MODI - A MAGIC WAND?

Ceylon Today

Thursday 22 May, 2014

Modi – A Magic Wand?

Hameed Abdul Karim

I was with an Indian HR guy a few days ago and quite naturally the topic of Narendra Modi’s massive victory crept into the conversation. This Indian Bhai was quite ecstatic in his praise for Modi. ‘Already the stock market has hit a new record high’ he gloated and I thought to myself ‘Right: the capitalists are already raking in the shekels while the poor are wondering whether they will get the toilets Modi promised them’. But courtesy prevented me from giving expression to my thoughts.

WAS IT LASKAR-E-TAIBA OR.............?

Thursday 3 October, 2013 

Was it Lashkar-e-Taiba or………?

Hameed Abdul Karim

Dinouk Colombage in his interesting column ‘Global Perspective’ in ‘Ceylon Today’ (Wednesday 25 September 2013) says that it was the ‘Pakistan based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba that carried out the Mumbai attack’ dubbed as India’s 9-11. Whilst nobody in his or her right mind will ever condone any attack of terror whether big or small, it must be said that Mumbai attack is fraught with mysteries and contradictions.

KEEP YOUR KIRIBATH, MR. GAMMANPILA

The following article was in response to one written by JHU’s strongman Udaya Gammanpila, but for two weeks now it has not been published.

‘KEEP YOUR KIRIBATH, Mr. GAMMANPILA’

Hameed Abdul Karim

Reading the preamble of Mr. Udaya Gammanpila’s article titled ‘Halalization and end of Sri Lanka food culture’ (‘Ceylon Today’ 24 February, 2013) I got the impression that he was beginning to turn a new leaf in his approach to Muslims and Christian communities living in Sri Lanka, though the title kept nagging at the back of my mind telling me such a transformation was not possible.

All that soppy babble about how it was unnecessary for the Norwegians to teach us religious amity was intended to take another shot at the Muslims via the halaal bogey. If we are to take the word of this self confessed Sinhala nationalist it were the Muslims who shattered the bonhomie that existed between all communities in the country by insisting that their food be ‘halaal’.

RESPONDING TO 'THE RIZANA SAGA'

                          Monday 21 January, 2013

Responding to ‘The Rizana Saga’

( a response to Shenali Waduge)

Hameed Abdul Karim

Reading Shenali Waduge’s article titled ‘The Rizana Saga…’ in Ceylon Today dated Thursday 17 January, 2013 I got the impressions that the writer had changed tacks and had had a change of heart, especially when she blamed the External Affairs Ministry for the plight of our women in the Middle-East and the Gulf.

But when I got towards the end of the piece I realised I was sadly mistaken and I got this suspicion that it wasn’t any concern for poor Rizana’s family’s that motivated her to write but rather she found an opening in her family’s plight to indulge in her favourite pastime of punching Muslims and their faith.

ARE RUSSIA, CHINA AND IRAN LOSING OUT TO THE EMPIRE?

                         

                                                          Thursday 15 November, 2012

Are Russian, China and Iran Losing Out to the Empire? 

                                                           Hameed Abdul Karim 

    

The crisis in Syria has put Russia, China and Iran at loggerheads with the larger Arab population.

What the Syrians wanted was for Assad to relinquish his power and transfer it to the people as early peaceful protests indicated. For months the Syrians protested peacefully but when Bashar Assad retaliated with violence, the protesters took to arms.

Perhaps President Bashar Asad and his coterie of power hungry despots thought they could get away with a slaughter similar to the one the late Hafez Asad inflicted on Hama by killing over ten thousand ‘rebels’.  But this time, it seems, they have got it wrong. The point of time when Hafez Assad put down an uprising was very different to the present day Arab world.

Today the Arab population is very different. Youth have taken their destinies in their own hands and despite the negative images presented about the happenings in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia there is no way the new governments in these countries are going to go back to the bad old ways of their predecessors. Revolutions don’t end with elections of a new set of politicians. Rather they are processes that take time to grow.

THE DISAPPOINTMENT THAT'S OBAMA

         18 September, 2012


The Disappointment that's Obama 

Hameed Abdul Karim

When President Barack Obama’s election victory was announced virtually the whole world whooped in joy. Here, we thought, was a chance that the world would be a better place to live in, without the likes of George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld and company pursuing their dangerous extreme right wing policies to bring the world to its knees and force us to worship the empire.

Obama came in like a breath of fresh air. Being an offspring of a mixed marriage with and a white mother, we thought he might have a deep understanding of the feelings of people of all races. His ‘Muslim’ heritage led Muslims to believe he might accommodate their feelings and especially, right the terrible wrongs his country had inflicted on the Palestinians.

