By
New Age Islam Edit Desk
13 January
2021
• Love
Jihad: Chasing a Phantom in Assam
By Subir
Bhaumik
• Ab Ki
Baar Trump Sarkaar?
By Ajoy
Kumar
• Why
Indian Americans, Republicans Or Democrats, Are Feeling Scared
By
Savita Patel
• The
Indians in Trump's Seditious War
By Vappala
Balachandran
• New
Year Rings In Reconciliation in West Asia
By Pinak
Ranjan Chakravarty
• US,
India: Stop the Uncivil Wars: When A Nation Forgets It’s One People And
Institutions Weaken, We’re At The Abyss
By
Gurcharan Das
•
Scar-Spangled Banner: Followers of Trump Declare Civil War II on the
Self-Appointed Global Exporters of Democracy
By Jug
Suraiya
-----
Love
Jihad: Chasing a Phantom in Assam
By
Subir Bhaumik
13.01.21
Gender groups have raised demands for a chain of rehabilitation homes
for trafficked girls who have been rescued.
Shutterstock
-----
The
Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in Assam is planning to bring a law that
will make it mandatory for the bride and the groom to disclose information
about their religion and income in official documents a month before their
wedding. This comes after several other BJP-ruled states have enacted or
expressed their intent to implement laws to stop ‘love jihad’ — a pejorative
term used by Hindutva groups to berate interfaith marriage.
Himanta
Biswa Sarma, the most visible face of the Assam government, claimed that the
law is “not against love jihad”. But he added to the confusion by saying that
the law ‘would be somewhat similar’ to the ones in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh. “It would be inclusive of all religions and would empower our sisters
by bringing transparency... One will have to disclose not only religion but
earning source. Complete family details, education etc. Many a time even in
same religion marriage we have found that the girl later finds that the husband
is in an illegal business,” said Sarma. “The proposed law will require the man
and the woman to disclose their source of income, profession, permanent address
and religion in a government-prescribed form a month before the wedding.
Failing to do so would lead to legal action against the couple.”
Neither
Sarma nor any of his party leaders in the state has provided any data on
interfaith marriages in Assam, let alone evidence that such a trend is on the
rise. So the question is whether the BJP is contemplating such a legislation to
polarize Assam in the run-up to the assembly elections scheduled next year. Or
was it trying to score brownie points by emulating BJP governments in UP and
MP?
Gender
activists and women leaders in Assam, such as the Congress spokesperson,
Bobbeeta Sharma, insist that the ‘love jihad’ phenomenon was unfounded and that
it may be a tactic to create communal polarization after the BJP failed to push
through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act because of stiff resistance from
regional groups that don’t want religion to decide citizenship. They treat
migration as an ethnic issue rather than a religious one.
Assamese
women’s groups insist that trafficking is a far bigger problem than love jihad.
“This is something the government should worry about, the urgent need to
prevent illegal trafficking of our girls elsewhere in India by luring them with
fake job offers,” said Sharma.
My own
investigations into the trafficking of Assamese women (“Assam’s missing women
and the sex trade”) led to interesting revelations. According to statistics
officially provided by Assam police, 3,184 women and 3,840 girl children had
gone missing in Assam between 1996 and 2007. The figure works out to about two
women going missing every day. According to the Bureau of Police Research and
Development, trafficking may have reduced with a dip in ethnic conflicts but it
remains a serious problem, especially in flood-prone areas that witness
substantial annual displacement.
Armed
conflicts and internal displacement in Assam have contributed to the problem.
Nearly half a million people were displaced and lodged in makeshift camps in
Western Assam in the 1990s due to large-scale violence involving Bodo
tribesmen, Bengali Hindus and Muslims and adivasis brought to Assam from
central India by the British to work in tea plantations. Similar displacements
took place elsewhere in Assam as well as in Manipur and Tripura because of
ethnic conflict.
Assam
police have been rescuing local girls from brothels in Delhi and Mumbai. In
recent times, women have also been rescued from wealthy landlords in Punjab and
Haryana. Gender activists say that in these cases, the ‘marriage’ was a ruse
and the women were not treated as wives at all. The Bureau of Police Research and
Development say that an organized racket of ‘recruiters’ lure women with fake
job offers outside the state. Poverty and helplessness forced the women to
accept these deals.
