WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2023-41

About: the world this week, 8 October to 14 October 2023; Unfathomable terror unleashed on Israel; Afghanistan’s Earthquake; Nobel Prizes; Asian Games close and Cricket World Cup begins.

Everywhere

Israel Under Attack

Last Saturday, 7th October it was the Jewish Sabbah in Israel and also a holy festival day-the Sukkot. Families usually gather to spend time together, at home or in a synagogue, and friends just meet over for a chat. This year, excited music-lovers were looking forward to the Supernova Music Festival, held in the desert, in Southern Israel to coincide with the Sukkot. It was billed as ‘a journey of unity and love’ with ‘mind-blowing and breath-taking content’ in a place of stunning beauty. Thousands of young people signed up for the party but were not told of the exact location until a few hours before. It was Kibbutz Re’im, about 5 kilometres (km) from the Israel-Gaza border.

But out of the dawn sky, a hail of rockets signalled the start of an attack that, as it unfolded, was unprecedented in its scale and coordination. Shortly thereafter a steady stream of rockets began to rain on Israel. For years, Israel has fortified the border between itself and the small Palestinian enclave of Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas-the Islamist militant organisation. But within hours, its impenetrability was exposed as flawed.

As the rockets rained, about 5000 of them, Hamas- designated as a terrorist group by the United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), European Union, among others – was gathering terrorists where they had planned to penetrate the heavily fortified Gaza-Israel barrier. And within hours, the barrier had been breached again and again in several coordinated, direct assaults on barrier crossing points. And Hamas tried to bypass the barrier completely, including by flying over it on paragliders in the air, and also by boat in the sea.

Hamas terrorists swept out of Gaza in all directions into Israel, assaulted 27 different locations, apparently with orders to kill on sight. The furthest Hamas penetrated was to the town of Ofakim, which lies about 22 km east of Gaza.

Hamas posted the first images from the ground, taken at Kerem Shalom – the most southern of Gaza’s crossings: Terrorists overrunning a check point and the bloodied bodies of two Israeli soldiers on the ground; at least five motorbikes, each carrying two Terrorists armed with rifles, passing through a hole which had been cut in the wire fence section of the barrier; Israeli soldiers being pulled-out of a destroyed tank; one very disturbing video of a woman, whose lifeless and undressed body, face-down – later identified as German citizen Shani Louk- dumped on the back of a pick-up truck and human savages sprawled around her; another of a blood-soaked woman being dragged and pushed into a car.

At the music festival near Re’im, gunmen were firing at will at the large group of young people who had gathered to party and dance. The terrorists had a van loaded with weapons and spent hours searching the area for other Israelis. Hostages were taken from the festival and other locations and transported back into Gaza. Israel says more than 150 Israelis have been abducted and are being kept as hostages. Within just a few hours of the attack, hundreds of Israelis were dead. And it happened in a way no one thought was even possible.

Help was beginning to arrive to the stricken southern region of Israel within a few hours, but Hamas was in effective control of a large swathe of territory.

The speed and deadliness of the surprise attack stunned Israel. Questions over how it was able to happen will be asked for years.

It is completely unprecedented that a terrorist organisation would have the capacity or the wherewithal to mount coordinated, simultaneous assaults from the air, sea, and land. In addition, Hamas possessing the ability to keep its preparations unknown from a country like Israel that has among the most sophisticated intelligence services in the world strongly suggests that it had external state support, advice, and guidance in the planning and execution of the attack on Israel. Iran, accordingly, will be strongly suspected of being behind this.

Israel acknowledged it was ‘surprised’, but quickly got into the act of defending itself and began ferociously attacking the Gaza Strip. It declared it was at War with Hamas and called up an unprecedented 300,000 reservists. And vowed a deadly retaliation under ‘Operation Iron Swords’. Hamas in turn threatened to execute an Israeli captive for every Israeli bombing of a civilian house without warning.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a military operation that will be both massive and decisive, with the intention of permanently destroying and disabling Hamas’ ability to attack Israel again.

By the end of the week, after Israel regained control of areas invaded by Hamas, the horrors of Hamas’ attack on border communities and Kibbutz Beeri began emerging. And they are beyond human comprehension.

Children were found butchered, decapitated in a kibbutz, people were mercilessly burnt alive in cars, or hounded into bomb shelters and just blasted with grenades thrown-in. Our eyes see but our hearts refuse to believe that human beings can be capable of such savage cruelty – an inconceivable slaughter of hundreds of civilians in their own homes and at the scene of a party, the abduction of civilians, children, and the elderly, and sadistic psychological abuse of families.

Israel said, and at least 1300 civilians and soldiers were killed during the heinous terrorist attack. A further 3000 people were injured. This was the most harrowing murder of jews since the Holocaust – genocide of 6 million jews during World War-II by Hitler’s Nazi’s.

Then began the strike-back on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with Israel vowing to eliminate every Hamas terrorist. Israel pounded the Gaza with precision air-strikes taking down known Hamas hideouts, buildings and facilities. Israel cut-off water, power, and fuel supplies to Gaza, and its only power plant ran out of fuel plunging Gaza City into darkness. Israel has amassed its troops on the border with Gaza and is preparing for, possibly the deadliest assault on a terrorist group. And this Friday it issued a warning to civilians of Gaza City to evacuate – within 24 hours- to the southern part of the Gaza, south of Wadi Gaza, beyond the Gaza river so that civilians are not trapped in the War. That’s about 1.1 million people to move out.

Gaza has a population of about 2.3 million living in five areas called: North Gaza, Gaza City, Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah. The Gaza Strip is an area of 365 sq.km – about 41km long and 10km wide. There are actually two layers of Gaza, one- on the surface is the civilian community and two- below the surface in a maze of tunnels, forbidden to civilians where live the Hamas from where they carry our their nefarious activities and launch attacks on Israel. Hamas has deliberately embedded itself in every aspect of civilian life in homes with the tunnels running below mosques, schools, and markets, making them vulnerable military targets. They use civilians as shield and pawns in their fight against Israel – as a standard practice.

The US was quick to announce support sending arms and ammunition – especially refills for for Israel’s famous Iron Dome, which destroys incoming Hamas Rockets. The USS Gerald Ford Carrier Strike Group, which is the largest warship in the world was despatched to the Mediterranean Sea. The UK is also sending two Royal Navy ships and surveillance aircraft to the eastern Mediterranean in plans to bolster security. Support for Israel poured in from many countries, including India, unequivocally condemning the ravenous killing by Hamas as an inadmissible act of terror. Even Afghanistan’s ‘deadly and unforgiving’ Taliban has condemned the terrorist act of Hamas.

Hamas too got its share of ‘uncivilised’ support, around the world-more on that next week.

What and who are Hamas, how did they come to be? But first, a bit about Islam to understand the fundamentals.

After the death of Prophet Muhammad, the founder of Islam, in the year 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as Sunnis, believed that Muhammad’s successor as Caliph of the Islamic community should be Abu Bakr, whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shias, believed that his successor should be Ali.

Abu Bakr is the father-in-law of the Prophet through his daughter Aisha. He is known as the first Caliph – Al-Siddiq – of the Rashidun (rightly guided, perfect) Caliphate (an institution), which is the successor state to the Prophet’s domains. Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law of the Prophet, was the last Caliph of the Caliphate. He was also a senior companion of the Prophet and considered to be the first Imam, the rightful political and religious successor to Muhammed. The Rashidun Caliphate was successively ruled by Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali – the last.

The vast majority of Muslims in various counties are Sunni Muslims with the Shia’s being about 10% of the Muslim community. Typical Shia majority countries are Azerbaijan, Iraq, and Bharain. All others are predominantly Sunni.

The Quran is the central religious text of Islam. Muslims believed it represents the words of God revealed by archangel Gabriel to Muhammad. Angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Archangels are the second level angels in the hierarchy of Angels. Gabriel is an archangel with the power to announced God’s will to men. That’s the religious background.

Now, about Hamas.

Hamas, officially the Islamic Resistance Movement was founded in 1987 by Palestinian politician, Ahmed Yassin. Its name is an acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya and is primarily a Sunni Islamist political and militant organization. It emerged out of the Mujama al-Islamiya (also founded by Yassin), which had been established in Gaza in 1973 as a religious charity involved with the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood. This was shortly after the first intifada – uprising, rebellion- against Israel. Yassin also created the Islamic University of Gaza, which is considered a hotbed of radicalism. This has since been destroyed and raised to the ground in the Israeli air-strikes, early this week.

The Hamas Covenant or Hamas Charter was originally issued in August 1988 and outlines the founding identity, stand, and aims of Hamas. A new charter was issued by Hamas leader Khaled Mashal in May 2017.

The original Charter identified Hamas as the Muslim Brotherhood in Palestine and declares its members to be Muslims who ‘fear God and raise the banner of Jihad in the face of the oppressors’. The charter states, among other extremist things, the following: ‘our struggle against the Jews is very great and very serious’ and calls for the eventual creation of an Islamic state in Palestine in place of Israel and the Palestinian Territories, and the obliteration or dissolution of Israel; there is no solution for the Palestinian question except through Jihad; Initiatives, proposals and international conferences are all a waste of time and vain endeavours; Hamas is humanistic, and tolerant of other religions as long as they ‘stop disputing the sovereignty of Islam in this region’. The Charter adds that, ‘renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion of Islam’. The original charter was criticised for its violent language against all Jews, and an incitement to genocide.

Mahmoud Zahar, co-founder of Hamas, said in 2006 that Hamas “will not change a single word in its covenant.” In 2010, he reaffirmed a major commitment of the covenant saying, “Our ultimate plan is to have Palestine in its entirety. I say this loud and clear so that nobody will accuse me of employing political tactics. We will not recognise the Israeli enemy.” In summary, Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist.

Hamas became increasingly involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict by the late 1990s; it opposed the Israel–Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), Letters of Mutual Recognition as well as the Oslo Accords, which saw Hamas’ secular rival Fatah renounce ‘the use of terrorism and other acts of violence’ and recognise Israel in pursuit of a two-state solution. Hamas continued to advocate Palestinian armed resistance to end what it calls ‘Israeli occupation’. Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, gaining a majority in the Palestinian Legislative Council, and subsequently took control of Gaza Strip from Fatah in 2007.

Since 2007, Hamas has fought several wars with Israel. The Hamas government has pushed through changes that gave greater influence to Islamic law in the Gaza Strip. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. It has spent its entire time and money in building an arsenal to fight Israel.

Many Western countries and their allies have designated Hamas as a terrorist organisation, citing their usage of human shields; methods of hostage-taking of civilians; and history of violence against non-combatants, including massacres of civilian populations, suicide bombings, and indiscriminate rocket attacks on Israeli population centres. However, a 2018 attempt to condemn Hamas for ‘acts of terror’ at the United Nations failed.

Hamas is currently governing the Gaza Strip of the Palestinian territories. While it is headquartered in Gaza City, it also has a presence in the West Bank (the larger of the two Palestinian territories), in which Fatah exercises control. It is widely considered to be the ‘dominant political force’ within the Palestinian territories. Its main political rivals are Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Fatah.

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched a major armed campaign dubbed ‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ against Israel, which resulted in the present barbaric terrorist outrage on Israel.

