engaged in fruitless war with Yamen It is Iran and not Saudi Arabia which is calling the shot.

Saudi Arabia as defender of Islam.

Saudi Arabia has declared itself as the sole defender of Islam, but it also means discarding old values and helping poor Muslims of other countries. Much to the dismay of Pakistan and Turkey, the young Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia has taken certain steps to attend these problems. Islamic nations need leaders like Al Sisi of Egypt, King of Monaco, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince of UAE. Sunni majority states also need to  discard opportunists like Erdogan of Turkey for preaching hate and Imran Khan of Pakistan for preaching the virtue of Pakistan's nuclear a

 Donald Trump was right in saying 'The world was a safer place with Qaddafi and Saddam Hussein. There is no justification for blaming West and USA for the rise of radical Islam. USA  has always been interested in toppling unstable, democratically or undemocratic ally elected Govts. Think about Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and prolonged sectarian killing in the middle east and internal bickering among the family of autocrats. The ISIS kidnapped a large number of persons belonging to the family of the ruler of Qatar and released them after receiving huge ransom.Boko Ha ram is engaged in kidnapping of school going girls for exploitation and releasing them  after getting handsome ransom. Democracy and Autocracy are poles apart but surprisingly need each other to flourish.

FINAL THOUGHT Islamic concept of universal brotherhood  has to be preserved and respected by people of different faiths.Liberal Muslims are  the greatest challenge to the army of fanatics who are faraway from pragmatism of  modern scientific era and are doing great harm to their faith. 

LAST WORDS.

We have to learn to stay with the Lone Wolf. Electronics media,Internet,Facebook Twitter etc. are enemies to radicals, they cannot go to Gray Area to spread the poison of hate and terrorism.Lone Wolf is like a variant of mutation of Corona virus, mutate and get killed.

RISE AND RISE OF CHINA( Updated)

\

By K P PASWAN

Napoleon once roared "I am the revolution " but he destroyed revolution, next he denounced Great Britain as a nation of shop keepers. But the nation of shopkeepers colonized more than half of this planet In the first decade of 21st century, the same Great Britain became fifth economic power of the world. 

 Now enters USA, a country of legal or illegal immigrants from all over the world.  Smugglers,  hardened criminals, drugs traffickers and money launderers from neighboring countries self smuggled to USA in search of better life.  

CHINA.

China has never been declared a nation of opium eaters, even though Opium war was fought in China, but now this country is a formidable rival of USA in  economic affairs. China is  ruled by a nasty   overambitious  politician Xi Jinping who  is devoting most of his political energy to ensuring that his ideology  prevail in the country This, if you like  call it as democratic recommendation.  Xijinping is struggling with widespread  passive resistance to his economic reforms.

GOLDEN HANDSHAKE.

  Structural change in Chinese politics coupled with extraordinary economic reform are being attributed to Richard Nixon's visit to China on 21st Feb 1972.

In 1971, in the month of Feb the than US president visited China, and  had a closed door meeting with Mao Zedong. Nixon was accompanied by Henry Kissinger. William Rogers the secretary of state was kept outside of the meeting. This surprised even the Mandarins. William Rogers had his own opinion and after Dean Rusk is regarded as one of the most talented Secretary of State of America.Any way after meeting with ageing Mao, Nixon proudly declared ‘The world has changed’. He was right, in the course of time China became America’s number one strategic concern, Henry Kissinger was afraid of economic threat, posed by Japan. and needed partners not only to counter USSR but also Japan and India.

 Surprisingly meeting between two adversaries Nixon and Mao was facilitated by Pakistan. After a gap of fifty years, China as a fastest economic and military power could become a menace if China remains unchecked. The duo Nixon and Kissinger started a new era, ending an era of conflicts and ending the dream of than USSR to rule the world and above all ending political isolation of China. Jimmy Carter established diplomatic relationship with China, opening the door for Chinese. Richard Nixon is no longer, but Henry Kissinger in his late 90s is more popular in China than late Mao.

Joe Biden.