Gender
groups have raised demands for a chain of rehabilitation homes for trafficked
girls who have been rescued. They have also asked the police to focus on the
menace of missing girls. Instead of chasing the phantom of ‘love jihad’, the
Assam government must take concrete measures to stop trafficking and
rehabilitate victims.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/love-jihad-chasing-a-phantom-in-assam/cid/1803465
-----
Ab Ki
Baar Trump Sarkaar?
By
Ajoy Kumar
13 January
2021
The PM may have distanced himself from Trump following the Capitol attack but we have recently seen many examples of violence in India, too
------
As a
doctor, one of the fundamental things you are taught in the medical college —
and, frankly, a lot earlier — is the difference between the symptom and the
disease and the importance in tackling the disease rather than just the
symptom. A fever, for instance, is a good example of the symptom that is common
to a number of illnesses, such as various types of flu as well as different
types of infections. However, a paracetamol or Crocin cannot cure such
illnesses, though such medicines may prove effective in containing the fever
briefly. The ill-informed may be led to believe that the disease is cured but,
in reality, the disease is alive and kicking and, without proper care and
attention, the symptoms (including the fever) would also return.
In today’s
time and age, we are battling and struggling with a disease that has turned our
world upside down: A virus that has literally brought the world to a standstill
and whose inertia we are still trying to break away from. The COVID-19 crisis
has gripped the entire world but afflictions like fake news, propaganda and
conspiracy theories that endanger our fundamental understanding of democracy
are possibly where the true threat to humanity lies. The most recent example of
this harm that these diseases can cause is when violent mobs stormed the
Capitol (which is the American equivalent of our Parliament) on the back of
calls from outgoing President Donald Trump and other politicians and
commentators from the Right wing to stop the transition of power in the United
States of America. While Trump and these leaders did attempt to distance
themselves from the violence and said that they never intended any violence to
take place, it is hard to argue that by stirring emotions and by acting contrary
to the fundamental principles of a democracy, the President and his supporters
(both in the media and in politics) do not have blood on their hands.
Prime
Minister Narendra Modi distanced himself from his good friend, Trump, by
tweeting against the attack. However, what should pain Modi more than the
unceremonious exit of his dear friend from the office is the fact that India
too has, unfortunately, not been immune to the disease of unsubstantiated
propaganda, and provoked — or, at the very least, inspired — violence. And
after the Emergency of 1975, the most severe impact of these illnesses has been
seen in his tenure as the Prime Minister. Therefore, while the attack on the
Capitol was shocking, we have seen just as many disturbing examples of violence
recently in our very own country.
In the
attack on the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, for example, we saw
a mob enter the campus of a major university and beat up and threaten students
and teachers alike. While reports show that there are video clips and
reasonable evidence of the prime actors of this violence being from the Akhil
Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the Right-wing student organisation
affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), there has been no
substantial action against the instigators, including those who are clearly
seen on camera.
We have
also seen several of the Union Ministers raise a rallying cry on the election
trail in New Delhi, raising slogans of “Desh ke gaddaaron ko…”, with the
faceless crowd responding with chants of “…goli maaron saalon ko”. Similarly,
during the protests against the BJP’s Citizenship Amendment Act, we had another
shocking incident where a man fired at least two shots from a distance of 50
metres from the stage of the protest. In a video captured by eyewitnesses, the
man can be seen brandishing his gun and shouting: “Hamaare desh mein kisi ki
nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon ki chalegi (No one except Hindus will have their way
in our country).” The man was subsequently identified as Kapil Gurjar and this
same man was a few months later inducted into the BJP at a public function. At
the ceremony, which took place in Ghaziabad, the district convener of the BJP
inducted him into the party with the words: “Kapil Gurjar has joined with
hundreds of supporters. He has influence and support base in the area. He has
been impressed by the party’s policies, the work being done by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi ji and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ji.” While one does not
expect such honesty from politicians, the BJP at least removed him from the
party and cancelled his membership in the face of the serious backlash that
followed.
Similarly,
in a shocking case of mob violence in Bulandshahr, a police inspector, SK
Singh, was shot and killed by a violent mob over an alleged incident of cow
slaughter. According to reports, those named in the charge sheet for Singh’s
murder include Bajrang Dal’s local convener Yogesh Raj and the BJP’s youth wing
leader Shikhar Agarwal. Other than this, we also saw the horrific abuse of
power in Hathras where the UP Police claimed that there was no evidence of rape
but the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has subsequently filed a charge
sheet against four men accused of the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old
Dalit woman.