Going back into history.

The region of Palestine or the land of Israel was among the earliest civilisations in the world. During the Iron Age, 1200 BCE to 600 BCE, two related Kingdoms ruled much of Palestine-the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah. A third called the Philistines occupied its southern coast. For a deeper understanding and the genesis of Israel-Palestine Conflict read:

https://kumargovindan.com/2021/05/15/world-inthavaaram-2021-20/

The inhumane, merciless killings of Jews by Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists is akin to the mobile killing units of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen, which also went into villages to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust, and the ‘pogroms’ waged against Jews in the Russian Empire. Israel appears to be in no mood to be magnanimous about the murderers of innocents, including children and the elderly. And has vowed to finish the War on its terms. Israel have even right to defend itself living in close proximity to Hamas whose sole objective is Israel’s destruction.

Afghanistan’s Earthquake

Last Saturday was deadly in other ways.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck on Saturday 40 km west of the oasis City of Herat – the third largest in Afghanistan, and the capital of the western Herat Province.

More than 2,000 people have died as the nation reels from another quake at a time of deep economic crisis. The number killed is about 2400 people, with more 1300 hurt and 1,320 houses completely or partially destroyed. The toll could rise further.

The initial quake was also felt in neighbouring provinces of Badghis and Farah and was followed by multiple aftershocks.

Afghanistan has suffered significant damage from a series of recent earthquakes amid an ongoing dire economic and hunger crises, killing and displacing tens of thousands. The country has long been one of Asia’s poorest and has been ravaged by conflict for decades. But its ability to respond to natural disasters has been further hampered since the Taliban seized power in 2021 following the chaotic US withdrawal, an event that saw many international aid groups pull out.

It also led to Washington and its allies freezing about USD seven billion of the country’s foreign reserves and cutting off international funding. The situation has crippled an economy already heavily dependent on aid.

Noble Prizes

Last week the winners of Nobel Prize in Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace were announced.

This week, the Nobel Prize in Literature 2023 was awarded to Norwegian author Jon Fosse, ‘for his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable’. His immense oeuvre written in the language Norwegian Nynorsk and spanning a variety of genres consists of a wealth of plays, novels, poetry collections, essays, children’s books and translations. While he is today one of the most widely performed playwrights in the world, he has also become increasingly recognised for his prose.

The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023 was awarded to America’s Claudia Goldin ‘for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes’.

Claudia Goldin, provided the first comprehensive account of women’s earnings and labour market participation through the centuries, presenting new and often surprising facts. Women’s choices have often been, and remain, limited by marriage and responsibility for the home and family is at the heart of her analyses and explanatory models. She uncovered key drivers of gender differences in the labour market.

Over the past century, the proportion of women in paid work has tripled in many high-income countries. This is one of the biggest societal and economic changes in the labour market in modern times, but significant gender differences remain. It was first in the 1980s that a researcher adopted a comprehensive approach to explaining the source of these differences.

Sports

Asian Games

The Asian Games came to a close this Sunday and India finished fourth in the overall medals tally with its best ever performance of 107 medals Gold-28; Silver-38; Bronze-41. Indian athletes were honoured and warmly received all over the country in various moments of celebrations.

China won 383 medals, Japan-188, and South Korea -190. Uzbekistan finished fifth, after India, with 71 medals.

ICC Cricket World Cup 2023

The 13th edition of the Men’s Cricket World Cup, a quadrennial One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament contested by national teams and organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC) is underway in India. It is the first men’s Cricket World Cup, which India is hosting solely. The tournament started on 5th October and is scheduled to conclude on 19th November. England are the defending champions.

Ten national teams are participating: Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe. West Indies missing out on qualification for the first time in its history.

The tournament is taking place in ten different stadiums, in ten cities across India. The first and second semi-finals will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and Eden Gardens in Kolkata respectively, while the final will take place at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.

More good and bad stories coming-up in the weeks ahead. Heal with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-25

About: the world this week, 19 June to 25 June 2022; edge-of-seat, pot-boiler politics in India’s States; Afghanistan shakes; Election results in France, Colombia, and Israel; and a new President-in-the-works for India.

Everywhere

During this week, the International Day of Yoga was celebrated with gusto, with the ‘all walks of life celebrities’ piously seated on a Yoga mat, twisting, turning, and bending backwards and forwards, showing-off their precious moves, highlighting the benefits of the wonderful practice. However, in the Maldives, Islamist protesters stormed and disrupted a yoga event organised by the Indian High Commission in the capital Male. The protesters also brandished placards proclaiming that yoga was against the tenets of Islam. That’s twisting things too far!

Meanwhile, a friend whose Company supplied the T-Shirts to the United Nations for the yoga twists & turns, snaked into my Home to invite me to his son’s Wedding. A fortune-teller had warned that if his son is not cooly ‘married off’ within the year he may face the heat of a marriage draught lasting at least six years – women melting away-blame it on climate change. He googled, quickly latched onto a bride, got his son to nod in agreement – the son was bewildered to discover that she was a childhood bench mate- and fixed the Wedding for August this year. ‘Fortune’ favours the brave!

Moving over: in France, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party lost majority in Parliament, two months after he fought hard to comeback as President. Now, he has to find a way to create alliances and constantly scratch-up the support of other parties to get work done. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and former opponent called the election results a ‘seismic event, while Macron’s own party called it a ‘democratic shock.’

On Sunday, Colombia elected its first leftist president, Gustavo Petro, a former member of the M-19 guerrilla movement. He won more than 50% of the vote, beating a prominent businessman. Gustavo has promised to stop new oil exploration and to raise taxes on the rich. His running mate, Francia Marquez, also snagged a first. An environmental activist and single mother, she will serve as the country’s first black vice-president.

Meanwhile, Israel may get a new Prime Minister as the country is headed toward its fifth election in four years after announcing plans to dissolve parliament. Israel has a way with its Elections!

In Ukraine the fighting continues in the eastern part and the situation is described as extremely difficult. Russia has been using its superior artillery strength to make gains. On the ‘good news side’ the war-torn country has been approved as a European Union (EU) Candidate at a EU Leaders’ summit in Brussels. Ukraine applied days after the Russian invasion, and the process has since moved at a record speed. Ukraine’s President Zelensky called it a ‘unique and historic moment’. Candidate status is the first official step towards EU membership – but it can take many years to join and there’s no guarantee of success. So near yet so far?

Late this week in the United States of America (USA) its Supreme Court overturned the 50 years old Roe versus Wade Case that legalised abortion rights, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion in the USA. This is a death blow to woman’s freedom. And a huge step backwards. More on this, next week.

Afghanistan Shakes

The horror in Afghanistan refuses to abate. The Taliban shook it like never before and then nature too joined the shake.

A powerful earthquake measuring 6.2 ‘moment magnitude’ killed about a 1000 people and left thousands injured in Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktika provinces. The earthquake’s tremors were felt over 500 kilometers by people across Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.

Mountainous Afghanistan and the larger region of South Asia along the Hindu Kush mountains has long been vulnerable to devastating earthquakes with a similar incident, but of lesser damage, happening in 2015.

India’s Maharashtra State: A Quiver-full of Arrows

In the Maharashtra State Assembly Elections held in the year 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 122 seats in the 288 seated Assembly and came to power entering into a relationship with the Shiv Sena (SHS), which itself won 63 seats. Previously, the highest the BJP could muster in Maharashtra was 46 seats. BJP’s handsome leader Devendra Fadnavis became Chief Minister, enjoyed a ‘relationship honeymoon’, and went on to successfully complete his term.

Building on the snug togetherness, the BJP & SHS decided to take their relationship to the next level – love each other, mind the distance, and probably get married in the next Legislative Assembly Election, which was held on 21 October 2019. After a 61.4% turnout in the election, the ruling BJP and SHS pre-poll alliance won a majority with 106 and 55 seats respectively, on Wedding Day. However, the first night (and day) probably wasn’t good as the just-married couple started squabbling over dowry. The SHS said it was promised an equal share – Chief Ministership for half the term – which was quickly denied by the New Delhi uncles of the BJP saying nothing of the sort was agreed upon. A political drama then kicked-in. The SHS walked-out of the marriage and the BJP, desperately hunted for a coy-bride in the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) to fill the gap, and found one. This barely lasted three days-could not be consummated-and the new Bride was disowned by her parents – the NCP. The coy Bride returned to her parent’s home and the SHS groomed themselves for a live-in relationship with the NCP’s 53 and the Congress Party’s 44 members, forming the government called the Maha Vikas Aghadi Government (MVA) with their support.

The Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray went on to become Chief Minister without himself having contested the Elections, but later qualified, by becoming a Member of the Legislative Council (MLC). That’s the first part of the story. Now, the second part, where a wronged and ditched groom gets his revenge?

This week the Shiv Sena live-in began to fail with MLAs (Member of Legislative Assembly) of the SHS probably realising they are living in sin. A major chunk lead by Eknath Shinde – nobody heard of him much, before this – broke away, probably emboldened by the come-hither, stunning looks of the BJP. Nobody knows for sure. They caught a flight to the State of Gujarat and from there, a flood of MLA’s – near about 40 of them – flew to Guwahati in the State of Assam, which was suffering one of its worst ever floods caused by incessant rain. This is obviously to prevent ‘political poaching’ – a hunting game-theory Indian Politicians specialise in.

That’s a rebellion in a party founded and run by family members where the family is left behind and the members have stolen the party, possibly beating the Anti-Defection Law which says tow-thirds breaking away is acceptable.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray vacated his official Bungalow and moved to his family home, suitcases, et all. The Government is back on the drawing board.The third and probably the final part of the story is expected to unfold in the upcoming week. The Shiv Sena’s logo is a bow and arrow and Party name itself means, ‘Shivaji’s Army’. They will need all of that, and much more, to stay relevant.

… And Tamilnadu: Two Leaves Leaving

Not to be left behind and catching the whiff of things, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), which is the main Opposition Party in the Southern State of Tamilnadu, created its own drama.

Ever since the death of its charismatic leader Jayalalithaa, the AIADMK has been working in a ‘dual sim-phone’ mode – Dual Leadership – with Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam (OPS) and Edappadi Karuppa Palanisamy (EPS) being joint Leaders, kind of, the two leaves of the AIADMK. Both of them have been Chief Ministers for periods of time.

EPS successfully steered the AIADMK as the recent Chief Minister of Tamilnadu – did a fine job – in completing his term, ended up losing in the next Elections, but with a respectable number of seats, reinforcing his leadership.

Over a year in the opposition, the dual leadership wasn’t working well, especially with the BJP’s Tamilnadu President Annamalai stealing the narrative, firing on all guns, and working magic in Tamilnadu as if they were the real Opposition Party. With the AIADMK party cadre wanting a single leadership, to be quick on the draw, they resolved to meet to discuss resolutions made and iron-out bumps in a General Council meeting this week. But it turned into a mid-summer night’s dream. The Courts stepped-in saying they must stick to resolutions agreed upon before the Meeting; all resolutions were rejected; OPS and his supporters walked out; and the Meeting was put-off to another day with new resolutions to kick-in including that of Single Leadership.

No one knows what happens next. Must be looking at direct flights from Chennai to Guwahati to get flooded with new ideas.

