What is lacking is political will...

IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...

Mahasveta Devi considers language a weapon, one that she deploys to blazing effect both as part of her prolific writing career, and as tireless champion of the vulnerable and the voiceless. Winner of the Jnanapith and the Ramon Magasasay awards among other venerable accolades, the 84 year old literary giant and fervent activist condemns Naxal violence but attributes it to irresponsible governance

What is the genesis of Naxal discontent? Is the violence unleashed by the Naxals entirely justified?
It is impossible for me to equate Naxalite movement with terrorism. Naxal movement originated from the struggle for land and it was peaceful. It is the failure of the state which forced it to turn violent. Look at Adivasis – they have little or no access to roads, potable water, education, health, even ration cards. When people find themselves driven up the wall, the counter-pressure bursts out as ‘resistance’. Whether it is justified or not, is not the question. Good governance is the responsibility of the government; if they aim to find a solution through the use of arms, it would be a blunder. Violence, be it from the Naxals, Maoists, terrorist groups or from the government, would never solve any problem.

Whether it is Afghanistan, Kashmir, Manipur, or Chhattisgarh, are the roots of insurgency always the same?
If the point of bad governance is considered, then yes, it is the same. But otherwise, how can one equate the cause of violent activities in Afghanistan and Kashmir with those of Manipur or Chhattisgarh? In Manipur, people are fighting against the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA), while people of Chhattisgarh are struggling against the State's attitude towards natural resources and livelihood of the local Adivasis. In Kashmir, why is the state in such a precarious situation even after six decades of Independence? Are basic human rights being honoured there?

Aren't Gandhian methods of peaceful non-cooperation more effective tools for getting desired changes in govt. policy?
Theoretically, yes. But tell me, are the people in the system, those who swear by the name of Mahatma Gandhi, following Gandhiji’s path? Ask noted Gandhian Himangshu Kumar of Chhattisgarh, whose ashram was demolished by P Chidambaram’s forces. Can he be happy with the activities of the so-called ‘Gandhian’ governments?

If you were in the government, how would you solve the problems in Kashmir, Manipur and the Naxal belts?
I will never be in the seat of power, so no need to think hypothetically. I feel today’s rulers are from the middle class and the affluent. They get elected and serve their class interest. They hardly think of the downtrodden. If any government can function for the interest of the downtrodden, can honour right to self determination, follow a genuine dialogue process, then most critical problems will solve on their own.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again...
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
When foreign shores beckon
An array of unconventional career options
Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India

A month after 9/11, reporter Taysir Alony managed the scoop that many others would have given an arm and a leg for:

INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES

Exclusive Interview - up, close and personal - with the most wanted man of the times then and now, Osama bin Laden. Representing CNN and Al-Jazeera in Kabul, this Syrian-born Spanish citizen's brave feat was awarded with a seven-year incarceration in 2005 by a Madrid court, accusing him of being an Al-Qaeda operative. Many petitions and pleas later, 51-year-old Taysir was shifted from the harsh Alcal' Meco penitentiary to his home in Granada, Spain. Still under house arrest, Taysir Alony wrote to TSI, in Arabic, about his views on Islam, the West, and the hurdles to reconciliation. Translated excerpts:

House arrest

I’ll be under house arrest till February 2012. Though I can go out between 10 in the morning and 10 in the night, I am not allowed to venture out of the province of Granada. This system restricts me from pursuing my vocation as a journalist, for that would require me to move around within the country (Spain), at least.

Interviewing Osama

I certainly do not regret the interview because I was simply doing my job as a journalist. Even if I had to repeat it under the same conditions, I’ll not hesitate to do it.

When asked about what was on my mind, as a liberal Muslim, listening to Osama, I remember he had his own interpretation of the Quran. And all Muslims may not necessarily agree with him on it. I reminded Osama of the statement he issued in February 1998, called ‘Declaration of War on the Jews and the Crusaders’, and asked him how he justified the war on Jews and Christians, when Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon Him) did not fight them for being Jew or Christian. Osama said he had called for war because of the hostile policies towards Islam. Ironically, in 2001, George Bush announced he was receiving messages from the Lord and that he was waging a ‘crusade’. This thesis, sadly, suited Osama.

