Thomas friedman's perspective
http://www.deccan.com/Columnists/Columnists.asp?#Buffett%20and%20Hezbollah
Israel-Hezbollah War
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- akshay
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The US cannot lead the world anymore
By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor
By Duraid Al Baik, Foreign Editor
The Israeli war against Lebanon has destroyed the last vestige of honour that the US could use to justify its hegemony.
The world's only superpower that became a decisive force following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, has yet again failed to assume its ethical responsibilities towards a small nation like Lebanon.
It acted in favour of the aggressor leaving the victim to face its deadly fate. Who can trust the US not to repeat the same scenario on a larger scale?
The facts that have emerged in the current war should prompt the world to unite in its search for a different system in order to stop the irresponsible management of world crises that threaten to destroy human civilisation.
The conclusion from the four-week-old war against Lebanon is that the US would have defended the Lebanese had Syria assaulted them, but Israel can create havoc in the country and destroy the nation with full backing from the US.
This morally ill and unjust attitude by a superpower should have no place in the world of the 21st century.
Whatever little moral gains the US achieved from its initiative to end the ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and its strong support to spread democracy all over the world have worn off quickly in the last three years as a result of the poor performance of the US army in Iraq regarding its adherence to human rights.
The remnants of the positive US image have completely eroded in the past four weeks due to its biased stand in Lebanon that has resulted in the committing of the world's most disgusting war crimes.
No one can believe how the US administration has inflicted such a degree of damage to its own image while claiming to work on winning the hearts and minds of people in the region.
The damage that has wrecked the US image around the world by way of the US administration is more damaging than the work of any of its enemies or the efforts invested by all of its enemies.
The neoconservative team in the White House in cooperation with the new Kadima gang in Israel have inflicted dents to the US image in the world that are beyond repair, by any means.
In the aftermath of the war on Lebanon, the world should look into ways to prevent this from happening again anywhere, because allowing such acts of aggression to occur elsewhere in the world, would mean that the current decade of the 21st century would witness the end of all that mankind has achieved since the First World War.
Military support
Apart from crippling the United Nations Security Council from making what has been always an obvious and automatic choice against conflicts in the world an immediate ceasefire the US has supplied Israel with all its military needs to kill children and women.
The Qana and Al Qaa massacres were just examples of how precise and intelligent the war machine of the US in Israelis hands can be. This happened in front of TV cameras and was transmitted live all over the world.
In addition to helping the defence forces, the US administration has also decided to give the aggressor ample time to finish the job and prevented any political solution to the crisis.
It was only when the US realised that there would be no military solution to the conflict that it offered the friendly government of Lebanon what it called a single basket resolution to stop aggression.
It seems that the US has consciously decided to wreck the world's security organisations and violate the international laws in order to highlight that its might and power is above any law.
This has become evident after 9/11 through its secret prisons and in Guantanamo as well as in the current Israeli war against Lebanon. There were plenty of other better choices for the US to achieve its goals while adhering to international law.
The US could have supplied Israel with the weapons and the intelligence it needed while allowing the Security Council to call for a ceasefire.
It could have indulged in its diplomacy by talking about peace while waiting for the Israeli army to finish the job and it could have told Israel that the war cannot be expanded to involve foreign civilian workers who came to help the Lebanese harvest their crops.
Instead, the US opted to allow Israel to commit its crimes with no remorse. I wonder what would have been the reaction of the US if the 26 workers murdered in Al Jabali farm in Al Qaa were not Syrian and if the murdererer was not Israel?
The world is going through times similar to those that resulted in the dissolving of the League of Nations (1919-1945) because of its failure to stop the Second World War.
The United Nations was formed in 1945 to implement international laws and enhance security and economic developments and social equity in the world. The current management of the world suggests that the UN has fallen short of achieving the reasons for its existence.
The world's major powers other than the US, including the EU, Russia, China, Japan and Canada should sit and discuss the security in the world and how war crimes have actually surged since the US launched its war against terrorism.
The rational world's leaders must come up with a better formula to manage human societies instead of leaving them at the mercy of the US and its Jezebel state of Israel.
The world's wise men should act now. Waiting for the results of the upcoming elections in the US to see a neoconservative out of power may prove to be too late to save the safety and the security of the world.
I have an attitude and I am not afraid to use it.
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Cragg - Level 1 Star User
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ISrael using chemical weapons
Doesnt this remind of the accusations thrown to the Nazis for doing these things to jews.
July 13, 2006
Gulf News
Dubai: A doctor at a Palestinian hospital has accused Israel of using a type of chemical ammunition which causes burns and injuries in soft tissue and cannot be traced by X-ray.
Chemical or depleted uranium could have been used in producing the new type of ammunition according to Dr Jomaa Al Saqqa, head of the Emergency Unit at Gaza's main medical facility, the Al Shifa Hospital.
In a telephone interview, Al Saqqa told Gulf News that operation Summer Rain was not just the code name of a military operation launched by Israel against Gaza since June 26.
"It is a live exercise on a new ammunition that, so far, has resulted in killing 50 Palestinians and injuring 200," he said.
He said he was not yet sure about the kind of chemical being used because the Israeli Army had bombed the only criminal laboratory in Gaza on the first day of the assault.
Dr Saqqa who has been working in the Al Shifa Hospital for almost 10 years said he had never seen such wounds before.
At the beginning of the Summer Rain operation I noticed that people's wounds looked strange.
I thought it was just because the attack was from a close distance or that the temperature of bullets penetrating the bodies of injured or killed people were so high they were causing burns.
I later found out that all wounds referred to the hospital since the start of the operation were very similar.
"I also noticed that despite the damage in internal soft tissue in the bodies of injured people, the fragments were not detected by X-ray. In other words, they had disappeared or dissolved inside the body."
Al Saqqa urged the international health authorities to come to Gaza and check the wounds of people in Al Shifa Hospital.
"The situation is very bad because out of the 200 injuries there are 50 children who are suffering badly because of their internal wounds caused by the new kind of ammunition," he said.
Gulf News contacted the spokesman for the Israeli Army but he was not available for comment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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I have an attitude and I am not afraid to use it.
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Cragg - Level 1 Star User
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Mission Unaccomplished
Mission unaccomplished
By George S. Hishmeh,
George Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
By George S. Hishmeh,
Whatever course will be taken to end the carnage and destruction in southern Lebanon following Israel's bloody and disproportionate overreaction, the Bush administration's high-sounding objectives in the Middle East that it has set for itself democracy and freedom will remain unaccomplished, if not the laughing stock of all.
If there is any hope for a sound regional settlement, it will not come before a new US administration in three years time.
The fumbling that took place, particularly in the last month, underlines the failure of the Bush administration (and its Israeli partner, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert) to learn from the experiences of its predecessors.
The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong.
Likewise has been Hezbollah's performance in yesteryears when it compelled Israel to withdraw unceremoniously from southern Lebanon.
Had Washington digested this historic lesson it would not have given the "green light" to Israel's inexperienced prime minister and his colourless defence minister, Amir Peretz, who were bent to show their mettle but were humiliated in the process.
According to some reliable accounts, Olmert had promised his American idols that he would subdue Hezbollah in a week's time.
The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.
In fact, the Arab governments who were initially critical of Hezbollah's daring actions have in the end come around sheepishly to support their kith and kin.
But it is the rationale of US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, as enunciated at their unscheduled press conference earlier last week in the American leader's vacation home in Crawford, Texas, that baffled their listeners.
They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution.
The draft resolution, surprisingly supported by the French government, called for an "immediate cessation of all attacks by Hezbollah" while Israel was only asked to stop "offensive military operations" a point the two American leaders stressed repeatedly.
They also used the words "root cause" 11 times in describing Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers as the incident that triggered the border war but not once did they recognise that Israel's colonialist policies, whether in holding Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners or the occupation of Arab lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon as the main factor.
Abduction
Even the abduction last week of patients (one an alleged Hezbollah operative) from a hospital in Ba'albek, a barbaric action in itself, or the abduction of the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, from his home in Ramallah was not met with any condemnation from the White House or the State Department.