Indian politics works in mysterious ways and the edge-of-the-seat suspense, twists & turns can be intriguing, mind-boggling and awfully thrilling. Airplanes and 5-star Hotels gain lots of revenue, the media drives into top gear, and the State gets paid its Goods & Service Taxes.

The New Would-be President of India

Over the past weeks the media was pregnant with speculation on who would be India’s ruling Party BJP’s choice for the President of India, given that the current President, Ram Nath Kovind’s-He did a magnificent job of being President- term expires on 24 July 2022.

This week the choice was made. Droupadi Murmu, 64, a former Governor of the State of Jharkhand was chosen and will be the first person from the State of Odisha, and the first tribal woman leader to occupy the presidential post if elected. She will also be the first President, to be born after Independence. That’s a lot of firsts!

The Opposition had earlier announced Yashwant Sinha – a former Finance Minister in the BJP and one who deserted the BJP ranks – as its candidate The poll is slated for July 18. And the numbers are stacked in favour of the BJP.

Droupadi Murmu, is a tribal woman born in the Santhal community of the remote Mayurbhanj District, Odisha. Her father and grandfather were Village Heads under the Panchayat Raj System. She started out a teacher before entering politics after earning a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Ramdev Women’s College in Bhubaneswar. She worked as a junior assistant in the Irrigation & Power Department for 4 years before becoming a teacher at Sri Aurobindo Integral Education Centre, Rairangpur.

Then she decided to swing into the world of Indian politics. And began her political career as a Councillor in Rairangpur Nagar Panchayat in 1997, and as Vice-President of the BJP’s Schedule Tribes Morcha. She became MLA, twice on the BJP ticket, from Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj in 2000 and 2004. She rose through the proverbial ranks to become a minister in the BJD (Biju Janata Dal)-BJP Alliance Government in 2000 handling the portfolios of Commerce & Transport and Fisheries & Animal Husbandry. And became the Governor of Jharkhand in 2015. Murmu could hold on to her assembly seat in 2004 even when the BJD had snapped ties with the BJP weeks ahead of the state elections, which were swept by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s BJD party.

In her personal life she has seen much tragedy, losing her husband Shyam Charan Murmu to a cardiac arrest in 2014, and one of two sons in 2009, in mysterious circumstances, and the second in a road accident in 2013. She has a daughter, Itishri Murmu who works in a Bank and is married to Ganesh Hembram – a rugby player. There is a young grand-daughter in her arms.

The would-be President has struggled every millimetre of her way to get here, has seen personal tragedy- inheritance of loss, fought depression, and has managed all of them with Himalayan resolve. I’m sure she will make a wonderful President. The best is yet to come!

More native, bow & arrow leaving stories coming up in the weeks ahead. Stay safe with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-19

About: the world this week, 8 May to 14 May 2022, Tiger country burning, Laws of motion, going under-cover, re-unification dreams, climbing the highest mountain, a forbidden country isolates, bongbong country, and Dinosaurs that went extinct.

Everywhere

Sri Lanka: Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright

Early in the week Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister (PM), Mahindra Rajapaksa, resigned following severe unrest when crowds went on a deadly rampage across the country. His ancestral home was set on fire, along with his superb Lamborghini car collection; a gold statue of the father of the Rajapaksa brothers was pulled-down reminding us of other fallen statues across the world. People are running wild on the streets and shoot-on-sight orders issued in the State of Emergency already declared. The protestors are demanding the President also resign and that the Rajapaksa family returns whatever they have looted, to the country’s coffers.

No other political dynasty, in this part of the world, as been as nepotistic as the Rajapakasha clan. During Mahindra Rajapaksa’s second term as President from 2010 to 2015, there were more than 40 Rajapaksa family members in government posts, apart from the cabinet.

When he was a first time President, Mahindra Rajapaksa earned his stars, comprehensively destroying the ruthless terrorist organization, The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), ending a 30 year horrible, bloody civil war that ravaged Sri Lanka. That unbelievable victory gave him something of a Demi-God status and perhaps went too deep into his head. He took Sri Lanka away from India’s ‘Elephant cool’ friendliness into China’s ‘fire-breathing Dragon’, doing loan-wrecking business with them. Among the many reasons touted, the tragedy unfolding in Sri Lanka is directly the result of persistent trade deficits and accumulated debt. And Sri Lanka has little leverage over its creditors: a victim of unbalanced globalisation?

Late in the week, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, appointed a new PM, Ranil Wickremesinghe, a 73 years old lawyer-turned politician who has been in Parliament for 45 years. He is the 26th PM of Sri Lanka and has made a remarkable come-back nearly two years after his United National Party was routed and failed to win a single seat in the general election held in August 2020. Sri Lanka would need to squeeze all his experience to crank its economic engine again. India’s Uttar Pradesh State has a double-engine economy, and maybe it could spare an engine? Ask India!

Talk about putting out the fire of the Tiger and starting a new fire!

Ukraine and the Laws of Motion.

I was watching a talk with best-selling Ukrainian Author Andrey Kurkov, known for his satirical ‘Death and the Penguin’ and ‘Grey Bees’, tell us about the situation in Ukraine. He has stopped writing fiction as there are so many real stories to write about during this unprovoked Russian aggression in Ukraine. He is devoting his time to writing and explaining what’s happening in the country, has refused to leave Ukraine, and lives in the capital Kyiv, travelling all across to listen and record tales.

He made a roaring point when he said Russia and Ukraine are very different. Ukrainians know the meaning of Freedom, experience and savour it, while Russians look for quiet stability and do not understand true freedom-or, it does not matter to them at all. Ukrainians have had five Presidents during the near about 22 years rule of Russia’s Vladimir Putin (as either Prime Minister or President). He added that the only way the war could be stopped is by the ‘death of Putin’ and if a Russian Oligarch takes over, the war could end sooner, whereas if a politician leads it could be more complex.

Newton’s famous Laws of Motion say that a body in motion tends to be in motion – endlessly enjoying the ride – while a static body tends to stay put – endlessly enjoying sitting it out – unless forces act upon them.

Now we know where the Russian and Ukrainian forces are acting – or must act! Do we have to force Newton to do something? Apple it out?

Under Cover in Afghanistan

It’s raining narrow-minded Islamic law interpretation in Afghanistan and the covers have been rolled out with the ruling Taliban moving to strictly and harshly enforce the full-body covering of women, in public.

Under the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001, women had to cover up, could not work, and girls were banned from school. But after seizing power in August 2021, they vowed to respect women’s rights. Some even said they may turn the proverbial ‘new leaf’!

However, the Taliban backtracked on opening high school for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law- including design of suitable uniforms for the girls. Then late last week the Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, said that if a woman did not cover her face outside home, her father or closest male relative would be visited and face potential prison or firing from Government jobs, if working for them.

Meanwhile, it more than 238 days since girls have been locked out of school – denied education-while the academic year surges ahead. And this is one of the biggest human rights violation anywhere in the World. The World needs to uncover its mouth, face the Taliban, and speak up for the girls!

Northern Ireland… Belfast…Belfast

The Political Party, Sinn Fein, led by Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou MCDonald won a stunning election in the Northern Ireland Assembly Elections for the first time pushing the Democratic Unionist Party into second place. Sinn Fein is a nationalist party that wants Northern Ireland-capital, Belfast-to leave the United Kingdom (UK) and reunite with the independent Republic of Ireland-capital, Dublin. This means that Michelle O’Neil will be entitled to become a First Minister in the UK, which is unprecedented for a nationalist.

The title of First Minister is used to refer to the political leader of a devolved national government, such as the administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The term literally has the same meaning as Prime Minister but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior Prime Minister.

The Northern Ireland Act 1988, states that Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom and shall not cease to be so without the majority of Northern Ireland voting in a poll.

This victory does not mean Irish reunification – also known as a Border Poll – would be imminent. But you never know. We need to watch this border space – first to last.

Mounting Mount Everest: Kami Rita and Lhakpa

Mount Everest in the Himalayan Mountain Range is Planet Earth’s highest mountain on land, soaring to a majestic 8,848 metres(m) above sea level. And for many, it epitomises the greatest challenge Earth has to offer: climbing it and touching the peak is a crowing achievement in a mountaineer’s life. Mount Everest is also known as ‘Chomolungma’, and ‘Sagarmatha’.

Remember, the tallest Mountain on Earth is Mauna Kea in Hawaii, USA measuring 10,205m from its base on the sea floor to its peak – 4,205m above sea level.

Mount Everest was first ascended-conquered- on 29 May 1953, by New Zealand’s Edmund Hilary and Tibet’s Tenzing Norgay. Since then, nearly 6,000 people have followed in their footsteps. And more than 300 people have died trying to scale Mount Everest.

Nepal’s Kami Rita Sherpa (Thapke), 49, has made the most ascends by any individual, scaling the peak 24 times.

This week, Sagarmatha grew warmer, with Nepal’s / USA’s Lhakpa Sherpa, all of 48 years, climbing Mount Everest for the 10th time, thereby becoming the first ever Woman in the World to achieve this stunning feat. Her first ascent to the peak was on 18 May 2000.

The Guinness Book of World Records recognises the Himalayan achievements of Thapke and Lhakpa Sherpa.

Lhakpa, a Nepalese single mother was born in a cave, had no formal education, and worked as a janitor. Climbing climbs in her blood. She had grown-up living within sight of Everest, and began portering ever since she was 15 years old, carrying heavy mountaineering gear between camps in the Himalayas. She lived in a village more than 4,000m above sea level in the Makalu region of Eastern Nepal. And is a member of the Sherpa ethnic group, descended from nomadic Tibetans, who are used to living in hostile high altitudes.

She married United States (US) based, Romanian-born climber George Dijmarescu, moved to the US, and and scaled the peak with him five times. But the relationship ended in acrimonious divorce in 2015. Lhakpa now lives in Connecticut, US, with her two daughters. She also has a son from a previous relationship. During her initial expeditions she used to plant the Nepali flag at the summit. This time, she carried the US flag.

During her 2003 climb, she was joined by her brother and sister, becoming the first three siblings simultaneously on an 8,000m high mountain.

Initially her achievements failed to attract media attention and sponsors. For many years she was lived unrecognised, and worked for minimum wage, taking up jobs such as caring for the elderly, house cleaning, and dish washing. I do hope she climbs up these mountains as well. That’s quite a height!

Bongbong Philippines

The Philippines is an archipelagic country consisting of about 7,640 islands in Southeast Asia, in the Western Pacific Ocean. It once went by the name of Las Felipinas, until the great Portuguese Explorer, Ferdinand Magellan whose then sailing expeditions was sponsored by Spain, came along and claimed the country for Spain in 1521. He named the country ‘Philippines’ after King Philip II of Spain. It was under Spanish rule for 333 years and under the control of the United States for a further 48 years before being let loose as an independent Republic.

Ferdinand Marcos, a horribly corrupt Dictator, once ruled Philippines with an iron fist for about 20 years, in the 1970’s and 1980’s. His rule was marked by human rights abuses and plunder of the state coffers. In 1986 he was toppled by a popular uprising, the People Power Revolution, and forced to leave Philippines in disgrace. American helicopters airlifted the family from the Malacanang Palace to Guam, then into exile in Hawaii, as protesters populated the streets.