The above
instances are horrific examples of violence and show a clear disregard for the
fundamental principles of an effective democracy. However, these acts of
violence and disorder only catch our attention when they reach a terrifying
crescendo. Much like how the mob in the United States (US), after being fed
hours and hours of lies and fake news, was convinced that they were
participating in an act of legitimate defiance; so have we too seen mobs in
India that are fed streams of fake news and falsehoods through social media and
through “legitimate” news outlets till the point that they are stirred into a
violent frenzy. It is here where the BJP and the Prime Minister have been found
woefully wanting. While the Prime Minister may not himself be making such
inflammatory statements, his acceptance and silence around the conduct of those
he has direct control over and those who regularly engage in such malpractices
speaks volumes. While Modi has tried to distance himself from Trump and his
horrific legacy, he has much to do to address and fix his party’s own legacy in
the country. In the words of Voltaire, “Those who can make you believe
absurdities, can make you commit atrocities”, and by allowing such people to
face no consequence for their action, Modi is leaving his own legacy which has
just as many black marks as the man who called him “a great friend”.
----
Ajoy
Kumar is a former IPS officer and member of the Congress party. The views
expressed are personal.
https://www.dailypioneer.com/2021/columnists/ab-ki-baar-trump-sarkaar-.html
------
Why
Indian Americans, Republicans or Democrats, Are Feeling Scared
By
Savita Patel
12 Jan 2021
An Indian
American Trump supporter from Virginia travelled to be a part of the White
House ‘Save America March’ called by Donald Trump. Seen holding the Indian
tricolor outside the US Capitol on 6 January, Vincent Xavier Palathingal who
represents the Republican Party of Virginia State Central Committee intended to
display his ethnic diversity and love for America,
Vincent
condemned the crowds that infiltrated the Capitol building and mentioned that
he remained on the lawns and did not attempt to go onto the steps or inside the
Capitol building.
A handful
of Indian American supporters of Trump from states including Minnesota,
Michigan, Virginia, and New Jersey were outside the White House and US Capitol
on 6 January.
Indian
American Republican Voters Still Support Trump
Hemant
Bhatt, Chairman of ‘South Asian Republican Coalition’ heeded to Trump’s calls
to attend the White House ‘Save America March’, where Trump spoke to the crowd
about their ‘election victory being stolen from us by the bold and radical left
Democrats’, and called on his supporters to march on to Congress.
Bhatt was with
a group of American Republican supporters from Flemington in South Jersey, “I
was the only Indian person in my group. I went as a representative of the SARC
(South Asian Republican Coalition). We were not able to listen to President
Trump as we were not on that side of the White House. We were very far from the
Capitol.”
Bhatt
condemned the violence at the US Capitol.
Also known
as the Gujarati friend of Donald Trump, he was part of Trump’s India visit
‘Chalo Gujarat’ program.
He alluded
to Trump’s rallies being by and large peaceful, and the violence having been
caused by others, “We were surprised with thousands and thousands of supporters
there. Lot of other people are involved in it. I don’t think that Trump
supporters would do that”.
There are
no signs that Trump’s base which includes his desi supporters, are leaving him
behind.
What Indian
American Supporters Think of Capitol Hill Violence
Florida
based real estate developer and hotelier, and an advisory board member of the
‘Indian Voices for Trump’, Danny Gaekwad also got invited to Trump’s White
House rally, “At least 10 times, different organisations messaged me as I am on
national teams. Emails, texts, phone calls calling out for support, for the
rally in DC. I did not attend as I recovered from Covid-19 recently”.
A
Republican for 27 years, Gaekwad recognises that Trump’s desi supporters stick
with him, “If it was not for Covid, five times more people would have attended.
I would have gone there with at least 500 Indians from Florida. We are hundreds
and hundreds. I condemn the violence and looting.
Referring
to the frustration among Trump supporters, Gaekwad is concerned about
possibility of more violence, “This is not the end of it. It is not going away.
People are really angry. 100% at the inauguration (Biden’s inauguration is on
20 January) we might see a lot of problems. It is just the beginning. It will
go regional, state by state, just like Democrats did. The trend is set
unfortunately and not ending soon. They waited for the results peacefully for a
long time and now everybody is disgruntled. 39% people believe it was a fraud
election”.