Even if one were to compare the death toll on either side, it is noteworthy that the Lebanese have suffered more civilian deaths.
Whatever, Hezbollah is there to stay, certainly as a daunting political force inside Lebanon and the sooner the world adjusts to that the better for all. Whether it keeps its arms should be a matter left for the Lebanese government, and its preference is well known.
Prime Minster Fouad Siniora's offer (backed by the two Hezbollah cabinet members) to send 15,000 Lebanese troops to the border area, north of Israel, was a master stroke.
There is no excuse for anyone to turn down his proposal which hinges on Israel's willingness to promptly withdraw its troops from the areas that they managed to hold after nearly four weeks of fighting.
It is high time the US and Israel, as demonstrated in Lebanon, abandon their ill-conceived and arms-twisting approaches in resolving international problems which so far have not yielded any glorious results for either.
History, no doubt, will bear me out.
George Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
I have an attitude and I am not afraid to use it.
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Cragg - Level 1 Star User
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- Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:57 pm
Pretty interesting Information abt George W Bush
George Walker Bush is the ANTI-CHRIST. The violence and destruction that began when Bush first entered office, is now certain to culminate in the apocalypse, as predicted in the Bible over 2,000 years ago.
by R. Stephen Hanchett
Pretty interesting Information and analysis abt George W Bush
http://www.bushisantichrist.com/
Its not my view . Its an american's .May or maynot be true But its a good analysis .To all the supporters of Bush wordlwide and the helpless americans who do not have any say whatever in what their country does outside.
I have an attitude and I am not afraid to use it.
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Cragg - Level 1 Star User
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:57 pm
Israel enemies of the world
well, I can c that this thread of discussion on this forum was started by some a**holes pro-israelies, but some of the members have presented the truth & some hardfacts abt israel on how they are threat to the whole man-kind.
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Chote_Nawab - Registered User
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Re: Israel enemies of the world
Chote_Nawab wrote:well, I can c that this thread of discussion on this forum was started by some a**holes pro-israelies, but some of the members have presented the truth & some hardfacts abt israel on how they are threat to the whole man-kind.
you sound more like chootya nawab rather than chote nawab....pile on into the bigoted terrorists camp.
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
- akshay
- Registered User
- Posts: 262
- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:58 pm
- Location: ramcastle
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
Cragg wrote:Mission unaccomplished
By George S. Hishmeh,Whatever course will be taken to end the carnage and destruction in southern Lebanon following Israel's bloody and disproportionate overreaction, the Bush administration's high-sounding objectives in the Middle East that it has set for itself democracy and freedom will remain unaccomplished, if not the laughing stock of all.
If there is any hope for a sound regional settlement, it will not come before a new US administration in three years time.
The fumbling that took place, particularly in the last month, underlines the failure of the Bush administration (and its Israeli partner, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert) to learn from the experiences of its predecessors.
The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong.
Likewise has been Hezbollah's performance in yesteryears when it compelled Israel to withdraw unceremoniously from southern Lebanon.
Had Washington digested this historic lesson it would not have given the "green light" to Israel's inexperienced prime minister and his colourless defence minister, Amir Peretz, who were bent to show their mettle but were humiliated in the process.
According to some reliable accounts, Olmert had promised his American idols that he would subdue Hezbollah in a week's time.
The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.
In fact, the Arab governments who were initially critical of Hezbollah's daring actions have in the end come around sheepishly to support their kith and kin.
But it is the rationale of US President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, as enunciated at their unscheduled press conference earlier last week in the American leader's vacation home in Crawford, Texas, that baffled their listeners.
They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution.
The draft resolution, surprisingly supported by the French government, called for an "immediate cessation of all attacks by Hezbollah" while Israel was only asked to stop "offensive military operations" a point the two American leaders stressed repeatedly.
They also used the words "root cause" 11 times in describing Hezbollah's abduction of two Israeli soldiers as the incident that triggered the border war but not once did they recognise that Israel's colonialist policies, whether in holding Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners or the occupation of Arab lands in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon as the main factor.
Abduction
Even the abduction last week of patients (one an alleged Hezbollah operative) from a hospital in Ba'albek, a barbaric action in itself, or the abduction of the speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, from his home in Ramallah was not met with any condemnation from the White House or the State Department.
Even if one were to compare the death toll on either side, it is noteworthy that the Lebanese have suffered more civilian deaths.
Whatever, Hezbollah is there to stay, certainly as a daunting political force inside Lebanon and the sooner the world adjusts to that the better for all. Whether it keeps its arms should be a matter left for the Lebanese government, and its preference is well known.
Prime Minster Fouad Siniora's offer (backed by the two Hezbollah cabinet members) to send 15,000 Lebanese troops to the border area, north of Israel, was a master stroke.
There is no excuse for anyone to turn down his proposal which hinges on Israel's willingness to promptly withdraw its troops from the areas that they managed to hold after nearly four weeks of fighting.
It is high time the US and Israel, as demonstrated in Lebanon, abandon their ill-conceived and arms-twisting approaches in resolving international problems which so far have not yielded any glorious results for either.
History, no doubt, will bear me out.
George Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist. He can be contacted at ghishmeh@gulfnews.com
No wonder your thoughts are screwed and bigoted. Look at the bias in the words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and the article. ofcourse you cant see for you are blinded by your emotion.
The author hardly tries to restrain his glee when he says things like "The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong. ", "The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.",
"They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution."
Ofcourse that is the right intent...as of now hezbollah and all other similar bollahs are totally unaccountable for their attrocities. No soverign country should ever help militias run their border...period.
Israel has made it clear that once an international force sactioned by UN starts patroling the border it will stop the defensive offense and call back its military. I dont see what is so hegemonic in asking for international patroling in a place from which israel is being attacked by militias beyond the control of elected governments of beirut.
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
- akshay
- Registered User
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- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:58 pm
- Location: ramcastle
attrocities
http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html
just go to this site and u will get 2 noe who is right n who is wrong!!!!
just go to this site and u will get 2 noe who is right n who is wrong!!!!
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israeli's r nt human - Registered User
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- Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:50 pm
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
akshay wrote:
No wonder your thoughts are screwed and bigoted. Look at the bias in the words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and the article. ofcourse you cant see for you are blinded by your emotion.
The author hardly tries to restrain his glee when he says things like "The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong. ", "The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.",
"They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution."
Ofcourse that is the right intent...as of now hezbollah and all other similar bollahs are totally unaccountable for their attrocities. No soverign country should ever help militias run their border...period.
Israel has made it clear that once an international force sactioned by UN starts patroling the border it will stop the defensive offense and call back its military. I dont see what is so hegemonic in asking for international patroling in a place from which israel is being attacked by militias beyond the control of elected governments of beirut.
Well Akshay. Imagine the situation is between India & China in place of Israel and Lebanon.
1) China attacks India on the pretext that we are helping Tibet. (Imagine that some Buddhists on the border fired some missiles etc. and we are not able to keep them under control)
2) China bombs Delhi and Bombay and the whole country.
3) China bombs the highways and factories, and hospitals and schools. About 250,000 people get murdered.
3) India suffers an economical loss of 1/4 th of the GDP (1 trillion US dollars)
4) China then insists that it will continue occupying Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh until an international force arrives there !
5) A delegation of US, France and UK arrives here and keep their military across the entire Northern border of India.
Would you be happy after all this ??
Both Lebanon and India are multicultural, multi ethnic countries. Israel and China are uniformist, uni-cultural countries.
Don't you see the parallel ? Do you think India would accept to such a resolution ? Doesn't it sound ridiculous ???
Why not keep the UN forces "inside" Israel instead of Lebanon ?
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vakibs - Registered User
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Re: attrocities
israeli's r nt human wrote:http://www.halturnershow.com/IsraeliAtrocities.html
just go to this site and u will get 2 noe who is right n who is wrong!!!!
what are terrorists? humane humans? roflmao and if you have any grey matter in between your ears, you will roflyao too. days in india and other more advanced countries are numbered for the people like you and me. the terrorists want to have 70 virgins asap. saale, jeethe hai, naa jeene dethe. death is what these terrorists worship. it is nothing but death cult. haraamz$$de.