Crowds stormed the abandoned palace and were shocked by the extent of the family’s opulence: grand artworks, boxes of gold coins, lavish jewellery, hundreds of gowns, and, infamously, an enormous collection of designer shoes belonging to the then first lady, Imelda Marcos.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr died in Hawaii in 1989. Several of his family members, including his wife Imelda, have since returned to the Philippines where they have served as elected leaders.

Enter Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of former disgraced President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. He has won the 2022 Philippine Presidential election by a landslide bringing the Marcos dynasty back to the Malacanang Palace, 36 years after the family fled the mass uprising. Marcos Jr’s running mate for Vice President is Sara Duterte Carpio, the daughter of populist outgoing leader Rodrigo Duterte. Many of their supporters are voting to see a continuation of Duterte’s policies, including his controversial ‘war on drugs’. Philippines elects its Vice President separately from the President.

Known as ‘Bongbong’ (a childhood nickname) in the Philippines, Marcos Jr’s rise is the culmination of a decades long attempt to rebrand the Marcos family’s name and image, most recently through social media. He tied his campaign to his father’s legacy, with his slogan ‘rise again’ tapping into the nostalgia of some who saw the period under Marcos Sr as a golden era for the country.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr was educated in the Philippines and at a boarding school in England. He studied politics, philosophy, and economics at Oxford, but, did not complete a degree course and was awarded a special diploma in social sciences.

After University, Marcos Jr became the vice-governor of his home province, Ilocos Norte, on the north-western tip of Luzon, at the age of 23 and later Governor. He was 29 when his father was ousted. In later years Marcos Jr began to re-establish his political career, again becoming Governor in Ilocos Norte, the family’s stronghold, a Congressman, and a then a Senator. In 2016, he ran for Vice-President, but lost.

Marcos is married to Louise Araneta-Marcos (Liza), a Lawyer, with whom he has three sons. He has been unapologetic about his family’s past and has downplayed or denied abuses under his father’s rule. He praised his father as a ‘political genius’, and his mother Imelda Marcos as the dynasty’s ‘supreme politician’.

On winning, he said, “Judge me not by my ancestors, but by my actions. It is my promise to be a President for all Filipinos”. Well said. He needs to keep that promise. And mind those shoes!

The Forbidden Country

During the Covid19 pandemic there was one country which claimed it was unaffected by the virus: its splendid isolation status suited it well. And it went about the ‘business as usual’ of testing missiles. North Korea had insisted it had not recorded a single Covid19 case since it closed its borders at the start of the pandemic, more than two years ago. That move cut off trade with China and inflicted severe damage on an economy already battered by, among others, UN sanctions imposed in response to its nuclear and missile tests. That’s up to now.

This week North Korea announced an ‘explosive’ Covid19 outbreak that has killed six people and infected more than 350,000, prompting fears of an impending and deadly crisis in the isolated and impoverished nation. This comes a day after the country reported its first-ever coronavirus case, calling the situation a ‘major national emergency.’

Experts believe none-or very few-of the country’s 26 million people have been vaccinated, and there are growing fears that a significant outbreak would quickly overwhelm the country’s poorly equipped health services. North Korea has shunned offers of Covid vaccines from China and Russia, and via the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Covax scheme, apparently because administering the jabs would require outside monitoring. The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, ordered a nationwide lockdown on Thursday, calling the outbreak the ‘gravest national emergency’.

Will they launch a missile to finish off the virus? I worry about the mutations – being a largely unvaccinated country. Glad, they are isolated!

Please Yourself

The Asteroid that Finished-Off the Dinosaurs

It’s widely accepted that the Dinosaur Era on Earth ended when a giant asteroid, about the size of a mountain, hit our Earth 66 million years ago – a turning point in the history of the planet – causing Dinosaurs to go extinct. This was at the end of the Cretaceous Period. Until then, Dinosaurs had been living on Earth for near about 230 million years! Worth juxtaposing: the human species is about 2.5 million years old and surviving modern humans, Homo Sapiens, are only about 13,000 years old.

There were about a thousand species of Dinosaurs at that time and not a single species was left alive – they just vanished in the thin air.

Now a tiny fragment of that disastrous asteroid may have been found encased in amber – a discovery that US’s NASA has described as ‘mind-blowing’. It’s one of several astounding finds at a unique fossil site in the Hell Creek Formation in North Dakota that has preserved remnants of the cataclysmic moment that wiped out Dinosaurs. The fossils unearthed include fish that sucked in debris blasted out during the strike, a turtle impaled with a stick, and a leg that might have belonged to a Dinosaur that witnessed the asteroid strike.

The story of the discoveries is being revealed in a new documentary called ‘Dinosaur Apocalypse’ which features naturalist Sir David Attenborough and paleontologist Robert DePalma and airs Wednesday on the Public Broadcasting Show (PBS) show ‘Nova’- a popular American science television program.

More stories rising-up in the weeks to come. Navigate and explore with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2022-12

About: the world this week, 20 March to 26 March 2022, war, prison, a plane crash, girls education, killing fields, and not saying goodbye.

Everywhere

The War

The Russia-Ukraine war bangs-on and Ukraine is hanging-on out there against the unrelenting Russian attack, even pushing them back from a suburb around the capital, Kyiv. Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine is facing the brunt of the attack, mercilessly bombed with about 80% of the city destroyed, but it isn’t giving up. Not yet.

Over a month into the invasion, Ukrainians continue to defy the odds, showing a deadly fighting streak in defence of their country and in keeping alive freedom. Outnumbered in tanks, troops, aircraft, and in other armoury, the highly motivated Ukrainian forces, reinforced with steely citizen volunteers, have in many places fought the Russian Army to a standstill.

The command and control, steadfastly operating out of Kyiv, is effectively co-ordinated over several battlefronts. Sound battle tactics are being deployed to outwit the Russians. And Ukraine is far ahead in the information war. Is victory in sight?

During the week, Anatoly Chubais a key aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped down from his role as an international envoy. This is the senior most official to resign since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chubais was responsible for coordinating Russia’s sustainable development goals internationally. After the war began, he posted a picture of a murdered opposition figure, in what was seen as a critical gesture. Now, he has followed-through and given-up on Russia’s unholy aggression.

United States (US) President Joe Biden travelled to Europe’s Brussels to meet with his NATO allies. He thundered that any chemical attack launched by Russia in Ukraine would be met ‘in kind’ by NATO. One clear winner of this outrageous war is that the NATO Allies have become ‘great FRIENDS’ again. They put up a united front and told Ukraine that they are with them through this unfolding disaster-supplying them with copious amounts of arms, ammunition, training, food, supplies… and morale.

In another front, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said it will seek payment in rubles for natural gas sold to ‘unfriendly’ countries, and European Union (EU) gas prices soared on concerns that the move would exacerbate the region’s energy crunch. Russian gas accounts for about 40% of Europe’s total consumption. The EU continues to buy about USD 600 million of oil & gas, daily, from Russia. USA lifts and pays for 8% of its energy needs from Russia.

The ‘unfriendly countries’ are, the US, EU member states, Britain, Japan, Canada, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, and Ukraine. Some, such as the US and Norway, do not purchase Russian gas.

Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky is continuing his address to the World, garnering support and requesting Governments to do what it takes to put pressure on Russia to pull back from its egregious invasion. This week, Swiss Firm Nestle, ‘under ferocious attack from Ukraine for selling in Russia’, withdrew some of its brands such as Kit-kat and Nesquik, from Russia while keeping only the essential food items in supply, on the shelf.

Every week I write about this war, I’m flabbergasted and pained by the destruction and inhuman cruelty happening in Ukraine due to one man’s crazy mind driving the proceedings. How can he get away with such a brutal act with others just watching? We have to find a way to stop this war.

Russia’s Opposition

Alexei Navalny, remember him? This week, the 45 years old Russian Opposition Leader was sentenced to nine more years in prison for fraud and contempt of court, in a maximum security prison. Navalny is already serving more than two years for a parole violation. Despite being lodged in jail, he has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. And called on people to protest, leading to thousands of arrests.

Will Alexei Navalny’s time come? He faces a seemingly endless series of ‘prejudiced’ prison sentences based on bogus charges; and maybe, the result of the Russia-Ukraine War would liberate him!

Plane Crash

This Monday, a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800, with 132 people on-board crashed in a wooded area of the Guangxi hills in Southern China. Flying at a safe cruising altitude of about 29,100 feet, the plane took a sudden nose-dive to 7,425 feet, recovered briefly to 8,600 feet, and was last tracked at 3,225 feet, before plunging down almost vertically. This, at about the time when it would normally start to descend ahead of landing. The plane disintegrated, starting a fire in a heavy bamboo tree filled area. There were no survivors reported. China has a healthy record of aeroplane flight safety and this crash was unexpected.

Flight MU5735 was flying from the city of Kunming, capital of the Yunnan Province to Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong, when the tragedy occurred.

It’s estimated that there are 4,208 Boeing 737-800 passenger planes in service, with over a quarter of them based in China.

Boeing 737-800s, which were first produced in the late 1990s, have a strong safety record. The plane involved in Monday’s crash was about six years old. Boeing has been struggling to recover from two fatal crashes involving its 737 MAX aircraft, which claimed the lives of 346 passengers and crew.

The reason for the crash is under investigation, and among the usual technical and weather issues, pilot illness or suicide is being seen as a possibility. The pilot and co-pilot had more than 39,000 hours of combined flying experience, adding to the mystery of why the plane crashed.

Still Flying on Mars

Meanwhile, with sufficient rest, NASA’s Helicopter Ingenuity is still ‘alive and kicking’ on Mars? Over the weekend, the Mars Helicopter took its 22nd flight: the trip lasted 101.4 seconds and Ingenuity got up to 10 meters in the air. The team is busy planning the next flight while Ingenuity conquers a tiny amount of Mars air-space, every time it grabs the Martian air.

Girls in Afghanistan: We Need Education

I follow BBC’s Yalda Hakim on Twitter, and she has been diligently keeping a count on the number of days teenage girls across Afghanistan have been prohibited from secondary school (grades 6 to 12) education, and kept away from classrooms, by the Taliban-ever since they took control of the country (in a manner Russia’s Putin thought he could, in Ukraine). The count stood at 186 days!

This week was expected to be a turning-point with the Taliban announcing that 23 March 2022 will be the date when teenage girls can return to their classrooms. During its previous rule from 1996 to 2001, the Taliban had banned girls from receiving education and this time around it did just that. On introducing the ban last year, the Taliban claimed that their restrictions on girls studying was ‘temporary’ and will be back in place once they are able to ensure all workplaces and learning environments are ‘safe’ for the girls.

However, on 23 March when girls turned up at school gates, the Taliban reneged and sent the girls back to their homes, saying that the time is still not right for them; that officials are yet to draw up a plan for schools that aligns with their interpretation of Islamic law. And that an appropriate Islamic dress has to be designed for them before opening the schools. This brought tears to the eyes of many girls and parents were visibly outraged by such a U-turn.

One million girls in the country are affected by the Taliban’s stance. And if they aren’t back in class soon, it could impact the aid that Afghanistan gets, since Western countries have made it clear that girls’ access to education is a ‘sine quo non’ for the cash to flow.