Dejection
of Desi Trump Supporters
According
to a Politico/Morning Consult survey, 70% of Republicans say they don’t believe
the 2020 election was free and fair, compared to 90% percent of Democrats who
say that it was free and fair. The Republican base trusts Trump like no other.
Desi Trump supporters’ political emotions are running high.
One of them
shared with me her strong belief that they had won the presidential election
but it was ‘snatched away from them by the Democratic establishment and media’.
The prominent Indian American Trump supporter added, “I believe in democracy
that is why I chose this country, but hamari voice ko band kiya jaa raha hai.
Trump supporters ko track kiya jaa raha hai. Hum log pure ek sal ruke rahe. Now
I don’t want to come out and make any statements. It is meaningless.”
Indian
American Trump supporters are feeling dejected with the lack of support from
the Republican party. Along with many conspiracy theories proving the election
‘fraudulent’, random calls are circulating in desi whatsapp groups to form a
new political party of ‘80 million Trump supporters’.
Desis in
America Are a Deeply Divided Community
Donald
Trumps’s victory margin in 2016 and the campaign rhetoric for the 2020 election
was a clear indication of a nation divided deeply. An NBC poll of early and
election day voters indicated that 63 percent of Asian American voters across
the country voted for Biden. A minority of the group voted for Trump, at 31
percent.
AAPI data
predictions from September were that Indian Americans at 66% are the most
inclined to vote for Biden among all Asian American groups. AAPI voters have
leaned more toward Democrats over time. Democrats have a longer history of
investing in the AAPI community, while Republicans have raised it in the last
10 years.
In 2016,
Republicans saw modest gains among Indian Americans, who are the most
Democratic-leaning group of Asian Americans, due to the mobilation efforts by
Republican Hindu groups, who capitalised on ideological overlaps between Trump
and Modi.
The crisp
divisions are reflected in a survey released by YouGov which found that 45% of
Republican voters supported the attack on the Capitol Building. 96% of
Democratic voters said they strongly or somewhat opposed the actions of pro-Trump
protestors.
Desi
Democrats Are Afraid Like Never Before
Watching
the siege of US Capitol by Trump supporters reminded me of numerous Indian
Americans I have spoken with in the last many months for the US presidential
election coverage, who feared exactly this kind of a violent day.
A community
divided, the desi Republican supporters worried about higher taxes and India’s
security vis-à-vis China if Biden became president. South Asian Democratic
supporters feared more polarisation, racism and anti-immigrant sentiments,
since Donald Trump won the 2016 election.
The larger
chunk of the Indian American community, desi Democrats’ apprehension grew
throughout Trump’s term with his anti-minority stance and harsh immigration
policies. They solidly supported Biden-Harris because they perceived Trump’s
party to be unwelcoming of migrants, scared of his frequent attacks on people
of colour.
Desi
participation in American politics as candidates, organisers, canvassers,
funders and voters rose during the Trump years, with a vision to have their
voices heard in corridors of power. The horror of Trump playing divisive
politics was on display at the US capitol.
Desi
Biden-Harris supporters are strongly condemning the violence at the US Capitol.
Not the ones to own guns, desis as far away as California are feeling
vulnerable, especially after how easily the law enforcement teams were
compromised in Washington DC. They care about the country they now call home.
----
Savita Patel is a senior journalist and producer. She’s currently based
in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is an opinion piece, and the views
expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible
for them.
https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/indian-american-democrats-republicans-fear-trump-biden#read-more
-----
The
Indians in Trump's Seditious War
By
Vappala Balachandran
January 13,
2021
Vincent
Xavier Palathingal, a businessman from Kerala, now living in the United States,
has attracted a lot of attention in our media. He was noticed waving an Indian
flag at the Trump rally in Washington DC on January 6 which turned violent as
it attacked the Capitol building, resulting in deaths.
He told our
media that he had migrated to the US in 1992 after his education in the
Government Engineering College, Thrissur. He claims to be a member of the State
Central Committee of the Republican Party in Virginia and had gone to attend
the Trump rally to protest against a ‘stolen election’. He added that he was
formerly a Democrat and had voted for Barack Obama twice.
Vincent
claimed that a few delinquents had infiltrated the otherwise peaceful rally and
committed acts of violence. He told a Malayalam news channel that the
lawbreakers appeared to him to be from the left wing ANTIFA (Anti-Fascist and
Anti-Racist Front) or BLM (Black Lives Matter). This was the fifth time he had
attended Trump’s rallies and the first one which ended in violence. Trump had
always blamed ANTIFA for violence during the “Black Lives Matter”
demonstrations.