Define terror

The main reason for the involvement of more young Muslims in al-Qaeda and other organisations is the feeling of injustice meted out to Muslims in many parts of the world. The restlessness among Muslims is increasing because they think that the West and America are targeting Muslims in the name of ‘war against terror’. Let’s say, killing of innocents is terrorism. That makes Bin Laden a terrorist, but the US killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan; the British participated in the killings; what do we call that? There are no reliable statistics on the number of deaths of Afghan civilians at the hands of the US, NATO and ISAF troops. Israel has killed Palestinian civilians; India kills Kashmiris during demonstrations; what do we call that? The Palestinian issue has not found a just solution in the last sixty years. The Palestinians are subjected to the worst atrocities by the Israeli occupation, with support from the US. Even the United Nations fails to pass any resolution against Israel simply because the US would veto any such attempt in the Security Council. Add to that the West's support for dictatorial regimes in the Third World. In general, all this forces leaves generations of Muslims with no option but to get involved in organisations calling for ‘Jihad for God's sake’ in lieu of the promise of jannat (paradise).

Non-violence works, but only just

There is no doubt that the peaceful ways of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela paid off successfully, but the situation is different now. Gandhi struggled against British occupation and Mandela fought against racial discrimination. What we are facing now is political discrimination. For example, in Palestine, any violent action against occupation is classified as ‘terrorist activity’, while the West justifies Israeli crimes in the name of security. I personally believe that if the parties (Israel and Palestine) agreed to settle the matter amicably, all violence will disappear. Bin Laden will then have no followers, for he is known to invoke the Palestinian issue to justify his activities.

It is hyperbolic imagination to expect those who have lost their kith and kin to repression, to forgive. How can we ask people to forget and pardon while waiting for their turn to die at the hands of the armies of democracy?

Reclaiming Islam

The war on Islam and the attempt to distort its image serves political goals; we are told that Islam is the axis of terror, but the international community has not yet a common definition of the term "terrorism". The United Nations has not taken any step in this regard, because they are a political body too. Islam has nothing to do with crimes happening in many parts of the world. Islam encourages struggle against those who occupy the land of Muslims and encourages defence of our homeland. It is a religion of peace. If the enemies of Islam call this an act of terrorism, it is their problem. They call it so because they hate Islam. In my opinion, the solution lies in ending double standards and duplicity.

Muslims in the modern era do not have a common reference for the development of rules and jurisprudence. There is the Al-Azhar in Egypt; the Hayat Kibar-al- Ulama (the Supreme Council of Ulema) in Saudi Arabia, and the European Council for Fatwa and Research. Then there are others in India, Pakistan, Indonesia and other Muslim countries. All of them condemn violence of any kind, but since they often play into the hands of the dictators, they have thus lost credibility with the majority of Muslims. In my opinion, this is the essence of the problem. If there was a common reference or a single organisation acknowledged by all Muslim factions, it would have been easier to resolve matters and offer explanations for emerging issues.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
An array of unconventional career options
Ragging rights and wrongs
Indian universities and higher education institutes seem to be caught in a time warp teaching things
The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India

Robert Young Pelton (RYP): Violence is an indication of failure

IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...

Never a dispassionate observer, Robert Young Pelton (RYP) often found himself in dangerous places in his quest to learn the heart of the matter. He shares his perspective on war and its creation, through expeditions like Battle of Qala-i-Jangi in Afghanistan, the siege of Grozny in Chechnya, and even surviving an assassination attempt in Uganda.

Why does RYP find himself in dangerous places?

These places, where people failed to come to an agreement or have had to resort to violence, are the fault lines which have changed history.

