Korean Crisis

The North Korean weapon imbroglio is getting thicker every day. It is also showing dangerous signs of getting out of proportion, resulting in a war between the two Korea, with passive or active, backdoor or direct involvement of other Super-powers.
Since North Korea is showing a belligerent stand and is does not seem willing to bow before the might of America, this might be taken otherwise by America. The next act in this unfolding drama can be a military attack on North Korea on one pretext or another,. North Korea being among the named Axis of Evil of George W bush, it seems imminent of it to face the wrath of the American Supernova.
Now, the question is- Is the stand of North Korea justified? Does USA and its allies have a right to stop North Korea from making nuclear weapons?
The answer to it can be given in two ways and both these answers can be justified in their own way. While the West argues that the Nuclear Non-proliferation policy is the justified policy because the more is the number of nuclear weapon owning states, the more will be the chances of its use and misuse. The probability of a nuclear war will increase accordingly. Since, a few countries already have nuclear weapons and the world is already passing through an extremely tense period, there is no need to increase any further tension in he world. Instead, money and finance should be utilized in such varied fields as Education, health, infrastructure development etc. There are so many poor countries where the people do not even have the basic amenities of life. It is not proper in the given circumstances to waste away the money in such atrocious programs.
On the opposite side, those who support such Nuclear weapon programs say that they need it for the security and defence of their state. They give logic and reasoning for the surrounding conditions where it becomes imperative to have nuclear weapons to properly defend themselves. They say that they do not have enough faith on the so-called arbitrators of the world, the likes of USA and European countries, whose attitude they find partisan. They claim that these countries show favoritism in their attitude to some of their neighbouring countries from whom they have their security threats.
Going through the reasoning and counter-reasoning, one comes to the conclusion that both these sides have their valid points. There is no doubt that any more proliferation of nuclear weapons will only add to the world’s threatened existence, because the possibility and probability of their use will increase accordingly. But, it is also true toast with the existence of nuclear weapons in some countries and their lack in some other, there is some kind of security imbalance in some of them. Given the prevailing scenario, some of these threats can be regarded as genuine.
The only way out of this dilemma is the complete elimination and annihilation of nuclear weapons. There are so many problems that mankind already has. Why add more to its share? While this can be done at a gradual and slow pace but this certainly is what we must aim at in the ultimate goal.


Amitabh Thakur

Heading for a war?

Israel is moving further into Lebanon territory. The offensive is getting harsher. The sufferings are increasing in the same proportion. The world is witnessing another war, even though on a smaller scale- at least for the moment.
When Hezbollah, an organization generally regarded as a terrorist one, snatched two Israeli soldiers, it was a highly condemnable act. What has been happening in the Middle East has not been because of a single party’s failure or misdeeds. Everyone is to be equally blamed. Whether it is Israel or Palestine or Syria or Jordan or Egypt or Iraq. Initially, when Israel was created in the then Palestinian land, it was extremely disliked by the neighbouring countries. No one liked the arbitrary formation of a new country with a different religion merely on emotional grounds. They all tried to crush Israel and to completely wipe out this tiny nation from the World map. It was unfortunate for Israel that the country that had played the most pivotal role in its formation, Britain, backed out of this affair very soon. May be, with fading glory and weakening economy, the dependence on the Middle-East oil could not make Britain take a tough stand.
With no one to support and a small population in a fragmented region, Israel had to face a very tough period. The enemies were numerous, friends none. It was at this time that USA, the giant on the world scenario, came to its rescue. The rest is history.
But, the question is- Is this history worth honouring? I doubt. Because, while USA, with all its might and power, could have given the required support to Israel to make it feel stronger for its enemies to retract, it made itself a partisan state. With lack of neutrality on both sides, the state of affairs in Israel and the surroundings went from bad to worse. Today, it is before us- a powder-keg, ready to get exploded any moment. No one knows what kind of deadly ammunitions and warfare gadgets the two parties and the associated militant organizations carry. With the kind of unscrupulous behaviour that they show, it is not impossible for any one to use a nuke bomb or a deadly chemical weapon, resulting in thousands of death. The region has got transformed into a huge battleground, where life has turned into a day-to-day affair. A day lived is regarded as God’s mercy because no one knows what might happen in the coming hour.
This is the position in which we find the Middle East today. Any one who has the scantest of regards for humanity and human life, would only pray and make possible efforts to end this endless mayhem. A person killed is a person killed; it is immaterial whether he/she is a Jew or a Muslim, an Israeli or a Palestinian. If there had been a valid reason for the killings, the world would have approved it. But look here. Whatever logic and reasoning the two respective parties might give and howsoever the might try to portray their enemies as the villain of the piece, representing themselves as innocence personified, the fact is that the hands of both the parties are equally drenched in human blood. None of these two can come clean.
The current spate of violence and the Israeli attack on Lebanon might bring temporary benefits for Israel but rest assured that this will not help end violence in the region. Attack will only yield counter-attacks followed by another round of attacks and so on and so forth. This unending game of violence is what we must be apprehensive of.
This is high time when USA, as the lone super power and the ultimate arbitrator of the world, must get rid of its parochial views-point. It must use its authority to bring the different parties on the talking table so as to find a reasonable and equitable solution. Whether these warring parties accept it or not is not very relevant (they can always show dissent because of their divergent situations). What would really count is whether the world opinion in general favours this decision or not.
I suggest this interference from an outsider, as against the holy principle of sovereignty and right of self-decision because Israel and Palestine no longer remain an issue concerning the two parties. It has turned in monstrous proportions into a world problem from which no one can remain aloof. It is the Yugoslavia of today and has the required potential to trigger the third and may be the last World war.