In any case
the US Justice Department is probing the incident in cooperation with the
Capitol Police who would no doubt investigate the claims made by Vincent too.
Latest reports from the US indicate that the man with a painted face with
“Viking” horns, whose face was beamed all over the world was identified as Jake
Angeli from Arizona, a regular Trump supporter belonging to the Far Right wing
“QAnon”.
However,
the purpose of this piece is not to look into the incident at Capitol Hill but
to offer a retrospective of the political activities of Indian Americans based
on my personal experience in the US and how it transformed from the original
bipartisan movement into a community deeply divided on religious lines.
The Indian
diaspora in the US was politically active during the 1920s-30s under the
leadership of Taraknath Das, Har Dayal, Mubarak Ali Khan and J.J.Singh and many
others. Their canvassing efforts paved the way for the election of Dalip Singh
Saund, the only Indian to be a part of the US Congress (1957-63) till the
1990s. However, it was an epic struggle as all immigration was stopped during
the Second World War.
In 1946 the
Luce-Cellar Act 1946 allowed Indians to be considered as a special category for
immigration. This was due to the bipartisan campaigning with Congressmen by
J.J.Singh, President of the India League. Others who supported this legislation
were famous scientist Albert Einstein,
noted writer Pearl S. Buck, and former
California governor Upton Sinclair.
However,
the 1946 law re-introduced the quota system established under a 1924 Act. It
was heavily in favour of Northern and Western Europe. Notwithstanding this
limitation, the 1946 law benefited 3,000 Indians already living in the US,
and help them get naturalised. The McCarran-Walter Act, also called The
Immigration & Nationality Act, passed in 1952, continued quota-based
immigration. Asian countries were given a meagre quota of 100 visas each per
year.
The real
benefits occurred under the presidentship of Lyndon Johnson when the 1965
Immigration & Naturalization Act (Hart-Cellar Act) gave preference to
reuniting immigrant families after abolishing the quota system based on
national origin. However, the arrival of a large number of South Asian families led to a peculiar
cloistered style of living, confining their activities around temples or
mosques and celebrating South Asian festivals. This was the period of the ABCD
(American Born Confused Desi) syndrome.
The growing Indian community remained only a fringe group in national
politics since they made no attempts to integrate into the American mainstream
by taking part in the political process.
It was Dr.
Joy Cherian, a former Youth Congress activist and his colleagues like Krishna
Srinivasa, Gopal Bashist, Dinesh Patel, Dr. Suresh Prabhu, Swadesh Chatterjee
and many others belonging to the Republican and Democratic parties who exhorted
Indian Americans to join American political activities in the 1980s. They
replicated the tactics of the Jewish bipartisan lobby group American Israel
Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) founded by Tom Dine in 1963 to build
constituency pressure on American Congressmen to look after the interests of
Israel. In a similar way the bipartisan Indian American leadership established
the Indian-American Forum for Political Education (IAFPE) in 1983 to further
the interests of India.
Other
Indian American activists like Dr.Thomas Abraham and Inder Singh widened the
ambit of Indian Americans to several
countries like Fiji, Guyana, Surinam etc which were the destinations of
old Indian indentured labour. They did so by establishing a global Indian
diaspora platform named Global Organization of Indian Origin (GOPIO) in 1989.
The visibility of the Indian diaspora improved. All of them were secular,
bipartisan groups belonging to all religions and communities.
Unfortunately,
the first blow to the bipartisan movement of the Indian American Community was
given by, of all persons, senior Congress leader the late Siddhartha Shankar
Ray as Indian Ambassador to America. In 1993 he excluded the “Overseas Friends
of BJP” from the “1893 Vivekananda Chicago Speech Centenary Celebrations” in
America, with the bureaucratic reasoning that it was strictly an official
programme of the Indian government. Since then, the BJP segment of Indian
Americans, seen taking an active part in all the bipartisan programmes of the
Indian American organisations earlier, started staying away.
This
schismatic trend was reinforced after Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed
power in 2014. Only pro-BJP or pro-RSS Indian Americans were involved in Prime
Ministerial and high-level visits. Others were not invited. Just prior to the
2016 American Elections, a new organisation named “Hindus for Trump” came on
the scene. The old bipartisan group
felt left out. In the process, the Indian lobbying power in the US has suffered to Pakistan’s
advantage because of the exclusion of non-Hindus from the mainstream of Indian
American activities.