- TerroristsR?
- Registered User
THE MAGNITUDE OF MUSLIM ATROCITIES IN INDIA - I
THE MAGNITUDE OF MUSLIM ATROCITIES - I
The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that “the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history”.
India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu princes. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honoured conventions sanctioned by the Šãstras. The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested. The cows were never killed. The temples were never touched. The chastity of women was never violated. The non-combatants were never killed or captured. A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort. The civil population was never plundered. War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors. The martial classes who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honour. Sacrifice of honour for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death.
Islamic imperialism came with a different code - the Sunnah of the Prophet. It required its warriors to fall upon the helpless civil population after a decisive victory had been won on the battlefield. It required them to sack and burn down villages and towns after the defenders had died fighting or had fled. The cows, the Brahmins, and the Bhikshus invited their special attention in mass murders of non-combatants. The temples and monasteries were their special targets in an orgy of pillage and arson. Those whom they did not kill, they captured and sold as slaves. The magnitude of the booty looted even from the bodies of the dead, was a measure of the success of a military mission. And they did all this as mujãhids (holy warriors) and ghãzîs (kãfir-killers) in the service of Allah and his Last Prophet.
Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader. For the first time in their history, Hindus were witnessing a scene which was described by KãnhaDade Prabandha (1456 AD) in the following words: “The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people’s wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious Turks.” That was written in remembrance of Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat in the year 1298 AD. But the gruesome game had started three centuries earlier when Mahmud Ghaznavi had vowed to invade India every year in order to destroy idolatry, kill the kãfirs, capture prisoners of war, and plunder vast wealth for which India was well-known.
MAHMUD GHAZNAVI AND SON
In 1000 AD Mahmud defeated Raja Jaipal, a scion of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul. This dynasty had been for long the doorkeeper of India in the Northwest. Mahmud collected 250,000 dinãrs as indemnity. That perhaps was normal business of an empire builder. But in 1004 AD he stormed Bhatiya and plundered the place. He stayed there for some time to convert the Hindus to Islam with the help of mullahs he had brought with him. In 1008 AD he captured Nagarkot (Kangra). The loot amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400 mans of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. In 1011 AD he plundered Thanesar which was undefended, destroyed many temples, and broke a large number of idols. The chief idol, that of Chakraswamin, was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the public square for defilement under the feet of the faithful. According to Tãrîkh-i-Yamînî of Utbi, Mahmud’s secretary, “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultãn returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honour he bestows on Islãm and Muslims.”
In 1013 AD Mahmud advanced against Nandana where the Shahiya king, Anandapal, had established his new capital. The Hindus fought very hard but lost. Again, the temples were destroyed, and innocent citizens slaughtered. Utbi provides an account of the plunder and the prisoners of war: “The Sultãn returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honour on his own religion and degrades infidelity.”
The road was now clear for an assault on the heartland of Hindustan. In December 1018 AD Mahmud crossed the Yamuna, collected 1,000,000 dirhams from Baran (Bulandshahar), and marched to Mahaban in Mathura district. Utbi records: “The infidels… deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river… but many of them were slain, taken or drowned… Nearly fifty thousand men were killed.” Mathura was the next victim. Mahmud seized five gold idols weighing 89,300 miskals and 200 silver idols. According to Utbi, “The Sultãn gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.” The pillage of the city continued for 20 days.
Mahmud now turned towards Kanauj which had been the seat of several Hindu dynasties. Utbi continues: “In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples… Many of the inhabitants of the place fled in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultãn gave his soldiers leave to plunder and take prisoners.” The Brahmins of Munj, which was attacked next, fought to the last man after throwing their wives and children into fire. The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, “the Sultãn ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain and captured”.
Shrawa, the next important place to be invaded, met the same fate. Utbi concludes: “The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshippers of sun and fire. The friends of Allah searched the bodies of the slain for three days in order to obtain booty… The booty amounted in gold and silver, rubies and pearls nearly to three hundred thousand dirhams, and the number of prisoners may be conceived from the fact that each was sold for two to ten dirhams. These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery.”
Mahmud’s sack of Somnath is too well-known to be retold here. What needs emphasising is that the fragments of the famous Šivaliñga were carried to Ghazni. Some of them were turned into steps of the Jama Masjid in that city. The rest were sent to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad to be desecrated in the same manner.
Mahmud’s son Masud tried to follow in the footsteps of his father. In 1037 AD he succeeded in sacking the fort of Hansi which was defended very bravely by the Hindus. The Tãrîkh-us-Subuktigîn records: “The Brahmins and other high ranking men were slain, and their women and children were carried away captive, and all the treasure which was found was distributed among the army.” Masud could not repeat the performance due to his preoccupations elsewhere.
MUHAMMAD GHURI AND HIS LIEUTENANTS
Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghuri in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghuri took Ajmer by assault. According the Tãj-ul-Mã’sîr of Hasan Nizami, “While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and precepts of Islãm, and the customs of the law were divulged and established.”
Next year he defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that “in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations”. According to Kãmil-ut-Tawãrîkh of Ibn Asir, “The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.” The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered.
Ghuri’s lieutenant Qutbuddin Aibak was also busy meanwhile. Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised “three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed.” In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-Islãm mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak “adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants”. In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite re-inforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, “fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword” and “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as ADhãî Din kã JhoMpaDã. Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak’s crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: “The temples were converted into mosques… Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus.”
A free-lance adventurer, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was moving further east. In 1200 AD he sacked the undefended university town of Odantpuri in Bihar and massacred the Buddhist monks in the monasteries. In 1202 AD he took Nadiya by surprise. Badauni records in his Muntakhãb-ut-Tawãrîkh that “property and booty beyond computation fell into the hands of the Muslims and Muhammad Bakhtyar having destroyed the places of worship and idol temples of the infidels founded mosques and Khanqahs”.
THE SLAVE (MAMLUK) SULTANS
Shamsuddin Iltutmish who succeeded Aibak at Delhi invaded Malwa in 1234 AD. He destroyed an ancient temple at Vidisha. Badauni reports: “Having destroyed the idol temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikramajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era, and brought certain images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the doors of mosques of old Delhi, and ordered the people of trample them under foot.”
Muslim power in India suffered a serious setback after Iltutmish. Balban had to battle against a revival of Hindu power. The Katehar Rajputs of what came to be known as Rohilkhand in later history, had so far refused to submit to Islamic imperialism. Balban led an expedition across the Ganges in 1254 AD. According to Badauni, “In two days after leaving Delhi, he arrived in the midst of the territory of Katihar and put to death every male, even those of eight years of age, and bound the women.” But in spite of such wanton cruelty, Muslim power continued to decline till the Khaljis revived it after 1290 AD.
THE KHALJIS
Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Jhain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni, Alauddin “brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh also was added to his other estates.”
Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD after murdering his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. In an earlier chapter I have already quoted Tãrîkh-I-Wassãf on the “achievements” of this expedition. The invaders plundered the ports of Surat and Cambay. The temple of Somnath, which had been rebuilt by the Hindus, was plundered and the idol taken to Delhi for being trodden upon by the Muslims. The whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Kamala Devi, the queen of Gujarat, was captured along with the royal treasury, brought to Delhi and forced into Alauddin’s harem. The doings of the Malik Naib during his expedition to South India in 1310-1311 AD have already been described.
THE TUGHLAQS
Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic empire in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines. According to Sîrat-i-Fîrûz Shãhî which he himself wrote or dictated, “Allah who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islãm with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction he ordered the image of Jagannãth to be perforated, and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jãjnagar and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannãth, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and the way of the musallis (Muslim congregation for namãz) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images might be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims.”
After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where “nearly 100,000 men of Jãjnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations”. The swordsmen of Islam turned “the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers”. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sîrat-i-Fîrûz Shãhî records: “Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.”
Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan “broke the idols of Jvãlãmukhî, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nosebags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.”
AMIR TIMUR
The climax came during the invasion of Timur in 1399 AD. He starts by quoting the Quran in his Tuzk-i-Timûrî: “O Prophet, make war upon the infidels and unbelievers, and treat them severely.” He continues: “My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel Hindus… [so that] the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the Hindus.”
To start with he stormed the fort of Kator on the border of Kashmir. He ordered his soldiers “to kill all the men, to make prisoners of women and children, and to plunder and lay waste all their property”. Next, he “directed towers to be built on the mountain of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers”. Soon after, he laid siege to Bhatnir defended by Rajputs. They surrendered after some fight, and were pardoned. But Islam did not bind Timur to keep his word given to the “unbelievers”. His Tuzk-i-Timûrî records: “In a short space of time all the people in the fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground.”
At Sarsuti, the next city to be sacked, “all these infidel Hindus were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors”. Timur was now moving through Haryana, the land of the Jats. He directed his soldiers to “plunder and destroy and kill every one whom they met”. And so the soldiers “plundered every village, killed the men, and carried a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female”. Loni which was captured before he arrived at Delhi was predominantly a Hindu town. But some Muslim inhabitants were also taken prisoners. Timur ordered that “the Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved, but the infidels should all be despatched to hell with the proselytising sword”.
By now Timur had captured 100,000 Hindus. As he prepared for battle against the Tughlaq army after crossing the Yamuna, his Amirs advised him “that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolators and enemies of Islam at liberty”. Therefore, “no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword”. Tuzk-i-Timûrî continues: “I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghãzîs of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counsellor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives.”
The Tughlaq army was defeated in the battle that ensued next day. Timur entered Delhi and learnt that a “great number of Hindus with their wives and children, and goods and valuables, had come into the city from all the country round”. He directed his soldiers to seize these Hindus and their property. Tuzk-i-Timûrî concludes: “Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted… The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahãnpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed… On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army… went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners… The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alãi coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the ulama and the other Musulmãns, the whole city was sacked.”
The world famous historian, Will Durant has written in his Story of Civilisation that “the Mohammedan conquest of India was probably the bloodiest story in history”.
India before the advent of Islamic imperialism was not exactly a zone of peace. There were plenty of wars fought by Hindu princes. But in all their wars, the Hindus had observed some time-honoured conventions sanctioned by the Šãstras. The Brahmins and the Bhikshus were never molested. The cows were never killed. The temples were never touched. The chastity of women was never violated. The non-combatants were never killed or captured. A human habitation was never attacked unless it was a fort. The civil population was never plundered. War booty was an unknown item in the calculations of conquerors. The martial classes who clashed, mostly in open spaces, had a code of honour. Sacrifice of honour for victory or material gain was deemed as worse than death.
Islamic imperialism came with a different code - the Sunnah of the Prophet. It required its warriors to fall upon the helpless civil population after a decisive victory had been won on the battlefield. It required them to sack and burn down villages and towns after the defenders had died fighting or had fled. The cows, the Brahmins, and the Bhikshus invited their special attention in mass murders of non-combatants. The temples and monasteries were their special targets in an orgy of pillage and arson. Those whom they did not kill, they captured and sold as slaves. The magnitude of the booty looted even from the bodies of the dead, was a measure of the success of a military mission. And they did all this as mujãhids (holy warriors) and ghãzîs (kãfir-killers) in the service of Allah and his Last Prophet.
Hindus found it very hard to understand the psychology of this new invader. For the first time in their history, Hindus were witnessing a scene which was described by KãnhaDade Prabandha (1456 AD) in the following words: “The conquering army burnt villages, devastated the land, plundered people’s wealth, took Brahmins and children and women of all classes captive, flogged with thongs of raw hide, carried a moving prison with it, and converted the prisoners into obsequious Turks.” That was written in remembrance of Alauddin Khalji’s invasion of Gujarat in the year 1298 AD. But the gruesome game had started three centuries earlier when Mahmud Ghaznavi had vowed to invade India every year in order to destroy idolatry, kill the kãfirs, capture prisoners of war, and plunder vast wealth for which India was well-known.
MAHMUD GHAZNAVI AND SON
In 1000 AD Mahmud defeated Raja Jaipal, a scion of the Hindu Shahiya dynasty of Kabul. This dynasty had been for long the doorkeeper of India in the Northwest. Mahmud collected 250,000 dinãrs as indemnity. That perhaps was normal business of an empire builder. But in 1004 AD he stormed Bhatiya and plundered the place. He stayed there for some time to convert the Hindus to Islam with the help of mullahs he had brought with him. In 1008 AD he captured Nagarkot (Kangra). The loot amounted to 70,000,000 dirhams in coins and 700,400 mans of gold and silver, besides plenty of precious stones and embroidered cloths. In 1011 AD he plundered Thanesar which was undefended, destroyed many temples, and broke a large number of idols. The chief idol, that of Chakraswamin, was taken to Ghazni and thrown into the public square for defilement under the feet of the faithful. According to Tãrîkh-i-Yamînî of Utbi, Mahmud’s secretary, “The blood of the infidels flowed so copiously [at Thanesar] that the stream was discoloured, notwithstanding its purity, and people were unable to drink it. The Sultãn returned with plunder which is impossible to count. Praise he to Allah for the honour he bestows on Islãm and Muslims.”
In 1013 AD Mahmud advanced against Nandana where the Shahiya king, Anandapal, had established his new capital. The Hindus fought very hard but lost. Again, the temples were destroyed, and innocent citizens slaughtered. Utbi provides an account of the plunder and the prisoners of war: “The Sultãn returned in the rear of immense booty, and slaves were so plentiful that they became very cheap and men of respectability in their native land were degraded by becoming slaves of common shopkeepers. But this is the goodness of Allah, who bestows honour on his own religion and degrades infidelity.”
The road was now clear for an assault on the heartland of Hindustan. In December 1018 AD Mahmud crossed the Yamuna, collected 1,000,000 dirhams from Baran (Bulandshahar), and marched to Mahaban in Mathura district. Utbi records: “The infidels… deserted the fort and tried to cross the foaming river… but many of them were slain, taken or drowned… Nearly fifty thousand men were killed.” Mathura was the next victim. Mahmud seized five gold idols weighing 89,300 miskals and 200 silver idols. According to Utbi, “The Sultãn gave orders that all the temples should be burnt with naptha and fire, and levelled with the ground.” The pillage of the city continued for 20 days.
Mahmud now turned towards Kanauj which had been the seat of several Hindu dynasties. Utbi continues: “In Kanauj there were nearly ten thousand temples… Many of the inhabitants of the place fled in consequence of witnessing the fate of their deaf and dumb idols. Those who did not fly were put to death. The Sultãn gave his soldiers leave to plunder and take prisoners.” The Brahmins of Munj, which was attacked next, fought to the last man after throwing their wives and children into fire. The fate of Asi was sealed when its ruler took fright and fled. According to Utbi, “the Sultãn ordered that his five forts should be demolished from their foundations, the inhabitants buried in their ruins, and the soldiers of the garrison plundered, slain and captured”.
Shrawa, the next important place to be invaded, met the same fate. Utbi concludes: “The Muslims paid no regard to the booty till they had satiated themselves with the slaughter of the infidels and worshippers of sun and fire. The friends of Allah searched the bodies of the slain for three days in order to obtain booty… The booty amounted in gold and silver, rubies and pearls nearly to three hundred thousand dirhams, and the number of prisoners may be conceived from the fact that each was sold for two to ten dirhams. These were afterwards taken to Ghazni and merchants came from distant cities to purchase them, so that the countries of Mawaraun-Nahr, Iraq and Khurasan were filled with them, and the fair and the dark, the rich and the poor, were commingled in one common slavery.”