CAESAR'S MISTRESS STANDS EXPOSED

                                 August 17, 2012, Thursday  

Caesar’s Mistress Stands Exposed

By Hameed Abdul Karim

Have you heard of anything like this before? I mean a Western nation demanding the arrest of one of their own and then a ‘third world’ country stepping in and offering him political asylum? This is topsy -turvy world and the UK, the ‘mother of democracies’where free speech is sacred …or was , willingly becoming the empires’ mistress and doing all it can to send Julian Assange packing to the US via Sweden to be executed or, if he’s lucky, to spend the rest of his life in jail … maybe at Guantanamo Bay.

The free speech wallahs in the empire remain deaf and dumb concentrating instead on easy pickings on China and ‘third world’ countries for their human rights violations. But when it comes to Julian Assange they prefer to go back on their ‘embedded journalism’ nonsense. Or ‘in bed with the empire’ journalism, if you like.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE SINAI SLAUGHTER

The Curious Case of the Sinai Slaughter

Hameed Abdul Karim

When Muslims break fast during the month of Ramadan, everything stands suspended for that moment while they reflect on the day and observe prayers and make supplications for themselves and their families. This is the tradition of the Ramadan fast the world over.

So when news of the attack on Egyptian border guards killing sixteen of them broke out, Muslims were shocked and wondered what had gone wrong. The border guards, as was reported, were breaking their fasts when a gang of marauders opened fire. Usually a Muslim would be only too happy to share his food with another human being at this point of time. So it is reasonable to assume the marauders were not Muslims or maybe they carried only Muslim names and didn’t care much about their faith. 

A RESPONSE TO 'MILITARY RULE IN GLOBAL CONTEXT'

WEDNESDAY 18 JULY 2012

Let Me Dream

A Response to ‘Military Rule in Global Context’

Hameed Abdul Karim

Kazim Anwarul Masud’s article (Ceylon Today Saturday 14 July, 2012) titled ‘Military Rule in Global Context’, though thought provoking in some aspects, gives you the impression that the writer is championing America’s globo cop role and using Pakistan chronic state of affairs to justify his stand. This, among other pro-American and pro-India statements, is made clear when he repeats the American claim that it was Al-Qaeda who carried out the 9-11 attack in the heart of the Empire’s financial hub. 

Up until today no impartial inquiry has been conducted to establish this claim beyond any doubt, as is required in civilized society. When Barack Obama parroted this spurious claim saying that Osama bin Laden had claimed responsibility for 9-11, no lesser a person than the much respected Prof. Noam Chomsky called Obama a liar because he said Osama bin Laden had made no such claim.

RESPONDING TO 'PAK HINDUS' PLIGHT CAUSES CONCERN IN US'

Saturday 19 May 2012

Responding to ‘Pak Hindus’ Plight Causes Concern in US’

Hameed Abdul Karim

Forcible conversions to any faith are tantamount to oppression. More so in Islam, because the Qur’an says ‘there is no compulsion in religion and that truth is clear from error’. So when Muslims anywhere in the world read Manzoor Ahmed’s piece in Ceylon Today (Sat. 5^th May 2012) titled ‘Pak Hindus’ Plight Causes Concern in US’ they were sure to be embarrassed and ashamed of their co-religionists’ conduct in Pakistan where Ahmed alleges that a Hindu girl by the name of Rinkel Kumari was abducted and forcibly converted to Islam.

But when you check up the controversy you will find that Manzoor Ahmed has exaggerated the story to suit his agenda of Pakistan bashing based as he is in New Delhi and following the line of attack set out by the ruling Brahmins of India. You see that all the time on Indian TV channels like NDTV.

ANOTHER OUTRAGE ANOTHER APOLOGY

LANKAWEB

Another Outrage – Another Apology
Posted on May 2nd, 2012

Hameed Abdul Karim

Leon Panetta had to face the cameras yet again to issue yet another of his recycled apology when Obama’s warriors were caught once again with yet another outrage in Afghanistan. This time personnel of the 82^nd airborne division were featured posing with the mangled remains of dead Afghans. But guess what? There was no ‘shock and awe’. It seems like the world has been anesthetized with the empire’s massive propaganda machinery that has worked round the clock to dehumanise its victims. Like the empire’s previous victims in Vietnam or Korea or Kampuchea or the many Latin American countries, the killing of Afghans or for that matter the Pakistani’s, Palestinians or the Iraqi’s cause no revulsions in the world. It seems they were destined to die, as deserving victims, at Obama’s hands like as if in accordance with some macabre scriptural prophecy.

COVER UP IN PROCESS?

COVER UP IN PROCESS?

THURSDAY, 01 MARCH 2012 00:4

Hameed Abdul Karim 

First we were told that the FBI had uncovered an Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the US. From the tales that emanated from the empire the plot looked so ridiculous that it beggars belief. Iran, we were told, had hired a Mexican drug peddler and a used car dealer to carry out the murder. Going by recent Iranian achievements we can safely assume the Iranians are not a bunch of idiots to hatch such a crackpot plan. The story was so absurd that even the poker faced White House spokesman announcing the 'breaking news' couldn't focus his eyes on the cameras. He told the world that the empire had 'strong evidence', but after the initial hoopla and hype, no such evidence has been given and the story seems to have died down after it was taken away from the TV news.