----
Vappala
Balachandran is a former Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat) (Syndicate:
The Billion Press
https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/opinion/the-indians-in-trumps-seditious-war/
------
New Year
Rings In Reconciliation In West Asia
By
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty
13th
January 2021
The Saudi
Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman greeting the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin
Hamad Al Thani, upon the latter’s arrival at the airport in Saudi Arabia
heralded the new year. Arguably, it marks the beginning of a significant
geopolitical step towards reconciliation among the Gulf Arab nations. It must
have surprised many in the Arab world and may have caused some concern in Iran
and Turkey, as both countries have taken advantage of dissensions among the
Gulf Arab nations. Qatar, an estranged member of the six-country regional
organisation, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) founded in 1981, had been at
loggerheads with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE since 2017 over its policies
that came into conflict with those of the three fellow Arab nations.
These
policy differences related to ties with Iran, support for the Muslim
Brotherhood, support to different factions in the ongoing civil war in Libya
and Syria, and the editorial slant of the Qatar-owned Al Jazeera media group.
The differences were serious enough for the three GCC countries and Egypt to
cut off ties and blockade Qatar, which has a land border only with Saudi
Arabia. The GCC convened its 41st Annual Summit on January 5 at Al-Ula in Saudi
Arabia and the Qatari Emir was invited to attend, after reconciliation
agreements were worked out behind the scenes. It was Kuwait that mediated in
the dispute and announced that Saudi Arabia and Qatar had agreed to restore
full diplomatic, land, air and sea links, which had been cutoff in June 2017.
During the summit, the Gulf leaders signed a “solidarity and stability”
agreement.
Ties
between Qatar and the three GCC members went downhill after uprisings in Arab
countries that began in Tunisia, the beginning of the so-called “Arab Spring”.
As these uprisings spread to other Arab countries, these wealthy GCC members
aided and supported preferred local factions in Syria and Libya, while Qatar
chose to support opposing factions, leading to charges against Doha of
supporting terrorism. In Libya, for instance, Qatar, Italy and Turkey are
supporting the UN-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) that is locked
in a civil war with General Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army (LNA), which
has received support from Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Russia, France and Egypt. Gen
Haftar had helped Col Muammar Gaddafi usurp power in 1969 and is reported to
have joined hands with the CIA to overthrow Gaddafi in the 1990s.
Suspicions
were also raised by Qatar’s friendly relations with Iran, a major player in the
regional power struggle with Saudi Arabia and her Gulf allies. In 2014, Saudi
Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain recalled their ambassadors from Doha. Though the
ambassadors returned to Doha after a few months, an insecure Qatar, with meagre
military resources of its own, felt threatened by a far more powerful Saudi
Arabia. It did what nations tend to do in such situations—it reached out to
allies like the US, whose CENTCOM is based at the Al-Udeid air base in Qatar.
It also reached out to Turkey, which has been spreading its wings in West Asia
in its quest for influence and leadership of the Islamic world.
Qatar
permitted Turkey to open a military base and start training Qatari military and
security forces. This led to a further deepening of the hostilities between
Qatar and the three GCC nations, and ties plummeted. In June 2017, Qatari
ambassadors were expelled and an economic blockade was imposed. Immediate
closure of the Turkish military base was one of the main demands. This led
Qatar to start an ambitious expansion of its military and security forces.
Bahrain has had several disputes with Qatar over their maritime boundary.
Qatari
Coast Guard ships have intercepted Bahraini ships and Doha has complained that
Bahraini Air Force fighter aircraft have flown over her territorial waters.
Qatar’s oil and gas resources have made it the world’s richest country in per
capita income. Its wealth enabled it to beat the blockade and the deadlock had
reached its expiry date, as it was going against the interest of all GCC
countries. Pressure has also been building for joint action against the Covid
pandemic and the need for economic measures to revive flagging economies.
Clearly,
there was strong US pressure to resolve the impasse and the presence of Jared
Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, at the Al-Ula Summit
confirms the American role. The priority
of the US is to keep the GCC together and consolidate a common front against
Iran. The reconciliation in the GCC is only the first step. There are simmering
differences that will require sustained effort to resolve. Clearly, Saudi
Arabia has taken the lead and MbS has attempted to play a statesman’s role in
the reconciliation effort.
