India's China War

And a full-blown discussion about India's China war this time around :-)

1. Even reading through the 3 links provided by you, Chairman Mao called upon Nehru many time for negotiations to solve the border dispute. Nehru refused. Listen, a website article might present a different view by semingly cogent arguments. That can never replace a well researched and well supported book. Atleast read through the army reports in the bharat rakshak website. Much of it is still classified (precisely for the stupid Indian errors that it pointed out), but you can read quite a bit of it from there. long pdf files, written by the enquiry commission after this debacle. and absolutely fascinating. Much of what maxwell is researched from there too.

2. China does not accept the british drawn mc mahon line. They objected even when the British presented it to them in last 1800s. So, you cannot claim it as your fatherlands territory without dispute.

3. India was just naive, dumb and stupid. I would not mind if india won the war. But, all the military people were stating bluntly that India cannot afford to do what it did on the border. China was far superior militarily, and had the geographic advantage. So, what Nehru did was a BIG fiasco, going through with a plan without any rational basis. He put Kaul is charge of the army - an incompetent officer, just because he supported Nehrus viewpoint. That time, it was the worst case of political interference into army affairs.

4. As you said, every country operates with its own national interest. China had every right to build a road through what it claims to be their territory. And if you cannot do anything about it, shut up and accept it. Dont send jawans to be killed for nothing. Else, build up a strong military and oppose. NOTHING can justify what Nehru did.

4A. And yes, China is a pragmatic country. It supports India now, keeping its cards close to its chest. Sure, India is not competing against Japan. But, India will act as a counterweight to the blatant US attempt to get Japan into the UNSC just to serve as a counterweight to China.

4B. And I think 4 veto countries can succeed to convince US. India is not that worried. India is worried about getting 2/3 majority in UNGA. It cannot do bankroll diplomacy as Japan. And, accept it or not, a lot of countries (esp muslim) oppose india for what we are doing in Kashmir.

5. I think Pakistan is a player in Kashmir. I dont think thats right. But, that is reality. I am being passionate about palestanian cause, but pragmatic here. You are being the opposite. I would NOT shed 20 more years of blood of my countries jawans, just to let India rise economically much better than Pakistan, and hope the Kashmiris will find economic benefits more attractive than religion. I am glad that successive Indian governments think the same, and are engaging the Pakistanis in discussions, to find a solution; not to push the problem back.

6. Countries opposed to India's seat are driven by self-interest, agreed. What I merely pointed out was, countries will just use this Kashmir flashpoint as a reason to deny India a berth. There is very very little to oppose India through any other reason. And Kashmir, I believe is a ligitimate reason. It is India's failure in statesmanship (or military, whichever) that Kashmir is such a big problem now.

7. Indian diplomacy is trying to achieve that. And finding it hard for this very reason. I am not against India getting into UNSC. I hope I got the point across when I wrote a mail to you with the start of this thread.

UNSC reform

Had not followed it up recently. very good news. :-)
The report from annan's group is due in december, which did not do much justice though to India's aspirations.

Whatever the outcome, Anshu put it very aptly. It is UNSC's utility and honour, and India's. that is diminished by rejecting India's permanent membership in UNSC.

UNGA had a full meeting in september expressly to discuss the issue of reform. Many countries spoke in favour of india.
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2004/ga10274.doc.htm

China last month finally supported india's bid. the 4th of the 5 veto countries. Only stupid US still opposes.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FJ26Df01.html

brazil, japan, germany, india supports each others bid and forms G4
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/reform/cluster1/2004/0922permbids.htm

Lots of news and dateline about security council reform
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/reform/

Babu Culture and Bengal

Yesterday had this loooong loooong discussion about multiple topics at Anshu-Semonti's house till 4 am. One of the topics was very self-adulatory - Why is Bengal and Bengalis so ... ahem "superior" :-) Remember reading something from wikipedia. After coming back, I found the link about - why bengal is so cool :-)
from wikipedia..
Quoted below.....

The Baboo/Babu Culture and the Bengal Renaissance

During the bygone days of the British, as the capital of undivided India Calcutta was regarded as the second city of the British Empire (after London) and was aptly renamed "City of Palaces" and the Great Eastern Hotel was regarded as the "Jewel of the East". During that bygone era, Calcutta was famous for its "Baboo Culture" --- incidentally a cross -fertilization of English Liberalism, European fin de siecle decadence, Mughal conservatism and indigenous revivalism inculcating aspects of socio-moral and political change. This culture was fostered in its wake by the Zamindari System, the Daebhaga System the Hindu Joint Family System, the Mitakshara System, the Muslim Zenana System , the Protestant spirit of free capitalist enterprise, the Mughal inspired feudal system and the Nautch. This also fostered the Bengal Renaissance, literally an awakening of modern liberal thinking in 19th century Bengal, and which gradually percolated to the rest of India. Like the Italian Renaissance, it challenged orthodox social convention to usher in an era of humanistic idealism.