Amazing that after all the far-reaching development of humankind brought about by education and learning, some are being denied such a basic right, in the name of religion.

Killing Fields of West Bengal

Over the past month, it has been a horrific state of affairs in India’s State of West Bengal, ruled by a ‘permanently scowling and endlessly fighting-with-the-Centre’ Chief Minister (CM) of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) Party, Mamata Banerjee. Her only superpower has been that despite what happens, or does not happen in the State, she keeps winning election after election. If such people-power cannot be used to ensure the safety of people and their betterment, of what use is it?

A student activist was killed by local Police on 18 February, a Congress and TMC Councillor were shot dead on 13 March in two different incidents. And worst of all on 21 March, a TMC deputy Panchayat head of Barshal Village, Rampurhat, Birbhum Disctrict was killed. The same day, it what appeared to be a revenge attack, eight people, including women and children were burnt alive inside their homes in Bagtui Village, Rampurhat. The Television channels showed charcoal-black charred bodies being piled up and taken away, in a heart-wenching scene. Most of these incidents seem to be related in some way to the TMC, the ruling party, headed by its woman CM.

Such medieval violence has no place in a democracy and the buck stops at the CM’s table. Act or leave?

An Ace Tennis Shock

Women’s Tennis World No 1, Ashleigh Barty of Australia announced a shock retirement from tennis at the age of 25 (and Roger Federer is still hitting those balls at age 40 upwards).

Ash Barty is quitting the sport at the peak of her powers, as the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon Champion. She has held the world No 1 position since winning the 2019 French Open Title.

Barty said, “I just know that I am absolutely spent, I just know physically I have nothing more to give. And that to me is success. I have given absolutely everything I can to this beautiful sport of tennis.”

Turns out that Ash Barty has superb talent in cricket and golf, and maybe we could see her in new avatars on these green fields. Or has somebody seduced her to change track at this station of her life?

Whatever, Ash Barty has redefined sporting success as Quality, not Quantity.

Movies

Over the previous weekend, tired of the news headlines and the macabre incidents swirling around the world, I crashed into the movie, ‘Without Saying Goodbye’ (2022), on Netflix, and promptly fell in love with the romantic, finding-your-purpose-film. It stars Maxi Igelsias and Stephaine Cayo in the lead roles.

It’s about a successful workaholic, ‘gadget-tied’, Spanish Architect, Salvador (Maxi Igelsias) who travels to rural Peru to buy tribal land -in front of a world wonder, Cuzco, navel of the world -and build a luxury hotel for his father’s Business. He is constantly working, scheduling, and getting tasks done. He stays in a little House-Hotel run by Lichi (Wendy Ramos)- who’s land he intends to buy for the project-and bumps into Ariana (Stephanie Cayo), Lichi’s free-spirited artist niece; when a broken-key takes him to her side of the House, watching her sing and dance. And he ‘lights her tail’-a piece of protruding paper in the rear of her dress -with a candle, while dancing, as a way of signalling interest. And it works; love catches fire!

Ariana helps her Aunt run the place, and also takes tourists on treks through the spectacularly beautiful region. She is vehemently against her Aunt selling the land to build a ‘huge chunk of concrete and cement’.

Salvador first falls in love with Ariana and the land, and easily glides into acquiring appreciation for a more eco-friendly way of life, sustainability, and the local culture. Ariana, who has no interest in romantic love, happy endings, or marriage, resists his kind of approach to life and work. Their values are at odds, but he begins to consider the benefits of a less hyper-scheduled life, and she opens up to the idea of sharing her life with someone who’s so willing to change his way of thinking. They discover each other over a ‘bag-pack trek’ through the luscious land, where Salvador learns the yoga of meditation. How can you stop thinking?

Salvador quits his father’s company, takes a sabbatical, and goes on a search to find Ariana, who left in a huff (without saying goodbye) disagreeing over selling the property. Ultimately, as he persists, she comes to value what they have together.

The views of Peru are breathtaking, and we get to see the 15th century Inca citadel Machu Pichhu – one of the seven wonders of the world. And of course, the beautiful chemisty between Salvador and Ariana.

I cannot leave without saying, goodbye. Fall in Love with World Inthavaaram. Discover more wonders. Goodbye, until next week!

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-37

About: the world this week, 5 September to 11 September 2021, musings on mankind, abortion, the Kingdom of eSwatini, a Bishop in Spain, Tennis and Football, and a brand new Superhero movie.

Everywhere

Mankind has grown beyond the wildest imagination of our cave-dwelling, hunter-gatherer, stone-tool forefathers. And we are growing our known Universe every single day: we sight a new Star, a new Galaxy, a new Black Hole; spy a fiery Meteor, stare at a beautiful shooting star; find a new Sun-spot…the list goes on. Then we send out space-ships to get as close as possible, tickle them, even land and dig on them – ingeniously fly above too, testing space.

On dear Planet Earth, we discover a new kind of frog in the thick plant and leafy forest undergrowth, or a new species of fish, or my favourite sharks, in the depths of the mighty oceans. All this is made possible by stupendous, never-before in-existence technology, invented by the ever hard-working, relentlessly exploring man. On the way, we designed and manufactured ferocious weapons that can wipe out all of us – without a trace- from the face of the Earth, within seconds. We also created computers and networking – sewing the world together – and suddenly, knowledge is strewn all over the place; you just need to pick it up and use it to make your own thing.

Then it hits you like a sledgehammer: a narrow-minded, cave-thinking force, with their beards, menacing weapons, and disrespect for the woman of mankind emerge from the darkest corners of Earth and occupy centre stage in a country. Do they realise that their mothers are women? And there is a fear of that Country returning to antediluvian times. Have we come full circle? Should we?

This week, such a force, called the Taliban, which had with unbelievable ease gained control of the country of Afghanistan, lazily announced the formation of an Interim Government. It was bulleted with the Who’s-Who on the ‘Wanted List’ of the United Nations and many Countries. Where does Afghanistan go from here?

Unconfirmed reports fire-in that the Panjshir Valley, the last region holding-out, which is not under Taliban rule in Afghanistan and which has steadfastly remained out of any occupying force during its entire history has also been defeated and taken. But there is still signs of a resistance hanging out there.

There is nothing but hope to hold on to. Meanwhile, the rest of the world may start growing a beard and cover itself up!

Eswatini: A Last Kingdom

Eswatini is a tiny, land-locked country in Africa bordered by South Africa and Mozambique with a population of about 1.2 million ‘swazis’. It is officially known as the Kingdom of Eswatini – Kingdom of eSwatini- and was formerly known as Swaziland: the name change happened in 2018. It is the last standing, absolute monarchy in Africa. The country gained its independence from Great Britain in 1968 and is celebrating 53 years of Independence. Well, actually it is not.

Over the past months people are spilling on to the streets, protesting the strangulating monarchy, the brutality of Police and Military action, and clamouring for democracy and a better life, with over 60% of the population living in abject poverty. There are certain parts of the country, which even in this year 2021, do no know what electricity is or what it means to have clean drinking water.

Eswatini is ruled by the ‘superhuman’ King Mswati III, since 1986. He lives an obnoxiously extravagant lifestyle and has over 30 children from a ‘bevy of wives’ (at least 15, on the last count). He owns expansive mansions, a flat of expensive vehicles, and a top-of-the-line personal jet. While the poor people struggle for a livelihood, the King is hoping to surpass his father, King Sobhuza II, who had accumulated 70 wives and over 200 children, in the wife development department. Age is on his side and being in the fifties he may well get past his father. The famous annual reed dance festival of Eswatini helps him find suitable women to add to his collection. And it goes on…

With his talent for adding wives and planting seed, the King should be able to find the means and resources to improve the lot of his people and multiply their incomes. And crown himself with true people’s glory. Or, maybe Kings & Queens are an old-fashion item that need to be thrown out? Over to Eswatini. They decide.

Abortions

Early this month, the State of Texas, United States, brought-in a new law banning abortions once a foetal heartbeat is detected, which is as early as six weeks. Many women don’t even know that they are pregnant around this time. Further, there are no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Means, you have to carry on with having the baby. The Texas Law is one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the US. And Texas is also doing things differently. It’s giving private citizens the power to enforce the abortion ban. i.e., people can sue abortion providers, friends, and family members who they believe violated the law or helped someone get an abortion. And they can get a prize of at least USD 10,000, if they are successful.

India is, by far, more progressive that the US, on abortion. Recall the recently amended Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971, which allows women to seek abortions as part of reproductive rights and gender justice. The upper limit of MTP is twenty-four weeks for women including rape survivors, victims of incest, differently-abled women and minors. Failure of contraception is also acknowledged, and MTP is available to ‘any woman or her partner’. The Indian law is definitely empathetic and sensitive, rightfully allowing women to be in control of what happens in their bodies.

Continuing with the pregnancy theme, this week, Mexico’s Supreme Court has ruled that criminal penalties for terminating pregnancies are unconstitutional. The decision to decriminalise abortion in Latin America’s second largest catholic nation brought hopes that throughout Mexico women with the ability to carry a child have the conditions and freedom to determine their reproductive destiny.

The US takes many steps forward and least a few steps backward every once in a while. It can take ‘baby steps’ and learn from India, and Mexico. Some hand-holding is required!

A Spanish Bishop: Falling in Love

Xavier Novell became Spain’s youngest Bishop in the year 2010, at the age of 41, in Solsona, North-Eastern Catalonia. He was a strident critic of homosexuality, advocated gay conversions, and carried out exorcisms; holding on to traditional values of abortion; and being an outspoken supporter of Catalonian Independence. Despite being a a rising star in the Spain’s Catholic Church, last month he gave it all up and secured the Vatican’s approval to resign as a Bishop, citing ‘personal reasons’ – most of us have used this ‘pregnant-with-meaning’ phrase so often in our lives, haven’t we?

Turns out that he had fallen in love with a divorcee, who is a psychologist and novelist, writing Satanic-tinged erotic fiction. In his youth Xavier Novell had fallen in love with a 18 year old girl and wanted to marry her and raise a family, before deciding on the path of God, culminating in his becoming a Bishop.

Wow, what a way to fall – in love!

Paralympic Games, Tokyo: The End

The Paralympic Games came to an end on Sunday and India finished with a fabulous haul of 19 medals – the highest in its History. More sportspersons added glory than ever before.

In total, India bagged 13 medals (Gold-5, Silver-8, Bronze -6) and was placed 24th with China, Great Britain, and the United States topping the tables on most medals won – in that order.

I hope such medal winning unleashes the sporting spirit in India and every State competes with each another, to send the best Athletes to all forms of the Olympic Games.

Tennis and Football

The US Open is nearing the stage of the final matches and I talked about Emma Raducanu in World Inthavaaram 2021-28

https://kumargovindan.wordpress.com/2021/07/10/world-inthavaaram-2021-28/

Keep that in mind and read on.

Two teenage women who were not too well known to anyone before this US Open will play for the singles championship on Saturday in what is probably the most improbable matchup for a Grand Slam Final since the modern era of tennis began more than fifty years ago. Emma Raducanu, 18 years old, of Britain and Leylah Fernandez, 19 years old, of Canada are the two teenage sensations who knocked off seasoned professionals in the world rankings to get to this stage. May the best ‘born in Canada’ teenager win.