What’s the root cause of violence in the subcontinent?
Change. Conflicts can vary, but people are naturally resistant to change. India is one of the best examples of how change can be good or bad. Pakistan is a bizarre country, which after Partition has created an enemy in India instead of focusing on its own governance.

Is change a result of religion/culture or the economy?
Social changes take place over many months, especially if you look at Afghanistan in 1995 or Chechnya in 2000. When you put a country’s people under extreme pressure, they resort to extreme ideologies. Consider Pakistan, and the many desperate, young, and unemployed people looking for something to believe in. Even if you sold them Christianity, they’d buy it. This gathering of people from desperate backgrounds and isolating them is what we call Islamic Fundamentalism and Maoism, and I consider it ridiculous.

Between a Gandhi and an Osama, who should a Kashmir or a Chechnya hire as a consultant?
Growing up in a war-free environment, the idea of a young boy shooting someone just because he was told to was tough to imagine. Violence today is like a currency. If a group doesn’t agree with something, it becomes violent. In Gandhi’s time, there was a need to create an image for people to have faith in you. He believed that if enough people disagreed with the system, they could together affect the government, showing that social protest is more powerful than bombs. COIN in Afghanistan is like Gandhi’s concept where you make people do or not do things based on what you want.

Does today’s world need leaders like Ahmad Shah Massoud and Che Guevara?

I’ve spent time with Ahmad Shah Massoud, but was too young to meet Che Guevera. Both crafted their image for the sake of the media. Massoud killed thousands, including civilians, during the Civil War, but carefully crafted his image to look like a Che Guevara. General Dostum did a lot more, but never understood how the media works. We get our news only through the media, but when I meet Shamil Basayev, I realised what an extraordinary person he was. While defending the Russian government in the White House, he realised how toxic the Russians were, and decided, without a thought to his reputation or life, that he’d fight them.

How do you see these conflicts panning out?

They’re a measure of social justice, showing how many people are happy or unhappy in society. If your government has no control and you don’t have a job, why wouldn’t you join these groups? When an individual’s threshold is crossed, it justifies all means to get ahead in life, like the child soldiers in Africa.

What about the people with options?

Every revolution has two types of people - the intelligentsia, and the uneducated masses who are exploited for the actual killing. For every Che Guevara, there are a thousand farmhands. Osama is different from Che; he is an angry intellectual who didn’t get the attention he wanted. What attracted people to his cause was the legitimacy it gave them.

What’s your thought on the conspiracy theories around 9/11?

In Adam Curtis’ "The Power of Nightmares", you hear Donald Rumsfeld talk about this "imminent danger". You’d think he’s talking about Osama, but he’s actually referring to the Russians. That scene was picked up by the Bush administration, and they quickly amplified 200 people into a, sort of, global conspiracy (I lived down the street from Osama in 1996).

Did you meet Mullah Omar and Bin Laden?

I set up interviews with Mullah Omar and the Taliban leadership in the mid 1990s. Mullah Omar is very conscious about his missing eye; all the members of the Taliban agreed to be interviewed by my cameraman, except him. He said the path to
his heart was through his voice, not his eyes.

Bin Laden, I believe, was always the secondary figure compared to al-Zawahiri. Zawahiri was a true political firebrand, while Osama was the brain.

Do you plan to come to India again?

India is probably the most diverse nation on earth. For every problem in America or Pakistan, there is sure to be a model of reference in India. What I find funny is that the Kashmiris never had an agenda of their own; it was a result of outside instigation. The Indian army looked at them as naughty school children, and the Jihadis kept blowing things up. Other countries, like Israel, should spend more time looking at what happens in India.

What stops you from giving up in these dangerous places?

The people around me; they want me to get out alive and tell their story.

Your advice to the separatists of the world?
We should spend more time training like-minded people and challenging the way the things are done. The more you communicate with people, the smarter you get. Groups who believe in violence typically have instigators who lead them to believe it will solve their problems. The solution lies in soft power; social networking, supporting others, and strongly rejecting violence.