About Sankaracharya

Dont know which voice is true, but sure worth a read.http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/nov/22guest.htm

maybe alls not rotten. maybe what they say about the elitist british-fawning english media in india is true - jumping to anyone who is religious, sorry hindu religious. A muslim or a christian if religious - going to church or masjid every sunday or friday is termed as "dharma-bhiru' (fearful of god), but a hindu wearing saffon or propagating hinduism is swiftly terms as "dharmandho" (blinded by religion).

And anyone wanting to teach indian philosophy - dearth of the teaching of which made a large section of us feeling so inferior and lack of self-confidence - in schools and colleges is trying to force hinduism on India. Really, a pathetic state of affairs. we ourselves living like second-class citizens in our country, just trying to lean the other way to be so-called-secular.

Elena

Today, I was supposed to go biking in the bayou with my new road-bike. But it rained too heavily and was still drizzling in the morning, so gave up the idea. Slept some more, got up at 10, and came across this amazing story on the net.

A Ukranian girl called Elena, living close to Chernobyl created this site. She went around in her motorcycle taking pictures of the ghost town with comments. An amazing experience one can have. I was too small - 9 years - when Chernobyl happened, but still remember the headlines and the horror. It was like revisiting it after almost 20 years. It will take supposedly 600 years, till people can live here again; so filled is the area of radioactivity. It also spoke of the soviet efforts to hide this incident, and thereby exposing so many more people to this radioactivity. Also, this site has another photo-story about the battle of Kiev of World War II.

New Road Bike

Today, finally after quite a bit of searching bought myself a new road-bike. Had had enough with cars, specially, travelling 5 minutes each day to park in the Rice stadium and walking for 10 minutes to my department. And wanted a cool bike. A Israeli couple was selling it. Raj found it for me, and it was a awesome deal. Got a French Peugot cycle worth almost 1000$ for 80 bucks. Also, with my new garage apartment close by, I would just be zipping off in my bike. Cool, na :-)

A symbol, A leader

Yasir Arafat died today. He was a dreamer, a leader, a fighter, who personified the struggle for Palestinian nationhood. In the end he did not live to see it, but I hope quite soon, due to his enduring legacy, Palestine cause would meet it's goal. He selflessly devoted his whole life for winning the freedom of Palestinians, and was the symbol of the dreams for four decades. It is due to him that this struggle is on the top-most agenda of problems to solve in this world. His dream and dedication for national liberation has only two peers - Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. But, he also supported armed struggle as justified means to liberate the Palestine people. It's a wonder, so few symbols or icons are left in the world today after his death.

"The Romans create a desolation and call it peace."

America is now out to do the prognosis I mentioned earlier - we will destroy you if you are not with us. They started doing this yesterday at Fallujah, detroying children, women, people, humanity, houses, and a city. Their fault - they were fighting for their freedom.

A nice article in asia times. Some excerpts:
"President George W Bush is "reaching out" to Fallujah - the first major foreign policy initiative of the second Bush administration. The name: Operation Phantom Fury. The strategy: precision-strike democracy. The message: kill them all, and let God sort them out." "On Sunday, before co-launching with the Pentagon the biggest urban war since the storming of Hue in 1968 Vietnam, Allawi installed de facto martial law in Iraq for 60 days. Historians and political scientists are breathlessly trying to explain to the world that no democratic election can possibly be preceded by a state of siege. " " the real motive for turning Fallujah into Grozny is revenge"

Firefox: The wait is over

Firefox 1.0 has been released. Had tried last night after midnight, but I guess 9 Nov means 9 Nov morning. Could download it the first thing in the morning at 8 am. Server was sluggish, and this was before being slashdotted. Anway, anyone can download from this site - it also has the torrent.

United States

A new Map

The beginning of the fall

It would be an understatement to say that I am disapointed with the US election results. This is going to be catastrophic for the US, for the world, for everyone. Exactly the same happened in Germany/Italy before world war II - the rise of fascism. Exactly the same is happening here - right wing conservative core is taking over the country. And being short-sighted enough to think that destroying every non-American humanity is the path to make themselves safe.
And see the map of USA, which voted democratic and republication. All of the middle USA is red - republican. And the more liberal progressive places like north -east and west coast, the people who read and know about the world outside are blue - democratic. Reminds me of the "majority principle".

And you know, many people in the red states said - they voted Bush due to moral value. I guess they mean anti-abortion and anti-gay views. Does'nt killing, maiming, orphaning, widowing hundreds of thousands of non-Americans count as a moral value at all? Isn't that wrong, immoral. Not once was this mentioned in any debates before the elections. Never in the mainstream media. And the media here is supposed to be free, non-partisan. I had to go to outstanding British, European and Al Ajzeera for a non-biased coverage. Not a single mainstream american site mentioned about the Iraqi dead, about the blown away limb of an Iraqi child. But, every single american wounded or killed made front page news. What else should you expect from such a country but to vote fascist. Europeans, who have been ravaged by war over the centuries have learned. Sadly, the americans have not.

There is hope yet

You might like this a lot, if you have not yet seen it:
http://www.electoral-vote.com

Created by our very own Andrew Tanenbaum :-)
(For non CS ppl, he is one of the world's most respected professors)
Do read the following if you have time: ***********************
http://www.electoral-vote.com/info/votemaster-faq.html

And a very interesting discussion on slashdot.