In the month of Jan 2021, new occupant of the Oval Office saw China in the hands of capitalists masqueraded as communists. But there is a not subtle but wide difference. In China if there are 100 coffins than 99 are for corrupt politicians and bureaucrats, just opposite to countries with an open democracy. Biden’s aim is to ensure that China plays by democratic rules/values but an honest XiJingpin,  if even slightly adopt or follows undefined democratic rules than nothing prevents CHINA  going to pre FEB 71, when the hard core and corrupt communists were looting the country. Unlike China, USSR, instead of achieving economic parity with USA, it became a power in space, ignoring half starved people on the surface. China pursuing European model of market is clearly eyeing to rule and dictate the economy of the world, so long as other nations like a vibrant Japan, a new India and Brazil don’t pose danger to its dream. Bilateral relations with US remains volatile punctuated by crushing pro democracy demonstrations in Hongkong and threat to invade Taiwan.

 China’s huge trade surplus with US and export of missiles technology to Iran and Pakistan are matter of concern. An open democracy is imperative for economic growth, but China is not a democratic country. We must not forget that the USA in 1970s feared that USSR would be ruling the world as the later achieved nuclear and military capacity at per with USA. So not a real military war, but a cold war started  and inaugurated jointly by these two countries. The USSR, ruled by Stalin was denounced as iron curtain from which nothing escapes. But consistency is not a strong point in international politics. USSR collapsed, communism disappeared and modern Russia emerged.  China became another  iron curtain . A failed ideology Communism became umbrella of Chinese capitalists reared and educated in America.

End of Mao's Era.

China is not poised to return to central planning reminiscent of Mao’s era.  XiJinping is also not likely to be airbrushed as was seen in the case of his predecessor. In the last fifty years China has changed faster than any nation. Economic has lifted hundred of millions out of poverty and above all Communist party has oscillated. between moment of cutting edge  ambition and old style ideological control and Corruption. Wuhan virus has savagely mauled American and EU economy, but both EU and the US are pathetically  reluctant to clamp even mild  sanctions.

 China must be punished even if  punishment is unlikely to change its ways.China could be guided gradually  towards political openness and economic sanity. America' good relations with China, are  worth sacrificing  for the bigger aim of preventing  a chain reaction of proliferation across south east Asia.

HATED LEADERS.

We have seen leaders of underdeveloped countries now being eyed by China, meet at regular interval, however these leaders are unpopular in their own countries.  These under developed nations, now friends of China, are suffering from rising prices, slower economic growth and sharp decline in their national power. Complex fragmented  domestic politics are capable of  combining their diverse national assets diplomatic, militarily, and humanitarian to pursue their interests beyond their shores.

 But why these under developed nations? It is so because political and economic corruption. Corrupt politician once in power with enough resources at his/her disposal  pay armies, bribes judges,  rig election and even resort mass killing of opponents to stay in power. Building an honest state is hard. China thinks it is the most trustworthy nation in the world and the rest of the world thinks exactly the opposite, China’s overseas economic expansion has given rise to charges of expansionist. 

 In EU and even in Latin America, there is apprehension that cheap Chinese goods   will destroy local business, but there is no alternative readily available to political leadership in these countries.  Stark reality is that Chinese brand is weak not trusted overseas, China’s support of Pakistan and closeness to Iran are  cast not as economic necessities, but a way to counter India. With more than one Trillion in currency reserves, what options remain for Jinjong?He may dream,  to dictate  the world and become living manifestation of destiny, target being USA.

          

STRANGE CASE OF COVID (COVID--19 FROM NOWHERE.) (Update on 14th Feb)

By K P Paswan.

We are not on the verge of winning the battle against the brutal Coronavirus which appeared from nowhere in the month of Dec2019. Even after a lapse of more than five years new variants are being emerged infacting people whether vaccinated or not.During this period entire human race was under the grip of fear psychosis. We witnessed our beloved ones die in a worst possible manner. We also witnessed President  of the most  mightiest nation of our solar system standing helpless before the brutal virus. The worst is over but who knows the psychopath  emerging in another form, the human race is ready to stay one step ahead of this man made virus.

 Corona virus named as Covid 19 was perhaps the greatest threat to human race.There is no example in history of the world,sudden emergence of lethal virus engulfing the entire world within short period. Here we are concerned with Covid 19,the origin of which is not shrouded in mystery. China is responsible for exporting this lethal virus to cover the entire world. Politicians and virologists all over the world expect, theories of origin of the deadly virus to make sense, after all random tragedies simply don’t.The Corona virus offers of death, visited on the  undeserving without discernible pattern. So some of the noted Virologists and politicians all over the world take somethings of a risk,when they point finger to China and named the virus as Wuhan virus.