What are the 10 commandments that stop RYP from becoming RIP in dangerous places?
There’s only one - trust and respect people.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again...
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
Ragging rights and wrongs
Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned
The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students
After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

A Matter of 'Haves' and 'Have-Nots'

After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May

Poverty, accompanied by cognitive dissonance, is the root cause of a conflict, points out Professor Piotr Balcerowicz, the last man to interview Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed 'Lion of Panjshir'. He also highlights the role that politicians play in using religion and ethnicity as the tools to create conflict, and why India and Pakistan can perhaps become friendly neighbours only on paper.

The affinity to India happened to Prof. Piotr Balcerowicz as a teenager when he started enjoying Indian classical music and later, Indian philosophy and vegetarianism. The last man to interview Ahmad Shah Massoud, the famed 'Lion of Panjshir’ before he was assassinated on September 2, 2001, Prof. Balcerowicz shares with us the math behind insurgency and mayhem. His interest in ‘unrest’ arose when, as a student at Banaras Hindu University (1987-1988), he met many Afghan refugees who had fled from the Soviet invasion. This led him to meet Ahmad Shah Massoud on two occasions, including a personal invitation with hospitality by the man himself. He recalls the long and complicated trip through land and air which took him to Massoud’s abode.

Prof. Balcerowicz reasons that the simple answer to what makes the Third World so explosive is "poverty", while the more complex answer is of "several elements triggered by poverty". It is the existence of cognitive dissonance – i.e., dissonance between one’s expectations vis-à-vis wealth, that causes explosions within humanity. He adds, "As people have learnt that it is possible to have higher standards of living, their expectations have changed. Also, the rich and the influential suddenly feel threatened as the poor realise that they deserve a better life. This situation can trigger conflict, which is what the world is witnessing today." In his view, poverty, accompanied by cognitive dissonance (which, in turn, is fuelled by religion or political ideologies), creates ‘conflict’. Religion has been the politicians’ tool for mobilising groups of people for their own goals.

Even the more peace-loving philosophies like Buddhism and Jainism have historical occurrences of conflict in the name of religion and faith, he points out. Be it monasteries fighting over different schools of thoughts in Tibet or Jain kings waging war in the name of religion; they are not very different from the Islamic fundamentalists who are using the same weapon to create destruction.

Prof. Balcerowicz’s logic says that Kashmir is a problem of conflict in modern India, adding, "It is wrong to blame just Pakistan and ISI for all the problems. They are not the causes, but the additional factors. Indian politicians have committed too many mistakes that have led to the aggravation of the Kashmir problem, and military solutions are never solutions."

So do we see India and Pakistan becoming friendly neighbours in the future? Perhaps in theory alone! Such a friendship might take away the political leverage that politicians on both sides enjoy. Prof. Balcerowicz recalls the Partition which was no more than Jinnah’s plan of ensuring his command. The split of Pakistan in 1971, which led to the emergence of Bangladesh, was a clear sign that there never was a Pakistani identity. Rather, the identity was constructed on Muslim heritage. The excuses of conflict and external threats continue to be used by Pakistani politicians, for the fact that they need to have an enemy just to keep the so-called nation consolidated. The India-Pakistan friendship is not in the interest of most Pakistani and Indian politicians, he reveals. While the root of conflict lies in poverty, religion and ethnicity are the tools being used by politicians to create continuous destruction and unrest even in this case.

Unlike Samuel Huntington’s ‘Clash of Civilisations’, Prof. Balcerowicz does not believe that unrest is an indication of a real clash of civilisation. He finds the book rather destructive and lacking adequate evidence or understanding of cultures. He observes, "Huntington stated that conservative people like George W Bush will clash with equally conservative groups in the Islamic world, and both sides will compete for power. But that does not mean that an average Westerner will clash with an average Muslim."

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...
IIPM in sync with the best of the business world.....
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
An array of unconventional career options
Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned
Best Colleges for Vocational Courses in India
INDIA'S BEST COLLEGES, INSTITUTES and UNIVERSITIES