As the sun
sets on the Trump administration, the GCC has to reckon with Iran’s growing
nuclear and missile capabilities. The incoming Joe Biden administration in the
US has indicated its preference for rejoining the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA). Iran’s
announcement that it has resumed enriching uranium to 20% and its seizure of a
South Korean tanker have not gone unnoticed. Clearly, Iran is raising the
stakes and repositioning itself for negotiations with the incoming Biden
administration.
The Obama
administration’s support for the nuclear deal with Iran was deeply unpopular
not only in Israel, but also in the Gulf countries. Iran and her military
proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen are viewed as security threats by the
GCC. The reconciliation is also a signal to the US that her GCC allies have
their reservations about potential accommodation of Iran by the Biden
administration.Having nurtured good ties with all GCC countries, India will
have cause to be satisfied with the reconciliation effort. India’s energy ties
with the GCC countries and the large Indian expatriate community in these
nations are important bonds.
Saudi
Arabia and Qatar are important suppliers of oil and natural gas to India.
Post-Covid economic recovery in the GCC nations will aid India’s economic
recovery as well, as these countries are major trading and investment partners
as well as employment destinations for Indian workers. With the UAE, Bahrain
and Morocco establishing full diplomatic ties with Israel, India will have reason
to be satisfied, given the close security ties it has with Israel. Whether the
reconciliation will help the Turkey-Pakistan axis will depend on how Qatar
plays its cards. It is very likely that Qatar will attempt to balance its ties
with the GCC and the Iran-Turkey axis.
https://www.newindianexpress.com/opinions/2021/jan/13/new-year-rings-in-reconciliation-in-west-asia-2249378.html
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US, India:
Stop The Uncivil Wars: When a Nation forgets its One People and Institutions
Weaken, We’re At the Abyss
By
Gurcharan Das
January 12,
2021
Indians
didn’t know what to think. They woke up last Thursday in disbelief to shocking
scenes of President Donald Trump’s supporters overrunning the US Capitol. The
deliberate assault on democracy by a sitting president, attempting to overturn
a fair election, was an ominous moment in American history.
The
reaction in India was divided. Some worried that a weakened America would be
unable to help India to contain aggressive China breathing down our borders. A
few were smug, seeing an America at odds with itself, getting a taste of its
own medicine after lecturing the world for decades about democracy. The
WhatsApp brigade was busy forwarding gags: “Owing to Covid travel restrictions,
this year’s US backed coup will take place at home.” Most thoughtful Indians
were fearful, however: If the oldest and longest existing democracy had seen
the edge of an abyss, what if it happened in India with much weaker
institutions?
Instead of
fear, I had the opposite reaction. Trump’s supporters had failed to subvert the
constitutional order. It’s because democracies entrust power in institutions,
not in rulers. US Congress went on to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s
victory. Even Trump in the end wasn’t above the law. It was a victory for
America’s democracy, which had proven its resilience. Liberal democracies are
only as robust as their institutions are independent and their officers are
honest. The lesson for India is to strengthen our weak institutions.
More
worrisome is the tragic divide in America and India which has brought about an
‘Age of Hatred’. The storming of the Capitol wasn’t a one-off occurrence
instigated by an unhinged leader. It’s a symptom of a deeper disease that
President Biden will have to live with.
In India we
must worry about our own uncivil polarisation. Our BJP and Congress parties
resemble America’s Republicans and Democrats, behaving like prehistoric tribes
that live in wholly different realities determined to annihilate each other.
They have forgotten that they are one people, one nation, and part of a common
humanity with a conscience.
This
tribalism endangers the existence of the world’s two largest democracies.
Democracy accepts differences and dislikes, allows room for protest and
disagreement, but always under the basic rules of cooperation.
The lesson
for India’s divisive politics is that the insurrection in America wasn’t
limited to a lunatic fringe. A survey by YouGov reported that 45% Republicans
approved of the storming of the Capitol. According to a Reuters/ Ipsos poll,
68% of Republicans believe that the recent US election was ‘rigged’, and 52%
believe that Trump had ‘rightfully won’. Since 73 million people voted for
Trump, this means that nearly 50 million people in the US doubt the election’s
legitimacy. It also explains why 78% of Democrats called the mob on Capitol
Hill ‘domestic terrorists’ but 50% of Republicans said they were ‘protesters’
and a third called them ‘patriots’. America is in the middle of an uncivil war.