 NO EFFECTIVE DRUGS were available until, when  vaccines were introduced in US in 2020 In absence of any effective drugs, certain  guidelines like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and washing hands proved highly beneficial to society.However Vaccines and oral drugs are in the markets which are proving effective enough to destroy the virus. Mutation of virus is presenting opportunity to scientists to manufacture effective tools  to crush and defeat the virus.

ORIGIN. The theory pertains to Wet Market in Wuhan in China. In this wet market, every type of animal is being sold and slaughtered for human consummation. This is most talked about theory, but not without its opponents. It is so because more deadly Wet Markets are  found in Vietnam, but nobody accuses Vietnam of manufacturing the virus. But the Wuhan Wet market also caters to the needs of a nearby research laboratory, known as Wuhan Research Institute of Virology, which is also funded by US to encourage research in required field. Most probably the virus escaped from this laboratory.

SPECULATION.The Corona is  man made virus. According to this view, a group of virologists and other scientists were deliberately trying to manufacture lethal virus for medical purpose. Something went wrong and the virus leaked out of this laboratory. When situation went out of control, the Govt announced the emergence of virus, but by than the deadly virus travelled throughout the world. This speculation is also known as Conspiracy theory, WHO believed, till the end of December 2020, that the virus could not transmit from one human to another. That was the greatest blunder and this resulted in  heavy causalitie., 

WHO persistently denies the allegations, but at least we are certain that WHO failed to fulfill the obligations, for which this body was created. This speculation is  not supported by any specific proofs. Disclosing information by some of the scientists working at the Wuhan Research Lab  risked violating nebulous secrecy  and some of the scientists disappeared mysteriously and a few fled to safe sanctuary in USA. Moreover despite of lower fatalities, China is witnessing surge after surge in Covid cases. Winter Olympics in China is being held without spectators. In near future, we may not be able to know the truth, as the ruling elite in China is not telling anything associated with origin of virus.  China has advanced a theory that the lethal virus emerged either in India or Australia and China simply reported the outbreak of the pandemic, but there is no taker of this theory.

DANGEROUS MUTATION.

Corona virus named as Corona 19 by WHO, forced lock down or restrictions in almost every country of this planet, resulting in economic stagnation. Corona infection allowed the people to die in a  worst possible manner. Acute shortage of coffins resulted in throwing dead bodies  wrapped in plastic bags  Dead human being  were thrown into graves or burning chambers, thus making a mockery of good burial or cremation. There are sufficient data to reveal that infected persons, even after complete recovery, developed depression and post Covid complications, for which further treatment was necessitated. More dangers are seen in emerging new variants, which first seen in South Africa and carried away by air  to Great Britain and other countries. This new variant is( Omicron) spreading fast and is highly contagious. Research show that vaccines are effective against variants reported from different countries. 

 DRUGS,HOPES,AND DESPAIR.

Scientists specialized in virology,  give human disease  to small animals like mice to learn what has gone avry. Sometimes results are so accurate that even it surprises the scientists. Such is the case of vaccines for Corona virus that has helped to identify, promising a new treatment for people A large number of drugs are also repurposed. Antivirals are successfully applied to treat the infection and one of them Chloroquine( not an anti viral but anti malaria) was hailed as game changer. Vaccines attributes, depend upon the types of technological methods  like DNA, mRNA, Viral Vectors etc.  Simultaneously a number of drugs like anti viral and anti parasitic are being repurposed, but the critics are uneasy. These drugs, they fear will turn out to be merely modern medicine’s root de  jour, a scientifically unproven preparations that are at best useless. But Doctors and patients are two different groups and even as concerns are raised, mRNA popularity continues to grow.

Recently Pfizer, the pharma giant which introduced first mRNA vaccine introduced oral pills named as Paxolovid which completely treats infected persons. These oral drugs are going to be game changers. Its efficacy is nearly88%. But it suffers from  limited production and is too expensive and poor cannot afford. Merc another pharma giant introduced Molnuravir which is less than 45% efficient.