In Football this week, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick to give Argentina a 3-0 win over Bolivia in a World Cup 2022 qualifier, lifting him above all-time great Pele as South America’s top international scorer with 79 goals. It was Messi’s seventh hat-trick for Argentina.

I am already looking forward to the FIFA Football World Cup 2022 to be played in Qatar between 21 November 2022 and 18 December 2022.

Please Yourself

There are two famous Comic Book Entertainment Companies based in the United Sates, that have, between them, invented all the Superheroes we know – to wow us. DC (Detective Comics) which first created the magic of Mandrake the Magician and then brought to Earth, Superman, flew Batman, ringed Wonder Women…among others; while Marvel Comics spinned Spider-Man (the all-time best superhero revenue earner), forged Iron Man, led Captain America, went green with The Hulk, hammered Thor, and painted Black Panther…among others.

Most of these superheroes were of Western origin and the Eastern World was ignored, kind of felt left-out – needed its own Superhero!

Now, Marvel (Marvel Cinematic Universe-MCU)after looking deeply at Asia produced its first Asian Superhero Movie called, ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’ based on its titular Marvel Comics character. The Ten Rings are ten mystical weapons that grant their user immortality and great power.

The film stars Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, a brutally trained martial artist and assassin who leaves his father’s secret organization, known as Ten Rings, to live an ordinary life in San Francisco, United States. The Superhero lives as a Valet Driver, Shaun, parking cars and spending weeknight karaoke sessions with his co-worker and best friend Katy, from which stage the story rings out.

The goofy exchanges between Shaun and Katy are a stand-out and along with the superb action sequences and special effects, the film is already one of the freshest Marvel pictures to come along in a long time.

Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, who is of Japanese descent, the movie is made up of a predominantly Asian cast of, Awkwafina (Katy), Tony Leung, and the unmissable, Michelle Yeoh.

The Film released on 3 September 2021 in the US and has become a box-office hit.

More teenage sport and superhero stories up ahead in the coming weeks. You’ll fall in love with World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-35

About: the world this week, 22 August to 28 August 2021, hunted down stories of Afghanistan, the coronavirus, the Paralympic Games, and what it means to have a heart of gold.

Everywhere

I couldn’t help returning to the COVID-19 story – we have become keep-the-distance friends, and it just keeps coming back.

We got into the pandemic mode in January 2020 and have been living it through with new gadgets – face masks, new techniques – physical distancing and washing our sins as often as possible. Then we learnt to bare our arms to get vaccination shots, beginning at the end of the year 2020. It’s a tribute to human ingenuity that we could find a medicine to counter the effects of the infection and begin a scientific fight against the coronavirus so quickly. Vaccines were green lighted for emergency use across the World after the mandated testing and trials, and the number of shots made, were added to the daily COVID-19 scoring sheets all over the World.

This week, finally, one Vaccine made it to the fully approved status: Pfizer’s COVID-19 Vaccine. The United States gave the approval on Monday, potentially boosting public confidence in vaccines. Before Pfizer’s vaccine gets lonely, finding a spot to jab, I’m sure others will join the ‘fight for the arm’.

I still find vaccine hesitancy a problem to deal with in my region of Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India. My ‘on-call’ car driver refuses to take the vaccine and has become awfully inventive in finding slippery excuses. I have told him that he will not be called to drive until he gets vaccinated: hope that drives him to take the vaccine. Many other stories are doing the rounds, with people typically saying, “nothing’s gonna happen to me, I won’t get infected”. Good luck to them!

Meanwhile, India achieved the milestone of giving at least one shot to more than half of its eligible population. And on Friday did a historic 10 million vaccination shots (equivalent to two New Zealand’s) on a single day. That’s path blazing!

Over the past weeks, one State in India, Kerala, stood as an outlier, steadfastly running away with over 50% of the total COVID-19 load in India. Looks like Kerala is determined to get everybody infected – for ‘natural’ vaccination – and the rest vaccinated by the newly discovered vaccines. You can reach the ‘famous herd immunity in double-quick time’? After previously winning many awards and citations for its ‘Model’ handling of the COVID-19 in the first wave, maybe Kerala is trying a new Model. God’s own country’s Model?

On another side of the World, another Model country, New Zealand, which recently went into lockdown over a single COVID-19 case, is seeing the numbers climb. And like the hard-to-come century in cricket, New Zealand is batting not to hit one – staying at the wicket. The are focussed on ‘zero – stump out’ the virus, whenever and wherever it enters the field.

We simply cannot declare victory over the coronavirus, not yet. In these infectious times, any time seems too soon. We need to make our own model of living with it, adopting best practices, based on evolving knowledge and the science of things.

Exit Afghanistan

The exodus from Afghanistan continues this week following the Taliban swinging into a power hold in the country. People fear a difficult, miserable life, under Taliban Rule, even as the Taliban asked the US not to encourage Afghans to leave the country. We need them, says the Taliban.

More than 111,000 people have been evacuated by the United States which vows to keep the deadline of 31 August 2021. The wild scenes outside Kabul Airport, of people clamouring to get inside the Airport and thereafter into a Plane out of the country was heart-wrenching.

The Afghanistan situation got into a messier quagmire when on Thursday over 170 people including 13 US service members were killed and about 200 wounded, when two suicide bombers and a gunman struck one of the main entrances to Kabul’s International Airport. This was just hours after western intelligence agencies warned of an imminent threat to the ongoing evacuation operation. Children were among those who died.

The IS (Islamic State)-Khorasan, a local branch of the dreaded ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) claimed responsibility calling it a ‘martyrdom operation’.

Hardline fanaticism in any religion is unacceptable and religious heads should rein-in the extreme out swingers.

United States (US) President Joe Biden vowed to hunt down the killers, but is sticking to his target of getting US out of Afghanistan. Never has the US been in such a dire situation, in the recent past. And this is the deadliest attack on the US in Afghanistan. And it stings all the more, as it happened just when the US is a few days away from fully exiting the country, after 20 long years.

Meanwhile the last standing bastion untouched by the Taliban, The Panjshir Valley, is holding-up. It has been surrounded by the Taliban and it is more 444 hours since the 4 hours deadline to surrender was shouted out by the Taliban. Maybe the Lions of Panjshir could do a No.300 Spartan story here that would reverberate throughout History, as much as the original.

I thought for a moment on what I would do if I were the President or Prime Minister of a Country. Three things rush to my mind: 1- Recognise the Vice President of Afghanistan, leading the Panjshir Resistance, as the President/Government of Afghanistan; 2- Open refugee corridors for those resisting the Taliban, and 3- Impose sanctions on Pakistan and mobilise other countries to do the same. The World should be on the same page on militancy and terrorism. One man’s terrorist cannot be another man’s freedom-fighter.

Paralympic Games

Paralympics are international contests for athletes with disabilities that are normally held immediately after the Olympic Games, called the Paralympic Games.

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games finally opened on 24 August 2021, about a year later than planned – a year besotted by all kinds of difficulties.

These were the words of the Organisers: “Paralympic athletes know that no matter which way the wind blows, its power can be harnessed to move forward. They know that by being brave and spreading their wings, they can reach extraordinary heights.”

The opening ceremony was full of colour and celebration, strung on the concept of ‘We Have Wings’ intended to raise awareness of the courage of Paralympians. There were no crowds to watch the opening ceremony, as will be the case throughout the Games. The paralympic cauldron, placed lower than its Olympic counterpart so that competitors can feel closer to it, opened like a flower to embody vitality and hope, and was lit by a trio of Japanese Para-athletes.

In all, about 4,400 athletes from 162 national Paralympic Committees of countries will compete in 539 medal events across 22 sports in Japan’s Tokyo, the first city to hold the summer Paralympics twice, having first done so in 1964.

The Indian Oskar Schindler

With stories of exodus of people from Afghanistan hogging the media, I came across this beautiful story and it touched my heart. Most of us must have seen the Academy award-winning Steven Spielberg’s Holocaust movie, Schindler’s List, where a German Industrialist and Nazi Party member tactfully outmanoeuvred the Nazis and saved thousands of Jews from the harrowing death camps.

My story is based in India and how one man showed ‘pure gold good-heartedness’ to save nearly a thousand Polish refugees from the same Germans.

During the Second World War when Adolf Hitler attacked Poland in 1939, the Polish Army gathered about 500 women and 200 children and put on them on a Ship which they left at sea, to save them from the invading Germans. The Ship’s Captain was told to take them to any country that would be glad to give them shelter. The last thing the families told those leaving was, “if we are alive or survive, we’ll meet again”.

The Ship, with the Polish refugees onboard, set sail but was refused entry by many European and Asian Countries. It sailed on, and after a long journey and reached a Port in Iran, where it was again denied entry and thrown out. After wandering about in the sea, the Ship arrived at the Port of Bombay (now Mumbai) India. Most of India was then under British Rule and the British Governor of Bombay also refused permission.

The news then reached the ears of the Maharaja of Nawanagar, Jamnagar, Gujarat, Digvijaysinghji Ranjitsinji Jadeja, or Jam Saheb, as he was called. He became genuinely concerned, sent word and allowed the ship to dock in his Kingdom at a port near Jamnagar. He provided shelter to all the Polish woman and children and also arranged free education for the children, at an Army School. They were very well taken care of by Jam Saheb who regularly visited them with presents, and was affectionally called Bapu. He told them, “you may not have your parents, but I am now your father”.

The Polish refugees stayed in Jamnagar for nine years until World War-II ended and then returned to Poland. One of the refugees later became the Prime Minister of Poland. Even today, the descendants of these refugees come over to Jamnagar, every year, to pay their respects. That’s a wonderful India-Poland connection.

In Poland there are many roads and schemes named after Maharaja Jam Saheb and he is fondly remembered for the ‘goodness of heart’ of that day.

The Maharaja was awarded The Presidential Medal, Poland’s highest medal, when Poland broke the shackles of its wretched government at that time.

India’s School History Books need to be rewritten to reflect such glorious stories – many of which are yet to see the print-ink on paper, rather than the mischievous deeds of invaders.

More gold-tipped good-hearted stories, up ahead in the coming weeks. Stay with the World Inthavaaram.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-34

About: the world this week, 15 August to 21 August 2021, India’s Independence Day, the Taliban steam-rolling through Afghanistan, and a beautiful world heritage temple in South India.

Everywhere

India

At the top of this week, on 15th August, India celebrated its 75th Independence Day. It may be an off-beat thought, but I think it’s time India stops celebrating Independence Day: only keeps reminding us of Colonial Rule and the antics of the British in India, when they plundered its riches and cooked their own one-sided, make-believe stories. It’s meaningless beyond a point. Forget the unsavoury past, learn and carry forward the lessons it taught, turn the pages; open a new book.

For example, the story of the brave exploits of Kongu Chieftain, Dheeran Chinnamalai, who fought the British between the late 1700’s & early 1800’s, and was considered undefeatable in battle, was hidden by the British least he becomes a stirring example and inspires others. In the end Dheeran Chinnamalai was not defeated by the British, but by his own cook who gave him away, leading to his capture and hanging at Sankagiri Fort, near Salem, Tamilnadu. Indians were always their own best enemies.