Mahmud’s sack of Somnath is too well-known to be retold here. What needs emphasising is that the fragments of the famous Šivaliñga were carried to Ghazni. Some of them were turned into steps of the Jama Masjid in that city. The rest were sent to Mecca, Medina, and Baghdad to be desecrated in the same manner.
Mahmud’s son Masud tried to follow in the footsteps of his father. In 1037 AD he succeeded in sacking the fort of Hansi which was defended very bravely by the Hindus. The Tãrîkh-us-Subuktigîn records: “The Brahmins and other high ranking men were slain, and their women and children were carried away captive, and all the treasure which was found was distributed among the army.” Masud could not repeat the performance due to his preoccupations elsewhere.
MUHAMMAD GHURI AND HIS LIEUTENANTS
Invasion of India by Islamic imperialism was renewed by Muhmmad Ghuri in the last quarter of the 12th century. After Prithiviraj Chauhan had been defeated in 1192 AD, Ghuri took Ajmer by assault. According the Tãj-ul-Mã’sîr of Hasan Nizami, “While the Sultan remained at Ajmer, he destroyed the pillars and foundations of the idol temples and built in their stead mosques and colleges and precepts of Islãm, and the customs of the law were divulged and established.”
Next year he defeated Jayachandra of Kanauj. A general massacre, rapine, and pillage followed. The Gahadvad treasuries at Asni and Varanasi were plundered. Hasan Nizami rejoices that “in Benares which is the centre of the country of Hind, they destroyed one thousand temples and raised mosques on their foundations”. According to Kãmil-ut-Tawãrîkh of Ibn Asir, “The slaughter of Hindus (at Varanasi) was immense; none were spared except women and children, and the carnage of men went on until the earth was weary.” The women and children were spared so that they could be enslaved and sold all over the Islamic world. It may be added that the Buddhist complex at Sarnath was sacked at this time, and the Bhikshus were slaughtered.
Ghuri’s lieutenant Qutbuddin Aibak was also busy meanwhile. Hasan Nizami writes that after the suppression of a Hindu revolt at Kol (Aligarh) in 1193 AD, Aibak raised “three bastions as high as heaven with their heads, and their carcases became food for beasts of prey. The tract was freed from idols and idol-worship and the foundations of infidelism were destroyed.” In 1194 AD Aibak destroyed 27 Hindu temples at Delhi and built the Quwwat-ul-Islãm mosque with their debris. According to Nizami, Aibak “adorned it with the stones and gold obtained from the temples which had been demolished by elephants”. In 1195 AD the Mher tribe of Ajmer rose in revolt, and the Chaulukyas of Gujarat came to their assistance. Aibak had to invite re-inforcements from Ghazni before he could meet the challenge. In 1196 AD he advanced against Anahilwar Patan, the capital of Gujarat. Nizami writes that after Raja Karan was defeated and forced to flee, “fifty thousand infidels were despatched to hell by the sword” and “more than twenty thousand slaves, and cattle beyond all calculation fell into the hands of the victors”. The city was sacked, its temples demolished, and its palaces plundered. On his return to Ajmer, Aibak destroyed the Sanskrit College of Visaladeva, and laid the foundations of a mosque which came to be known as ADhãî Din kã JhoMpaDã. Conquest of Kalinjar in 1202 AD was Aibak’s crowning achievement. Nizami concludes: “The temples were converted into mosques… Fifty thousand men came under the collar of slavery and the plain became black as pitch with Hindus.”
A free-lance adventurer, Muhammad Bakhtyar Khalji, was moving further east. In 1200 AD he sacked the undefended university town of Odantpuri in Bihar and massacred the Buddhist monks in the monasteries. In 1202 AD he took Nadiya by surprise. Badauni records in his Muntakhãb-ut-Tawãrîkh that “property and booty beyond computation fell into the hands of the Muslims and Muhammad Bakhtyar having destroyed the places of worship and idol temples of the infidels founded mosques and Khanqahs”.
THE SLAVE (MAMLUK) SULTANS
Shamsuddin Iltutmish who succeeded Aibak at Delhi invaded Malwa in 1234 AD. He destroyed an ancient temple at Vidisha. Badauni reports: “Having destroyed the idol temple of Ujjain which had been built six hundred years previously, and was called Mahakal, he levelled it to its foundations, and threw down the image of Rai Vikramajit from whom the Hindus reckon their era, and brought certain images of cast molten brass and placed them on the ground in front of the doors of mosques of old Delhi, and ordered the people of trample them under foot.”
Muslim power in India suffered a serious setback after Iltutmish. Balban had to battle against a revival of Hindu power. The Katehar Rajputs of what came to be known as Rohilkhand in later history, had so far refused to submit to Islamic imperialism. Balban led an expedition across the Ganges in 1254 AD. According to Badauni, “In two days after leaving Delhi, he arrived in the midst of the territory of Katihar and put to death every male, even those of eight years of age, and bound the women.” But in spite of such wanton cruelty, Muslim power continued to decline till the Khaljis revived it after 1290 AD.
THE KHALJIS
Jalaluddin Khalji led an expedition to Ranthambhor in 1291 AD. On the way he destroyed Hindu temples at Jhain. The broken idols were sent to Delhi to be spread before the gates of the Jama Masjid. His nephew Alauddin led an expedition to Vidisha in 1292 AD. According to Badauni, Alauddin “brought much booty to the Sultan and the idol which was the object of worship of the Hindus, he caused to be cast in front of the Badaun gate to be trampled upon by the people. The services of Alauddin were highly appreciated, the jagir of Oudh also was added to his other estates.”
Alauddin became Sultan in 1296 AD after murdering his uncle and father-in-law, Jalaluddin. In 1298 AD he equipped an expedition to Gujarat under his generals Ulugh Khan and Nusrat Khan. In an earlier chapter I have already quoted Tãrîkh-I-Wassãf on the “achievements” of this expedition. The invaders plundered the ports of Surat and Cambay. The temple of Somnath, which had been rebuilt by the Hindus, was plundered and the idol taken to Delhi for being trodden upon by the Muslims. The whole region was subjected to fire and sword, and Hindus were slaughtered en masse. Kamala Devi, the queen of Gujarat, was captured along with the royal treasury, brought to Delhi and forced into Alauddin’s harem. The doings of the Malik Naib during his expedition to South India in 1310-1311 AD have already been described.
THE TUGHLAQS
Muslim power again suffered a setback after the death of Alauddin Khalji in 1316 AD. But it was soon revived by the Tughlaqs. By now most of the famous temples over the length and breadth of the Islamic empire in India had been demolished, except in Orissa and Rajasthan which had retained their independence. By now most of the rich treasuries had been plundered and shared between the Islamic state and its swordsmen. Firuz Shah Tughlaq led an expedition to Orissa in 1360 AD. He destroyed the temple of Jagannath at Puri, and desecrated many other Hindu shrines. According to Sîrat-i-Fîrûz Shãhî which he himself wrote or dictated, “Allah who is the only true God and has no other emanation, endowed the king of Islãm with the strength to destroy this ancient shrine on the eastern sea-coast and to plunge it into the sea, and after its destruction he ordered the image of Jagannãth to be perforated, and disgraced it by casting it down on the ground. They dug out other idols which were worshipped by the polytheists in the kingdom of Jãjnagar and overthrew them as they did the image of Jagannãth, for being laid in front of the mosques along the path of the Sunnis and the way of the musallis (Muslim congregation for namãz) and stretched them in front of the portals of every mosque, so that the body and sides of the images might be trampled at the time of ascent and descent, entrance and exit, by the shoes on the feet of the Muslims.”
After the sack of the temples in Orissa, Firuz Shah Tughlaq attacked an island on the sea-coast where “nearly 100,000 men of Jãjnagar had taken refuge with their women, children, kinsmen and relations”. The swordsmen of Islam turned “the island into a basin of blood by the massacre of the unbelievers”. A worse fate overtook the Hindu women. Sîrat-i-Fîrûz Shãhî records: “Women with babies and pregnant ladies were haltered, manacled, fettered and enchained, and pressed as slaves into service in the house of every soldier.”