It appears that ultimate treatment of infected person is Monoclonal antibodies.

mRNA. Unlike Corona vaccines based on weakened, inactivated, viral vectors etc, development of which is time consuming, mRNA is a different  technology which was held as destroyer of many diseases, including dreaded Cancer in 1970s, but lack of fund prevented further research. In 1980 there was a dramatic change in the application of mRNA. Katlin Kariko, a Hungarian migrant to US suffered many ups and down and later on suffered from cancer. She is a biologist and attracted her attention to mRNA.She realized that swapping out Uri dine one of mRNA letters  avoided causing inflammation without compromising code.Her research was seen by Derrick Rosie co founder of Mode-RNA. And we have Corona vaccines manufactured by Pfizer in collaboration with another firm of Germany. mRNA may be utilized to create antigen for Cancer and now there wont be any problem of funding.We may anticipate not only eradication of Covid19 but also effective drugs for Cancer.

RACIAL CONUNDRUM.Covid 19 does not distinguish between rich and poor, with or without co morbidity, but it has a special affinity for certain groups of people. In USA, this lethal virus has infected and killed more Blacks, Hispanics, Indians and people of South Asian region than the whites. In USA the Corona 19, has infected the Blacks hard.Why it does not fall? The answer lies with people who are Corona positive, but don't know. Doctors hope that by making Corona test routine, they would reduce infection. FDA, before giving approval to vaccines developed by MODERNA made searching queries, and the scientists had to satisfy the FDA regarding efficacy of vaccines to these groups of people. The same is the case in Europe where a large number of legal or illegal migrants in UK,France and Germany are falling victims to Covid. It is also seen that those political heads of nations who mocked Covid 19 virus have suffered terribly and continued to suffer like Brazil, Great Britain and even USA.

SOMETHING FROM NOTHING.In the case of Covid we have something(Vaccines) from the virus. This is a pleasant surprise. But we have learned the lesson from Influenza breakout in 1918 in US, which claimed more deaths than Covid 19.In absence of modern drugs ,wearing masks and excellent care in hospital contained the influenza. The pandemic had adverse effect on the than president of USA, Woodrow Wilson who was infected, recovered but he was a changed president at the time of formation of League of nations, it is presumed that the infection had adverse effect upon him.

 New  variants in UK, South Africa, Brazil and India are spreading with lightening speed, reducing, even the efficacy of vaccines. Fortunately mRNA based vaccines are giving extraordinary chase to virus.  In India the situation became grim due to acute shortage of Oxygen, which was not anticipated even by top virologists and doctors. Surge  of pandemic in certain states of India was causing concern and might  be attributed to false claim of herd immunity, being spread by virologists, whose credentials are being questioned. Now vaccine is likely to be updated  and new vaccines with increased efficacy are likely to flood the markets in near future, so it is possible to contain the spread of virus by mass vaccination on war footing. 

OMICRON. This is the latest variant of Coronavirus and first detected in South Africa. This has replaced the Alpha, Beta and most deadly Delta plus variant. As per data collected from countries engulfed by this variant, Omicron is highly transmissible but less lethal than Delta plus. Few deaths have been reported but Omicron has become dominant strain  in US, UK, France and other European countries. Unvaccinated people are likely to face death in and outside of hospital. There is no scientific consciousness but it is clear that Coronavirus is not over.

It is generally presumed that we may need yearly booster or precautionary dose of vaccines to defeat the pandemic.

Brequinar a new drug based on Nucleoside biosynthesis inhibitors, perhaps is going to be the last nail in to the coffin of deadly virus. The drug is under trial with 100% success rate. The promoter of this  anti viral drug is convinced  the ability of the human race to fight for survival. This drug may be less costly and cures the infected person of any variant at any stage.

ORAL VACCINES.Trial of oral vaccines have been reported from US. Phase one and phase second trial demonstrate wonderful and favourable result. Oral vaccines are meant for preventing the infection and not for treating the infected persons,

It is unfortunate that US which gave us vaccines and oral pills are struggling to contain the virus while India with only two vaccines is doing far better. China appears to be main beneficiary as its export has increased by 25%. Vaccines mandate is being opposed by a large section of people in US. President Biden is more interested in economic sanctions against Russia for imaginary invasion on Ukraine than  containing Coronavirus. 

Conclusion.

 In 2021 we have advance technology with two years of experience, we  how to fight the coronavirus and we have fought successfully.We have effective vaccines, advent of these vaccines based on sophisticated and  new technology have averted an apocalyptic end of the human race.New lethal variant of Covid is responding to vaccines with reduced efficacy, but are effective enough in containing human transmission of the virus.

more  such events in future.