Commemorate 15th August 1947 as a Remembrance Day to pay quiet homage to those who suffered, fought for freedom from foreign rule, sacrificed their lives; and those irreparably scalded by partition and the bloody exodus that followed.

Instead, divert energies to celebrating Republic Day with great gusto, with re-dedication to nation building, and improving the quality of life. Reimagine the ancient, rich culture of India, its plurality, traditions, and yesteryear greatness. And think about the reasons of how India allowed foreign invaders to invade the country and plunder at will, despite fantastic natural boundaries. If only India’s Kings, of the pre-invasion era, had stayed united! Resolve never to repeat the past mistakes of history.

Prime Minister Modi heard, and has declared 14th August as Partition Horrors Remembrance Day to take cognisance the scarifies of people due to the violence that followed partition of India into the two countries of India and Pakistan (which further broke in two-with Bangladesh becoming an independent country). A tragic period in history when millions were displaced, and the killing, looting, and rape still vivid in many memories.

Afghanistan: enter the Taliban

The Taliban just strolled over, almost cat-walked, and took control of Afghanistan in one of the coolest ever take-overs of a country. The Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, fled; the Afghan Army-trained for nearly two decades by the United States-crumbled on the mere sound of the Taliban approaching; and there was a rush to exit the country through the Airport, fearing the worst of times. On the contrary, the Taliban marched steadily, paused, and just walked-in brandishing their guns, and flaunting their beards. Almost everyone had a deadly gun in their hand; some, menacing rocket launchers too.

The media decried the decision of the United States (US) to leave Afghanistan. Some even said hastily – after 20 years? I think it was the right thing to do, and I support the decision to pull-out US Troops from over two decades of fighting someone else’s war and training the Army and Police to defend the country. See the results! No country likes foreign occupation and control. The best time to leave was 19 years ago (after knocking out Bin Laden); the next best time is today.

Only the people of Afghanistan can decide what they want. If they want the Taliban, so be it; and by the looks of it, the Taliban could not have make such a naked comeback without the tacit, fully-clothed support of Afghans. If eventually they discover the Taliban to be unfit to govern – with their beards, guns, whips, and antediluvian beliefs and laws -they need to get together and find a way to throw them out.

Well, who are the Taliban, anyway?

The Taliban was founded in Kandahar, Southern Afghanistan, in 1994, by Mullah Mohammad Omar, of the Pashtun Tribe. He was once a Mujahideen (Islamic guerrillas who engage in jihad) Commander that helped push the occupying Soviets out of the country in 1989. Mohammad Omar formed the Taliban with about fifty followers, who rose up to challenge the instability, corruption, and crime that consumed Afghanistan during the post-Soviet-era civil war – they lived by a code.

The Pashtun constitute the largest ethnic group of Afghanistan and bore the exclusive name of ‘Afghan’, which came to represent Afghanistan.

The Taliban, or ‘students’ (in the Pashto language) are also linked to Northern Pakistan. The predominantly Pashtun movement-that the Taliban is- first appeared in Pakistan’s religious seminaries-mostly funded by Saudi Arabia-which preached a hardline form of Sunni Islam.

The core Taliban fighters are Afghan refugees mainly drawn from the ‘madrasas’ of Pakistan. These refugees had moved across the Border into Pakistan during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. And Pakistan established religious schools and seminaries in these refugee camps to gain influence by indoctrinating the refugees. Over many years, these seminaries were converted into Arms and Bombs making factories, and terrorist training centres by the Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Typically a Mosque had a labyrinth of factories in its underground floors. These madrasas provided numerous cadres of Al Qaeda and fighters for the Afghan Taliban using enormous funds from the Middle East and Pakistan.

The promise made by the Taliban was to restore peace; provide a corruption-free government, and security; and strictly enforce their own austere version of Sharia, or Islamic law, once in power. Perhaps this become a ‘catch word’ and many Afghans fell for these early charms, after years of struggle against an outside force. The Taliban quickly subdued local warlords who controlled Southern Afghanistan and gradually swarmed all over the country. They climbed into the seat of power in 1996 by capturing Kabul and forming a Government with Mohammed Omar as the Emir and Head of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – as they called it.

Following the 9/11, 2001, terror attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre in New York City, the US began hunting down the terrorists responsible and nailed Osma Bin Laden as the brain behind the unbelievable attack on America. They tracked Bin Laden to Afghanistan where he was in hiding, harboured by Mohammad Omar’s Taliban.

When the Taliban refused US demands to hand over Bin Laden, American forces invaded Afghanistan, in 2001, and quickly toppled Mullah Omar’s government. Mullah Omar and other Taliban leaders escaped the country and found sanctuary in neighbouring Pakistan from where they mounted an insurgent campaign to regain power in Afghanistan.

Mohammed Omar died in 2013 of tuberculosis, while in hiding, and his death was kept secret by the Taliban, for almost two years. Following his death, Mullah Mansoor, the deputy of Mohammad Omar, became the leader. And following his death, in a US drone strike in 2016, his deputy Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada took over and is now the reigning supreme leader of the Taliban.

A new interim Afghan Government was formed after the defeat of the Taliban, in 2001, headed by a local chieftain, Hamid Karzai, until the county could put in place a democratic process to elect a President and a Parliament, to form a government. He went on to becoming an elected President for two terms and was then succeeded by President Ashraf Ghani who was into his second term when the Taliban breezed-in.

Meanwhile, the Taliban were re-building and became a consistent thorn in the flesh – with relentless killings and assassinations – throughout the terms off Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani until the present ‘coming of second age’ and return to power. The Taliban had also opened a political office in Doha, United Arab Emirates, to enable talks and facilitate their return from the fringes to the mainstream.

In February 2020, the US and the Taliban signed a historic deal that laid out a 14 month timetable for America to withdraw all of its forces from Afghanistan. In the interim, talks between the Taliban and the Afghan Government meant to end the war gained little traction. By leaving Afghanistan, the US has kept its commitment, and not much is known about the ‘terms of endearment’ except that the Taliban will not attack US troops; that they will not harbour terrorist groups…and the kind.

What does the Taliban want? Their aim is simple, they want what they lost in 2001 to America. They want their Islamic Emirate to be back in power and their vision of Islamic law enforced. They don’t want a parliament. They don’t want electoral politics. They will have an Emir and a council of mullahs (a learned muslim of Islamic theology, practices, and law), and that’s the vision they see for themselves, guided by Islam.

The Taliban says, they will rule Afghanistan according to a strict interpretation of Islam’s legal system called Sharia law. What is Sharia?

Sharia literally means, ‘the clear, well-trodden path to water’. Sharia law is derived from both the Koran, Islam’s central holy text, and fatwas – the rulings of Islamic scholars. It acts as a code for living that all Muslims should adhere to, including prayers, fasting and donations to the poor. It aims to help Muslims understand how they should lead every aspect of their lives according to God’s wishes.

In simpler implementation terms, it means that if you get caught stealing, your hand could be cut off – as punishment, and if you commit adultery you may be stoned to death. If a woman wears nail polish, the tip of her finger may be cut-off. Women need to be fully covered when they venture out of their homes – allowed only with a male companion. Girls aged 10 years and over cannot go to schools and are practically slaves to men. And men have to grow and keep beards. Newspapers and Television are taboo…the list goes on. Archaic, medieval? This is just the beginning and has a lot to do with interpretation of Islamic Laws. And the Taliban have their own peculiar way of doing it.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in the head -and survived-by the Taliban, when she was 15 years old, for campaigning for girls’ education in Pakistan is a monumental symbol of the Taliban Effect. And, remember, this happened in Pakistan.

There is wild speculation on what would happen. Are the Taliban freedom fighters? Are they militants? Are they terrorists? They are definitely militant: we have read stores of their inhuman brutality, in the name of religion. Will Afghanistan become a hotbed for hot-heads and terrorists who want to impose a new world order- their order? The Taliban, for example, wants to see the whole world follow Islamic law. We have to wait, watch, and be prepared at the same time.

Like getting used to living with the coronavirus; with North Korea, with Burma; maybe we, rather the Afghans, should get used to living with the Taliban?

The story is not over. There is still one region, which has not given up as yet, which has not fallen into the hands of the Taliban: the Panjshir Valley of northern Afghanistan, near the Hindu Kush mountain range, 150 kilometres north of Kabul.

Panjshir means ‘five lions’ in Persian and local folklore says it refers to the five Pandava Brothers of the Mahabharatha Epic who are believed to have based themselves in the Valley and defended it. There is another legend which tells about five brothers who managed to contain the floodwaters in the valley by building a dam, for Mohamud of Ghazni. Is it the same five brothers? Let our imaginations run wild.

Local commander Ahmad Shah Massoud famously and successfully defended the Panjshir Valley from being taken during the Soviet-Afghan War from 1980 to 1985 and also defended it from being overrun by the Taliban during 1996 to 2001. The Panjshir Valley is considered a natural fortress and one of Afghanistan’s safest regions: it has never been conquered by any foreign force or the Taliban.

In this imbroglio, Amrullah Saleh, Afghanistan’s Vice President, has declared himself the care-taker President of Afghanistan. He hails from the Tajik-dominated Panjshir Valley, and is a member of the Northern Alliance which is opposed to the Taliban. He is currently lodged in the Panjshir Valley and along with Ahamad Massoud, the son of slain Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud, and Bismallah Khan Mohammadi, Afghanistan’s Defence Minister in the Ghani cabinet, is mobilising forces to counter the takeover of Afghanistan and offering the only known resistance to the Taliban.

You guessed it, India has leaned towards the Northern Alliance in the past being supportive of its fight against the Taliban. Watch this space.

Please Yourself

The Ramappa Temple, also known as the Kakatiya Rudreshwara Temple, located in Palampet Village, about 200km from Hyderabad, in the Mulugu District of India’s Telangana State recently made it to United Nations, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) list of World Heritage Sites.

The 800 years old Temple is dedicated to Lord Siva and is known for its intricate sandstone and basalt sculptures of high artistic quality that have stood the test of time: they illustrate dance customs, postures, and Kakatiyan culture. The Temple has decorated beams and pillars of carved granite and dolerite with a distinctive pyramidal horizontally stepped tower made of lightweight porous bricks – called floating bricks – which reduce the weight of the roof structures making it bearable for the unique sand stone and sand box foundation on which it stands to this day.

The Temple sits on a six foot high star-shaped platform provided with a 10 feet wide corridor with walls, pillars, and ceilings adorned with elaborate carvings. There is a hall in front of the sanctum sanctorum with four polished black pillars, which are placed with mathematical precision.

The Temple was built in the year 1213 CE, by Recharla Rudradeva, a Military Commander of the Kakatiya Kings Dynasty. And named after the chief sculptor Ramappa, who completed the job is 14 years. There is also an inscription, which mentions the name of the Builder and the year. The Temple has survived wars, plunders, natural disasters including an earthquake. That sure is foundation worth standing on.

The hidden stories of India are marvellous, fascinating, and truly incredible. And there is still so much to discover.

More stories will be sculptured in the weeks ahead. Float with the World Inthavaaram: you are on a strong foundation.

WORLD INTHAVAARAM, 2021-29

About: the world this week, 11th July to 17th July 2021 – a truly ‘incredible’ week. Read on to find out how ‘incredible’!