Still more horrible scenes were enacted by Firuz Shah Tughlaq at Nagarkot (Kangra) where he sacked the shrine of Jvalamukhi. Firishta records that the Sultan “broke the idols of Jvãlãmukhî, mixed their fragments with the flesh of cows and hung them in nosebags round the necks of Brahmins. He sent the principal idol as trophy to Medina.”
AMIR TIMUR
The climax came during the invasion of Timur in 1399 AD. He starts by quoting the Quran in his Tuzk-i-Timûrî: “O Prophet, make war upon the infidels and unbelievers, and treat them severely.” He continues: “My great object in invading Hindustan had been to wage a religious war against the infidel Hindus… [so that] the army of Islam might gain something by plundering the wealth and valuables of the Hindus.”
To start with he stormed the fort of Kator on the border of Kashmir. He ordered his soldiers “to kill all the men, to make prisoners of women and children, and to plunder and lay waste all their property”. Next, he “directed towers to be built on the mountain of the skulls of those obstinate unbelievers”. Soon after, he laid siege to Bhatnir defended by Rajputs. They surrendered after some fight, and were pardoned. But Islam did not bind Timur to keep his word given to the “unbelievers”. His Tuzk-i-Timûrî records: “In a short space of time all the people in the fort were put to the sword, and in the course of one hour the heads of 10,000 infidels were cut off. The sword of Islam was washed in the blood of the infidels, and all the goods and effects, the treasure and the grain which for many a long year had been stored in the fort became the spoil of my soldiers. They set fire to the houses and reduced them to ashes, and they razed the buildings and the fort to the ground.”
At Sarsuti, the next city to be sacked, “all these infidel Hindus were slain, their wives and children were made prisoners and their property and goods became the spoil of the victors”. Timur was now moving through Haryana, the land of the Jats. He directed his soldiers to “plunder and destroy and kill every one whom they met”. And so the soldiers “plundered every village, killed the men, and carried a number of Hindu prisoners, both male and female”. Loni which was captured before he arrived at Delhi was predominantly a Hindu town. But some Muslim inhabitants were also taken prisoners. Timur ordered that “the Musulman prisoners should be separated and saved, but the infidels should all be despatched to hell with the proselytising sword”.
By now Timur had captured 100,000 Hindus. As he prepared for battle against the Tughlaq army after crossing the Yamuna, his Amirs advised him “that on the great day of battle these 100,000 prisoners could not be left with the baggage, and that it would be entirely opposed to the rules of war to set these idolators and enemies of Islam at liberty”. Therefore, “no other course remained but that of making them all food for the sword”. Tuzk-i-Timûrî continues: “I proclaimed throughout the camp that every man who had infidel prisoners should put them to death, and whoever neglected to do so should himself be executed and his property given to the informer. When this order became known to the ghãzîs of Islam, they drew their swords and put their prisoners to death. One hundred thousand infidels, impious idolators, were on that day slain. Maulana Nasiruddin Umar, a counsellor and man of learning, who, in all his life, had never killed a sparrow, now, in execution of my order, slew with his sword fifteen idolatrous Hindus, who were his captives.”
The Tughlaq army was defeated in the battle that ensued next day. Timur entered Delhi and learnt that a “great number of Hindus with their wives and children, and goods and valuables, had come into the city from all the country round”. He directed his soldiers to seize these Hindus and their property. Tuzk-i-Timûrî concludes: “Many of them (Hindus) drew their swords and resisted… The flames of strife were thus lighted and spread through the whole city from Jahãnpanah and Siri to Old Delhi, burning up all it reached. The Hindus set fire to their houses with their own hands, burned their wives and children in them and rushed into the fight and were killed… On that day, Thursday, and all the night of Friday, nearly 15,000 Turks were engaged in slaying, plundering and destroying. When morning broke on Friday, all my army… went off to the city and thought of nothing but killing, plundering and making prisoners… The following day, Saturday the 17th, all passed in the same way, and the spoil was so great that each man secured from fifty to a hundred prisoners, men, women, and children. There was no man who took less than twenty. The other booty was immense in rubies, diamonds, garnets, pearls, and other gems and jewels; ashrafis, tankas of gold and silver of the celebrated Alãi coinage: vessels of gold and silver; and brocades and silks of great value. Gold and silver ornaments of Hindu women were obtained in such quantities as to exceed all account. Excepting the quarter of the Saiyids, the ulama and the other Musulmãns, the whole city was sacked.”
- samai
- Registered User
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
vakibs wrote:
Well Akshay. Imagine the situation is between India & China in place of Israel and Lebanon.
1) China attacks India on the pretext that we are helping Tibet. (Imagine that some Buddhists on the border fired some missiles etc. and we are not able to keep them under control)
2) China bombs Delhi and Bombay and the whole country.
3) China bombs the highways and factories, and hospitals and schools. About 250,000 people get murdered.
3) India suffers an economical loss of 1/4 th of the GDP (1 trillion US dollars)
4) China then insists that it will continue occupying Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh until an international force arrives there !
5) A delegation of US, France and UK arrives here and keep their military across the entire Northern border of India.
Would you be happy after all this ??
Both Lebanon and India are multicultural, multi ethnic countries. Israel and China are uniformist, uni-cultural countries.
Don't you see the parallel ? Do you think India would accept to such a resolution ? Doesn't it sound ridiculous ???
Why not keep the UN forces "inside" Israel instead of Lebanon ?
anna ko kitthe saal hogaye france jaake? bilkul apoon aur french ke jaisich baath karren. apoon ko bhoole nai. arre yaron, india china par daawa nahin daalegi, bawa, jaisi hisbulla daali. sumjho agar china daawa daali apoon par, to hum sab log line mein khaden honge. kyon? arre bai, hum bhi french ke jaisich hai. doosri gaal jo dena hai, doosri thapad ke liye.
- apoon
- Registered User
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
apoon wrote:vakibs wrote:
Well Akshay. Imagine the situation is between India & China in place of Israel and Lebanon.
1) China attacks India on the pretext that we are helping Tibet. (Imagine that some Buddhists on the border fired some missiles etc. and we are not able to keep them under control)
2) China bombs Delhi and Bombay and the whole country.
3) China bombs the highways and factories, and hospitals and schools. About 250,000 people get murdered.
3) India suffers an economical loss of 1/4 th of the GDP (1 trillion US dollars)
4) China then insists that it will continue occupying Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh until an international force arrives there !
5) A delegation of US, France and UK arrives here and keep their military across the entire Northern border of India.
Would you be happy after all this ??
Both Lebanon and India are multicultural, multi ethnic countries. Israel and China are uniformist, uni-cultural countries.
Don't you see the parallel ? Do you think India would accept to such a resolution ? Doesn't it sound ridiculous ???
Why not keep the UN forces "inside" Israel instead of Lebanon ?
anna ko kitthe saal hogaye france jaake? bilkul apoon aur french ke jaisich baath karren. apoon ko bhoole nai. arre yaron, india china par daawa nahin daalegi, bawa, jaisi hisbulla daali. sumjho agar china daawa daali apoon par, to hum sab log line mein khaden honge. kyon? arre bai, hum bhi french ke jaisich hai. doosri gaal jo dena hai, doosri thapad ke liye.
arre miyyan, teesri hothi tho woh bhi dedethe, dil daar hai hum.
- apoon-2
- Registered User
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
vakibs wrote:akshay wrote:
No wonder your thoughts are screwed and bigoted. Look at the bias in the words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and the article. ofcourse you cant see for you are blinded by your emotion.
The author hardly tries to restrain his glee when he says things like "The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong. ", "The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.",
"They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution."
Ofcourse that is the right intent...as of now hezbollah and all other similar bollahs are totally unaccountable for their attrocities. No soverign country should ever help militias run their border...period.
Israel has made it clear that once an international force sactioned by UN starts patroling the border it will stop the defensive offense and call back its military. I dont see what is so hegemonic in asking for international patroling in a place from which israel is being attacked by militias beyond the control of elected governments of beirut.