I too
became a small victim of our own uncivil polarisation in the past two weeks. On
January 4, I was called vile names by trolls while I was defending the recent
sensible reforms in agriculture. Unfortunately, the TV channel headlined only
the first part of my statement: “It’s difficult to do reforms in a democracy.”
The trolls accused me of supporting dictatorship. What I said, in fact, was:
“It’s difficult to do reforms in a democracy; hence, smart reformers spend 20%
of their time doing reforms, 80% selling them, carrying people along. Mr Modi
failed to do this and he’s got farmer protests.”
The second
incident happened at IIT Jammu on January 9, where I was giving the convocation
address. I was asked to remove a lovely black cap given to me by the organisers
to wear on this festive occasion. Hindu nationalists thought it resembled a
Kashmiri Muslim cap and found it offensive. Both incidents left a bad taste in
my mouth and are the outcome of the unhappy divide between those who love and
those who hate Modi.
There’s no
room for the aam admi in the middle, the average Indian who is neither a Modi
bhakt nor a Congressia – someone who judges issues on their own merit, not
through the lens of those who’d divide us.
America
must now impeach Trump to confirm that it holds its president accountable for
going rogue. India should take this as a cautionary tale and strengthen its
institutions, especially checks on arbitrary power. Some of our institutions
have delivered such as our Election Commission, which conducts impeccably much
larger elections than the US with few complaints from the losers.
But our
judiciary, our police, our bureaucracy and Parliament are in crying need of
reform. Why do one in four lawmakers in India have a criminal record? Why
should it take 15 years to get justice in the courts? Why is the Indian police
the handmaiden of the chief minister, and why does an innocent man fear
entering a police station? During the siege of the US Capitol, some bewildered
law makers had asked, ‘Where are the police?’
Covid has
given both America and India a chance to heal the wounds of divisive politics,
an opportunity to show that its citizens are one people. This dastardly deed in
America proves that the old hatreds are alive and well. India, at least, has
slowed the mad rush towards CAA/ NRC, but that doesn’t mean the old revulsions
won’t return. The animosities are extracting too heavy a price in both nations,
consuming the energy that should go to restoring the economies after the
pandemic. Both nations must stop their uncivil wars!
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/men-and-ideas/us-india-stop-the-uncivil-wars-when-a-nation-forgets-its-one-people-and-institutions-weaken-were-at-the-abyss/
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Scar-Spangled
Banner: Followers Of Trump Declare Civil War II On The Self-Appointed Global
Exporters Of Democracy
By Jug
Suraiya
January 12,
2021
On the
lawns of the Eternal White House in the Sky where US presidents go after they
have demitted Earthly office, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln confer
about recent happenings in Washington DC and in other parts of the US.
Washington:
The whole wide world has been shocked by that gang of goons claiming to be
supporters of a successor of ours rioting in the city named after me. Did you
see the video clip of that woman crying?
Lincoln:
No, I missed it. What’s her name?
Washington:
I don’t think she’s got a name as such, Abe. Everyone just calls her the Statue
of Liberty, or Libby for short. I feel like crying myself. It’s tragic that
such things should happen in a country which has always claimed to be a
champion of democracy ever since I fought for freedom from British rule and you
fought a Civil War for the freedom of slaves.
Lincoln: I
did indeed. But now it looks that there might be Civil War II down there, even
after that bozo who started the whole thing has finally been kicked out of his
job, which he should never have got in the first place.
Washington:
You’re right, Abe. But whatever happened to that thing called democracy that
guys like us believed was our birthright?
Lincoln:
Well, that’s the problem, George. Some of those who came after us convinced
themselves that democracy was not just our birthright but that we had a patent
on the darn thing, and the God-given right to export it to other countries –
like Vietnam, and Afghanistan, and Iraq – which didn’t want Made-in-America
democracy, with the result that things got pretty messy.
Washington:
You mean things got messy there?
Lincoln:
They got messy here as well. Because having exported, or tried to export, all
our democracy, we don’t have much of it left in the US itself, as shown by the
guy who’s facing impeachment.
Washington:
Golly. I guess democracy is like charity: It should begin at home – and stay
there …
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/jugglebandhi/scar-spangled-banner-followers-of-trump-declare-civil-war-ii-on-the-self-appointed-global-exporters-of-democracy-f0-9f-98-8a/
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