CHANGING GEARS - LANKAWEB

LANKAWEB

February 3, 2012

Changing Gears 

Hameed Abdul Karim

The US Empire suffered a major blow to its occupation of Afghanistan when its trouble shooter Richard Holbrooke, nicknamed ‘raging bull’, died a sudden death in Washington. At this point of time, the US depended entirely on him to pull it out of the quagmire it had got embroiled in Afghanistan. This left one to wonder why an empire as militarily and economically powerful as the US should have placed all its bets on just one man. Incidentally it was a Pakistani surgeon who operated on Holbrooke. To him Holbrooke said ‘you’ve got to stop the war in Afghanistan’. Those were his last words according to family members as reported in the Huff Post.  

IS THE EMPIRE LOSING ITS GRIP?

Thurday 5 January 2012

Is The Empire Losing its Grip?

Hameed Abdul Karim

In recent times the US Empire has taken quite a few body blows. Gone are the days when Henry Kissinger and Ronald Reagan reigned supreme in tandem with their cousins across the pond. The heady days of the Bush doctrine of ‘either you are with us or with them’ are fast vanishing whilst Barack Obama grapples with the crises left behind by the neocons and creating new ones for himself and his successors. There seems to be no way out for the empire unless it decides to extend its war on terrorism to Iran and unleash its military might on China and the rest of the disobedient states

NEVER TRUST AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Sunday 20 November, 2011

Never Trust an Autobiography

Hameed Abdul Karim

Years ago I read Jimmy Carter’s autobiography thinking I might find a few behind the scenes narratives that might interest me. I wanted to know, for example, why he had authorised covert CIA operations against the Sandinistas after they overthrew the American backed dictator Anastasio Somoza and also his rationale behind the letter he had written to him heaping praise on his ‘human rights initiatives’, which were non-existent. Something on that? Nothing. Any remorse?  None.

CONSOLIDATING HYPOCRISY

Consolidating Hypocrisy

September 13, 2011

By Hameed Abdul Karim

US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s comments on Syrian President Bashar al Asad’s, though true and relevant, smacked of unbridled hypocrisy. Her statement that it was wrong for Asad to kill his own people should have been extended to say ‘that it is America’s job to do the killing of civilians’. Her country has done a terrific job of killing civilians in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan and continues to just that every day. Her government’s support for killing civilians in Palestine is another ‘cap in the feather’ of her nation – which has been at war with one nation or another every day for the past one hundred years.

EXCHANGING DEVILS

Wednesday  May 25th 2011

http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=26131


Sudan’s Omar Bashir

Exchanging Devils

By Hameed Abdul Karim

‘La Idris – Na’am Iblis’ was the cry that precipitated King Idris’ overthrow from the throne of Libya. What the slogan meant was ‘no to Idris – yes to the devil’. It was a catchy slogan as slogans go, like Indira Gandhi’s clarion call ‘Garibi Hatao’ (eliminate poverty). But as Sheikh Hamza Hanson pointed out, you got to be careful of what you ask. See what the Libyans got in Colonel Gaddafi. It looks like as if their prayers had been answered.

CRUNCH TIME FOR EGYPT

http://www.dailynews.lk/2011/04/16/fea02.asp

Crunch time for Egypt

Hameed Abdul Karim 

'We do not govern Egypt, we only govern the governors of Egypt' - Lord Cromer

As Egyptians from all walks of life ponder their prospects for a future free from tyranny, they certainly must be concerned of a possible hijacking of their revolution or a co-opting into the murky world of the world's ruling elite.
Egyptians were never independent in the true sense of the word since they gained ‘independence’ from Britain. Egypt’s slave role continued with those insufferable tyrants who sold their people’s sovereignty and integrity to the West for the moolah that came their way. The ‘servant governors’ were only too happy to be governed by the West as long as they could project themselves as ‘leaders’ to the outside world. They didn’t care a tuppence for the contempt their own people had for them.

US, EGYPT AND TIANANMEN

Times 2 - 6 February 2011.

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US, Egypt and Tiananmen

By Hameed Abdul Karim

A joke once doing the rounds talked about a principal catching two teachers misbehaving on a bench on the school premises. So he sacked both the teachers. But then political pressure was brought on him and the two teachers were reinstated. Wanting to stamp his authority he said he would show who was boss and thundered at a PTA meeting, 'Remove the bench'. In a similar manner Barak Obama has ordered the sacking of the Egyptian cabinet while the culprit and his puppet, Hosni Mubarak, remains in the seat of power … at least for now.

AHMADINEJAD: WHAT HE SAID......

This is with reference to an article appearing in The Island on April 23 2009 under the heading ‘Israel Pledges to protect itself from ‘new holocaust’ threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programme’ in which the extreme rightist Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu had vowed to protect Israel from the so called Iranian nuclear threat.