Well Akshay. Imagine the situation is between India & China in place of Israel and Lebanon.
1) China attacks India on the pretext that we are helping Tibet. (Imagine that some Buddhists on the border fired some missiles etc. and we are not able to keep them under control)
2) China bombs Delhi and Bombay and the whole country.
3) China bombs the highways and factories, and hospitals and schools. About 250,000 people get murdered.
3) India suffers an economical loss of 1/4 th of the GDP (1 trillion US dollars)
4) China then insists that it will continue occupying Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh until an international force arrives there !
5) A delegation of US, France and UK arrives here and keep their military across the entire Northern border of India.
Would you be happy after all this ??
Both Lebanon and India are multicultural, multi ethnic countries. Israel and China are uniformist, uni-cultural countries.
Don't you see the parallel ? Do you think India would accept to such a resolution ? Doesn't it sound ridiculous ???
Why not keep the UN forces "inside" Israel instead of Lebanon ?
DIVERSITY
In the face of your genuine interest in discourse, which I appreciate, I recommend you review the following links to understand tolerance of diversity in selected nations:
http://www.indexmundi.com/israel/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/lebanon/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/syria/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/iran/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/saudi_arabia/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/india/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/china/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/pakistan/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/demographics_profile.html
http://www.indexmundi.com/united_states/demographics_profile.html
You can come to your own conclusions as to which nations represent an acceptance of diversity.
Hypothetical Tibetan Militas in India
I have made myself very clear umpteen times before: I am totally against militias running borders. civilization runs based on trust and accountability...Militias run completely contrary to this basic framework. Who do you think Israel should approach for the deeds of hezbollah? who do you think india should approach for the deeds of the jaishs lashkars and millats?
Victims of state terror have international courts of justices and UN to approach for their problems. who does one approach for miltia terror?
how would I feel if india finds itself an unwilling host to tibettan militias attacking tibet occupying china? If india feels chinese occupation of tibet is illegal then i expect india to provide refuge to the tibetan leadership to conduct their struggle through peaceful and accountable channels. I would expect india to eliminate such milita...i would expect india to take any help from UN/China to eliminate them...I expect india to not fund them
If instead of the above India starts encouraging the tibetan militias, start providing safe havens for them and so forth then I expect india to hear the chinese fat lady sing. Ofcourse as an Indian I will stick to India's side but logically speaking I see no reason china should sit quiet while we keep encouraging the rocket launching tibettan militia.
Real life Ulfa Camp decimation in Bhutan
If you remember a few years back India and Bhutan together launched a collective military effort to dislodge the Ulfa camps in Bhutan, which Bbutan by itself had problems dealing with. This is what I expect from a cordial neighbor.
I am sure ULFA has its genuine grievances. But we cannot tolerate if it wants to address those through terrorism.
if india is unable to control tibetan militias in india then I expect India to help china similar to bhutan helping india.
I expect pakistan and bangladesh to help india similarly but on the contrary they like lebanon, syria and iran keep supporting militas against their neighbor india.
As lebanon says it cannot control hezb I expect lebanon, if it is a cordial neighbor, to help israel similarly...but on the contrary we see that lebanon along with syria and iran continually keep strengthening hezb. Have you ever seen israelis burning iranian/syrian/lebanese flags? How many times have you seen iran/syria/lebanon burn israel/us flags, in all their military parades they trample on the israeli/us flags, they keep proclaiming decimation of israe as their goal. Such is the contrast in the consciousness of israelis/americans versus lebanese/iranians/syrians.
The fat lady will and must sing with all her might aginst such rogue terrorist strengthening nations.
Occupation untill militia ceases to exist
If you have been following the news you would know that israel is clearly stating it has no problem calling back its forces if a UN sanctioned multilateral force manages the border on lebanese side.
Yes it is on the lebanese side bcoz it is the lebanese who are unable to control their border. It is the lebanese who are explicitly stating that the bezbollah are beyond their control.
Israel has no problem controling its border and is not launching incursions into lebanon so what is the need for external agencies to manage its borders?
If india is unable to control its borders and thwart the militia from attacking china then yeah we ought to be expecting someone else to do our job. Dont expect the chinese to sit tight and let ther people die while we keep blaming our impotence to control the militia.
a nation ought to live up to the responsibilities of a nation..if it cant then some other will make sure it does so.
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
- Akshay
- Registered User
- Posts: 262
- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:58 pm
- Location: ramcastle
Re: Mission Unaccomplished
vakibs wrote:akshay wrote:
No wonder your thoughts are screwed and bigoted. Look at the bias in the words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs and the article. ofcourse you cant see for you are blinded by your emotion.
The author hardly tries to restrain his glee when he says things like "The most important lesson goes as far back as the Vietnam War when all America's might could not break the back of the VietCong. ", "The performance of Hezbollah's men in showering northern Israel with rockets and in creating havoc in Haifa, the country's third largest city, speaks legion and cuts down to size this fourth largest military power something no Arab regime has been able to do.",
"They left no doubt that their intention was the elimination of Hezbollah as a fighting force through their lopsided draft UN resolution."
Ofcourse that is the right intent...as of now hezbollah and all other similar bollahs are totally unaccountable for their attrocities. No soverign country should ever help militias run their border...period.
Israel has made it clear that once an international force sactioned by UN starts patroling the border it will stop the defensive offense and call back its military. I dont see what is so hegemonic in asking for international patroling in a place from which israel is being attacked by militias beyond the control of elected governments of beirut.
Well Akshay. Imagine the situation is between India & China in place of Israel and Lebanon.
1) China attacks India on the pretext that we are helping Tibet. (Imagine that some Buddhists on the border fired some missiles etc. and we are not able to keep them under control)
2) China bombs Delhi and Bombay and the whole country.
3) China bombs the highways and factories, and hospitals and schools. About 250,000 people get murdered.
3) India suffers an economical loss of 1/4 th of the GDP (1 trillion US dollars)
4) China then insists that it will continue occupying Assam, Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh until an international force arrives there !
5) A delegation of US, France and UK arrives here and keep their military across the entire Northern border of India.
Would you be happy after all this ??
Both Lebanon and India are multicultural, multi ethnic countries. Israel and China are uniformist, uni-cultural countries.
Don't you see the parallel ? Do you think India would accept to such a resolution ? Doesn't it sound ridiculous ???
Why not keep the UN forces "inside" Israel instead of Lebanon ?
_ THIS BITCHY SITE....I WROTE A COMPREHENSIVE RESPONSE AND THIS SITE JUST DIDNT POST.
God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh. Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)
- akshay
- Registered User
- Posts: 262
- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2005 3:58 pm
- Location: ramcastle
akshay wrote:well..i guess it did..soryy for the unnecessary rage...my bad
indiabo wrote:ur loosing ur cool akshay as u did to chote nawaab
at start you were a bit more ......... you know wat i mean
why? u and the ilkes can loose the cool and snap about but not akshay?
duniya ki neeti: if you keep apologising for your normal reactions to their bad behaviour, akshay bhai, the duniya will make you apologise for their weaknesses too.
- apoon
- Registered User
http://www.answering-christianity.com/isaiah.htm
The status of jerusalem and the mischief of Jews
http://www.answering-christianity.com/jerusalem_status.htm
Continuing with chapter Isaiah 42:
5 This is what God the LORD says- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD , have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
The Gentiles are the non-Jews. These verses clearly suggest that the coming Prophet will be among the Gentiles. As to the covenant, please visit: Jesus told the Jews that GOD will take His Kingdom from them and give it to the Muslims. (The article is too lengthy to copy and paste here. So I ask the reader to read it thoroughly since it does contain Jesus' own quotes from the New Testament).
The following sets of verses offer even more proofs:
8 "I am the LORD ; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
http://www.answering-christianity.com/god_kingdom.htm
Jesus said to the Jews: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (From the KJV Bible, Matthew 21:43)"
(According to the Apocalypse of Peter, this nation would come from the Arabs)
What other nation beside the modern Muslims of today bow down to GOD Almighty in the most proper way? What other nation beside the modern Muslims Glorify GOD Almighty in their 5-daily Prayers, and fast the Month of Ramadan for Him?