Everywhere

The Netherlands

Last week I wrote about the assassination attempt on prominent Dutch Crime Reporter-Journalist, and TV Presenter, Peter R de Vries, 64, who was shot, minutes after leaving a TV studio, in a Central Amsterdam Street. Five shots were fired at close range and he was hit in the head. Over the past week, he was struggling for his life in Hospital and this week the fight came to an end – he died due to injuries of the shooting.

Since 2019, Peter de Vries was on the hit list of the Netherlands’ most wanted criminal. Police now need to hunt down the killers and make the most wanted, not wanted any longer.

His family said that Peter lived by his conviction, ‘On bended knee is no way to be free’.

Truth-Unravelers are always on the cross-hairs of those wanting to stay hidden forever. And it’s a dangerous life they live.

America Quits Af’gone’istan

United States (US) President Joe Biden has decided that 31st August 2021 will be the end date for the nearly 20 years war in Afghanistan, days earlier than his original 11th September deadline. The US put boots on the ground after the 9/11 attacks in the US, to end the rule of the deadly Taliban and take down the terrorist Al-Qaeda Organization.

Later, the US along with the North Atlantic Treat Organization (NATO) Allies facilitated setting-up an Afghan Government leading to adopting of a new Constitution, Presidential, and Parliamentary Elections – happening in Afghanistan after at least 30 years. But America’s longest war has claimed the lives of more than 2300 US troops and about 35000 Afghan civilians.

President Biden said, ‘The US cannot sacrifice any more American lives in an un-winnable war. We did not go to Afghanistan to nation-build. And it’s the right and the responsibility of the Afghan people alone to decide their future and how they want to run their country’. I couldn’t agree more. Fighting another Country’s dirty war has never been easy. You set your own targets and move on. What, with Osama Bin Laden finished-off (in Pakistan) and Al-Qaeda ‘reasonably contained’ long ago – that’s victory enough to celebrate.

The US definitely did its best. Together, with the NATO Allies, the US had trained and equipped near about 300,000 military personnel-of the Afghan National Security Force and hundreds of thousands of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces over the last two decades. It ’s now over to them to engage in battle with the Taliban and force an outcome on the seemingly endless, fruitless war.

However, with the official Afghan Security Forces failing to quickly fill the vacuum created by the US Troops withdrawals, the Taliban got sucked-in and began capturing vast swathes of territory. And enforcing its archaic rules and hard-line Islamic Laws. Looks like Afghanistan is going back to where it was twenty years ago.

India has temporarily pulled out its staff from its Consulate in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in the wake of intense fighting near the city.

In other heartbreaking news, Reuters photo-journalist Danish Siddiqui was killed on Friday, caught in a crossfire, while covering a clash between Afghan Security Forces and the Taliban near a border crossing with Pakistan.

Siddiqui was part of the Reuters photography team to win the 2018 Pulitzer Prize of Feature Photography for documenting the Rohingya Refugee Crisis. It was a series described by the judges as ‘shocking photographs that exposed the world to the violence Rohingya refugees faced in fleeing Myanmar’. RIP Danish Siddiqui.

It may be a long struggle, but I wish the Afghans are able to grow the muscle to fight-off the Taliban and gain the confidence to build themselves a strong, developed country.

Cuba

Cuba was discovered by Christoper Columbus in October 1492: he found himself on the Island while searching for ‘that famous route’ to India. Cuba then came under Spanish rule and served as a staging ground for the exploration of the nearby North American mainland. In 1898, the United States having grown in to a powerful nation, defeated Spain, which gave up all claims to Cuba, ceding the Island to the US. Thereafter it was ruled by US popped-up Governments.

In a fiery revolution in 1959, Fidel Castro led a 9000 strong guerrilla army into the Cuban capital of Havana and seized power, nationalising all American businesses in Cuba.

In 1961 Castro proclaimed Cuba a Communist State allying with the then USSR, following the disastrous, abortive US sponsored invasion by Cuban Exiles, in the Bay of Pigs Incident. The US went on to break off all diplomatic ties with Cuba.

There was also the much-talked about Cuban Missile Crisis, when Castro agreed to allow USSR to deploy Nuclear Missiles on the island (obviously targeting the US) but was subsequently resolved, with the USSR removing the missiles in exchange for the US secretly withdrawing its nuclear missiles in Turkey and agreeing not to invade Cuba. That is touted as one of President John F Kennedy’s (JFK) famous acts of adroit leadership.

Ever since, Cubans have been living under a communist government.

Nearly one million people emigrated to the US, leaving the island and its troubles behind. Those who have stayed have dealt with oppression and economic instability, driven in part by US sanctions.

In 2016, President Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Cuba in 88 years. And called on Congress to lift the embargo put in place by JFK. He began gradually dismantling years of sanctions. And eased travel restrictions for Americans, bringing economic opportunity to the island. But in 2017, President Donald Trump stepped-in and undid the changes.

The pandemic’s impact on tourism has added pressure to the already fragile economy. And the country’s been seeing food and medicine shortages as well as rising inflation, which could reach about 500% this year.

Last weekend and earlier this week, thousands of Cubans took to the streets across the island nation, in frustration, to protest chronic shortages of basic goods; curbs on civil liberties; and the government’s handling of a worsening coronavirus outbreak, marking the most significant unrest in decades. They also called for an end to the communist government. At least one person died during a clash between protesters and police. And over a hundred others have been arrested or reported missing.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed the US Sanctions for the abysmal economic conditions in the country.

Earlier this week, President Biden said he stands with the Cuban protesters. But many want him to do more. We need to watch this space.

Space Edge

We have coolly travelled hundreds of kilometres(km) horizontally on Earth so often that a distance of 80 to 100km is ‘no big deal’. Many do it every day, on work or other kinds of travel, which should take a couple of hours to cover that kind of distance on land. But then, look up straight into the sky and say ‘Space’. They say a vertical distance of 80 km or more is the beginning of the edge of Space- a boundary we see all the time but cannot draw a line to.

It’s been difficult to pin the edge of Space at a particular altitude. In the 1900’s Hungarian Physicist Theodore Von Karman determined the boundary to be around 80 km above sea level in what is called the Karman Line. Today the Karman line is set at an imaginary boundary roughly 100 km above sea level.

To get a better perspective, ‘using the space between your ears’, the International Space Station orbits around the Earth at a height of about 400 km above the Earth’s surface. And that is well and truly in Space.

How about testing that boundary, going to the edge of Space to see the voluptuous curves of the Earth?

No better person to do that than UK Billionaire, Entrepreneur, Sir Richard Branson, 70, founder of the Virgin Group of Companies, who did just that on 11th July 2021. Blasting off from the New Mexico Desert in the United States, he flew high above New Mexico in a vehicle named ‘Unity’ that his company, Virgin Galactic, has been developing for the last seventeen years.

Branson was accompanied by Unity’s two pilots, Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci, and three Galactic employees – Beth Moses, Colin Bennett and Sirisha Bandla.

Sirisha Bandla, an Aeronautical Engineer, and a woman of Indian origin, became an overnight sensation in the Indian Media, and some called her the second Indian woman to fly in to Space – after NASA’s Astronaut Kalpana Chawla (who died when the Columbia Space Shuttle crashed during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere in 2003).

The flight lasted just more than an hour and included roughly four minutes of weightlessness. Branson and the crew returned safely to hug Earth again, after about an hour after lifting-off.

Unity is a sub-orbital vehicle, which means it cannot achieve the velocity and altitude necessary to keep it up in Space to circle Planet Earth. It is designed to give its passengers stunning views at the top of its climb and allow them a few minutes to experience weightlessness.

Unity is first carried, by a much bigger rocket-powered aeroplane, to an altitude of about 15 km from where it is released. A rocket motor of Unity then ignites to blast the vehicle skyward. The maximum height achievable by Unity is about 90km. Passengers are allowed to unbuckle and float to a window for the sights.

Unity folds its tail-booms on descent to stabilise its fall before then gliding home.

Sunday’s flight is the first step in Virgin Galactic’s hopes to begin commercial spaceflights with private customers next year with a reported cost of about USD 250,000 per person for a journey to space. The company has already got the necessary approvals to fly passengers on future commercial flights to sub-orbital space.

Meanwhile, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is waiting in the wings to do a similar stunt…A to Z and beyond? I’m sure the Google Brothers, the Facebook Founder, the Microsoft Founder…and others Founder are looking skywards to cross new boundaries and measure their own curves.

Football and Tennis

The finals of the Euro 2020 Football Tournament was held in England’s Wembley Stadium between Roberto Mancini’s Italy and Gareth Southgate’s England, both coming back from years of being bruised and booted out of winning an International Tournament – 55 years ago for England and 15 years ago for Italy.

England took the lead with a goal in the opening two minutes but Italy poked in an equaliser in the second half. The game played on to a goal-less extra-time period and as a consequence, into the murderous penalty shootouts. In the end, Italy beat England 3-2 to take the Euro 2020 Crown to Rome, and the hero of the game turned out to be Italian goal-keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who made two great saves. Once again it was a bleeding heartbreak for England, failing at the penalty shootouts.

Thereafter English fans went berserk unleashing hooliganism of the worst kind inside and around Wembley Stadium, London, followed by racial abuse of the players who failed in their penalty shots. England has blackened its reputation forever. Unacceptable behaviour. You win some and lose some – you win more in the Game by showing grace in defeat.

Argentina’s Football superstar Lionel Messi has often been pilloried for failing to be part of a Tournament-Winning Argentinian Team despite earning innumerable wins for the Football Clubs he played for. That finally came to and end with Argentina winning their first major title in 28 years last Saturday with Argentina beating Brazil 1-0 win to win the Copa America Cup. Messi picked up his first ever title in a blue-and-white shirt after more than a decade of club and individual honours. He also finished as the tournament’s joint top goalscorer with four goals and was elected joint best player along with Brazil’s Neymar.

In the Wimbledon Ladies Finals, Australian Ashleigh Barty beat Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova in a gruelling three-set match, 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-3 lasting near about two hours. The women’s finals has never gone so ‘incredibly’ deep since 2012. Long hailed as the player with the perfect game for grass, Barty held her ‘incredible’ nerve to take home the Trophy.

This is Barty’s maiden Wimbledon Title and fifty years since Evonne Goolagong became the first indigenous Australian to win the Wimbledon Title. She received the Trophy from the Duchess of Cambridge who came wearing a solid green dress, matching the colours of Wimbledon. That’s style!

I’ve tried to use as many ‘incredible’ words as I could, to match Barty’s ‘incredible-aced’ post-game interview during which she thanked her incredible team.

In the Men’s Finals, Novak Djokovic went on to win his sixth Wimbledon Crown, and a 20th Grand Slam beating Italy’s Matteo Berrettini in a four-set duel, which was pretty straight, after the first set was won by the runner-up.

Overall, there were some ‘incredible’ shots played throughout the Tournament that makes you want to get back to the grass, to eat the shots.

More revealing and ‘incredible’ stories coming up in the weeks ahead. And by the way, Richard Branson said flying to the edge of Space was an ‘incredible’ experience!

This is my Blog where I essay stories on life about and around me, on subjects that stir and shake me up, as I turn, and make life's pages count: hoping to inspire you to live your own story!

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