The Kingdom Of God.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/god_kingdom.htm
What is the Wisdom of Islam? And how will Allah Almighty Judge both Muslims and non-Muslims?
http://www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm
In The Shade of swords:
Ironically, many Western anti-Islamics criticize Islam for spreading by the sword. Islam did probably spread by the sword, but the Muslims never really started any battle. It was the 360 pagan Arab tribes, and later the Persian and Christian Roman Empires that declared wars against the Muslims, because Islam's theology was rapidly expanding and it began to threat the pagan religion of Arabia and later the two major Empires in the region.
"he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies" clearly means that this Prophet will fight by the sword the enemies of GOD Almighty. It was Muhammad(PBUH) and his Muslim followers that spread Islam by crushing and defeating the enemies in the battles.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/by_the_sword.htm
http://www.answering-christianity.com/jihad.htm
The status of jerusalem and the mischief of Jews
http://www.answering-christianity.com/jerusalem_status.htm
Continuing with chapter Isaiah 42:
5 This is what God the LORD says- he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:
6 "I, the LORD , have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
The Gentiles are the non-Jews. These verses clearly suggest that the coming Prophet will be among the Gentiles. As to the covenant, please visit: Jesus told the Jews that GOD will take His Kingdom from them and give it to the Muslims. (The article is too lengthy to copy and paste here. So I ask the reader to read it thoroughly since it does contain Jesus' own quotes from the New Testament).
The following sets of verses offer even more proofs:
8 "I am the LORD ; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."
http://www.answering-christianity.com/god_kingdom.htm
Jesus said to the Jews: "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. (From the KJV Bible, Matthew 21:43)"
(According to the Apocalypse of Peter, this nation would come from the Arabs)
What other nation beside the modern Muslims of today bow down to GOD Almighty in the most proper way? What other nation beside the modern Muslims Glorify GOD Almighty in their 5-daily Prayers, and fast the Month of Ramadan for Him?
The Kingdom Of God.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/god_kingdom.htm
What is the Wisdom of Islam? And how will Allah Almighty Judge both Muslims and non-Muslims?
http://www.answering-christianity.com/islam.htm
In The Shade of swords:
Ironically, many Western anti-Islamics criticize Islam for spreading by the sword. Islam did probably spread by the sword, but the Muslims never really started any battle. It was the 360 pagan Arab tribes, and later the Persian and Christian Roman Empires that declared wars against the Muslims, because Islam's theology was rapidly expanding and it began to threat the pagan religion of Arabia and later the two major Empires in the region.
"he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies" clearly means that this Prophet will fight by the sword the enemies of GOD Almighty. It was Muhammad(PBUH) and his Muslim followers that spread Islam by crushing and defeating the enemies in the battles.
http://www.answering-christianity.com/by_the_sword.htm
http://www.answering-christianity.com/jihad.htm
I have an attitude and I am not afraid to use it.
-
CRagg - Level 1 Star User
- Posts: 659
- Joined: Sat Jun 10, 2006 12:57 pm
Anti-war Rally in France for Lebanon
Anti-War Rally in France for supporting Lebanon
I have participated in a rally in France for the support of Lebanon. The participants were a motley group of (1) Progressive Thinkers of Iran (2) Communist Party of France (3) People against Racism (4) Christians against war along with several (5) Arab solidarity groups of Palastine, Lebanon, Algeria and so on.
I don't have alleigance to any of the groups. I support Lebanon because it is multicultural like India, and I believe that an economically strong Lebanon is a great plus for the entire Middle East Area. As an Indian, I feel the pain of Lebanon bruised by war from all sides.
I also like the Lebanese flag - which is a tree (a symbol of life). It is a relief from the crescent moons which occupy all the Islamic flags.
The slogans that we have shouted were
Le Liban vivra - the lebanon should live, which I enthusiastically support
Arret, Arret des bombardements - stop, stop the bombardment. Yes !
Assez, Assez d'occupation - Enough of occupation. Yes, I agree. Israel should leave the land of Lebanon. But does anybody mean something else ?
Bush,Olmert criminales de Guerre Bush and Olmert are war criminals. - A little strong, but I think it is true.
Le Liban, Palastine .. Solidarité The friendship of Liban et Palastinie. I agree.
Qu'estce-qu'on fait - La Résistance, Qu'estce-qu'on nait - La Résistance What does one do ? What does one give birth to ? The Resistance. - Hmm. Maybe true. But what exactly were the goals of the resistance ?
And there was one confusing slogan :
Le Liban vivra .. Palastine vengra I didn't know what "vengra" means , at the time of the protest ! But when I later looked up in the dictionary, I found it means "to avenge".
How exactly does Palastine avenge ? I don't want any young palastenians to blow up themselves in the streets of Israel ! Life is too valuable to make oneself into a stupid martyr.
But I was supporting this without my knowledge.
Most of the crowd was Arab - fat old ladies in hizabs, young pretty girls wearing jeans, bearded men, college students etc.
Suddenly, they started shouting things in Arabic. I don't know what they mean - but they may mean any of these things (a) death to jews (b) kill all israelis (c) long live the martyrs (d) hizbollah zindabad
I would be really sad to see the young and beautiful Arab people join this hjacked bandwagon.
I doubt if anybody knew that I was an Indian - marching in the protest ! That I am not even Muslim. But I don't care. I still wear the T-shirt which says "Le Liban vivra" on the front with a beautiful Lebanese flag and which says "Stop the war" on the back.
I have participated in a rally in France for the support of Lebanon. The participants were a motley group of (1) Progressive Thinkers of Iran (2) Communist Party of France (3) People against Racism (4) Christians against war along with several (5) Arab solidarity groups of Palastine, Lebanon, Algeria and so on.
I don't have alleigance to any of the groups. I support Lebanon because it is multicultural like India, and I believe that an economically strong Lebanon is a great plus for the entire Middle East Area. As an Indian, I feel the pain of Lebanon bruised by war from all sides.
I also like the Lebanese flag - which is a tree (a symbol of life). It is a relief from the crescent moons which occupy all the Islamic flags.
The slogans that we have shouted were
Le Liban vivra - the lebanon should live, which I enthusiastically support
Arret, Arret des bombardements - stop, stop the bombardment. Yes !
Assez, Assez d'occupation - Enough of occupation. Yes, I agree. Israel should leave the land of Lebanon. But does anybody mean something else ?
Bush,Olmert criminales de Guerre Bush and Olmert are war criminals. - A little strong, but I think it is true.
Le Liban, Palastine .. Solidarité The friendship of Liban et Palastinie. I agree.
Qu'estce-qu'on fait - La Résistance, Qu'estce-qu'on nait - La Résistance What does one do ? What does one give birth to ? The Resistance. - Hmm. Maybe true. But what exactly were the goals of the resistance ?
And there was one confusing slogan :
Le Liban vivra .. Palastine vengra I didn't know what "vengra" means , at the time of the protest ! But when I later looked up in the dictionary, I found it means "to avenge".
How exactly does Palastine avenge ? I don't want any young palastenians to blow up themselves in the streets of Israel ! Life is too valuable to make oneself into a stupid martyr.
But I was supporting this without my knowledge.
Most of the crowd was Arab - fat old ladies in hizabs, young pretty girls wearing jeans, bearded men, college students etc.
Suddenly, they started shouting things in Arabic. I don't know what they mean - but they may mean any of these things (a) death to jews (b) kill all israelis (c) long live the martyrs (d) hizbollah zindabad
I would be really sad to see the young and beautiful Arab people join this hjacked bandwagon.
I doubt if anybody knew that I was an Indian - marching in the protest ! That I am not even Muslim. But I don't care. I still wear the T-shirt which says "Le Liban vivra" on the front with a beautiful Lebanese flag and which says "Stop the war" on the back.
-
vakibs - Registered User
- Posts: 245
- Joined: Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:56 pm
- Location: space-time fabric
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