Amitabh Thakur

Happiness Index

What is the ultimate aim one wants to achieve in life? Name, fame, money, houses, cars, dogs, beautiful hubby, illicit relations, hanger-on, butlers and servants or fine jewellery/ dress. But is it not that each of these things are wanted so as to give us happiness. Is it not for pleasure or contentment or happiness or satisfaction (though these words do not mean the same thing, in fact they have vast difference in their inner meanings)? If any of the above-mentioned things do not give us happiness, is it worth it? What is the use of such a thing?
Having thought over this in depth, thankfully an organization by the name of New Economics Foundation has come up with a new index, what you might call the Happiness index. We already have a large number of index to measure so many of the economic, political and social parameters but there was none which could measure this intangible and immeasurable soul-value. How can one measure the degree of happiness or sorrow prevalent in one person’s heart? But in today’s world, where we have come so far-away in the field of science, technology and other developments, the New Economics Foundation did not find it very difficult to come frame a mathematical scale where the relative happiness of people could be measured. Then adding up the happiness of the people of a country, they could arrive at the average happiness of a nation.
Having gone through these rigours, which country do you think came first? It must have been the United States of America. After-all which country can come anywhere near USA in terms of wealth, power, natural/manmade resources and scientific/technological comforts. But, surprisingly, it is a small and almost unknown country of Vanuatu that stands on the top. This country, if you are unaware of its existence, is a small South Pacific atoll, hardly ever in news, either for good or bad reasons. What about our own USA, the leader of the pack, the Sole Super-power? They come poorly at the 150th rank. Its old bete-noire, the archrivals of the classical Cold war years, Russia does even worse. It is almost at the end of the list, at 172nd rank.
This simply means that happiness and development, happiness and material comforts, happiness and economic wealth are not one and the same thing. It is also a pointer to advanced nations that they are missing something in their life- a very vital one. They may have everything except the ultimate urge- being happy.
It is time that some serious thought is given to this and ways and means devised to make the people of these countries more happy. The same goes for many of the countries of the third world, which face double indemnity- they neither have material comfort nor have soul-pleasure.
Lord Buddha said much earlier in the sixth century BC- There is sorrow in this world. The reason he enumerated was- Trishna (desire). He also gave a way out of this cycle of desire and sorrow. Many people tried to emulate his ways, some with success, many without any considerable gain. So, whether you agree with Lord Buddha’s given means to get rid of sorrow, you cannot differ with his first two statements regarding the prevalence of sorrow and the assigned reason for this.

Amitabh Thakur

Seizure of Beirut

The Associated Press, one of the largest news agencies of the world and certainly the most influential one, through one of its Beirut reporters says in loud words- “Israeli warplanes punished the Lebanese capital on Friday.” The way this great act of bravery has been committed is illustrated as follows- The Israeli defence forces are “blasting the airport for a second day, shattering bridges, igniting fuel storage tanks and cutting the main highway to Syria.” But at the same time the sad fact remains that- “ Hezbollah guerrillas fought back with a fresh barrage of rockets.” And the end result is as a Police brief says- “three people were killed and dozens wounded in the airstrikes”. This means raising of the death toll to 60 . This is on the third day of Israel's offensive against the Iranian-backed militants. Three days, sixty deaths. This is again an official figure. And as we all know, the tendency of authorities all over the world is to make reductions is such figures of death, injuries or destruction. An average twenty people have died every day. Who are these people? Are they criminals? Are they terrorists? Do they deserve to be eliminated? For what fault of their? Only because they are born in some other country? The two countries might be at war. As a citizen of a particular country, one might tend to favour one’s own place of birth. This is only natural. Upbringing, constant living, societal and environmental impact and the constant indoctrination, direct or indirect, turns our mind accordingly. But, does this mean that anyone who thinks differently shall be removed. Does he lose his licence to live because he belongs to a different country, a different region, speaks a different language or adheres to a different religious denomination? This is a simple question that any government in offensive such as the present one, shall constantly keep in mind. Though this does not mean that wars are unnecessary. All said and done, wars are a necessary evil. They cannot be eliminated per se. There are too many compulsions for people or countries to fights- physical, mental, economic, strategic, existential or any one. But then, for a nation that has suffered so much because of some mad dictator, it is doubly important to give respect to lives of every individual- whether of their own country or their neighbourhood.

Amitabh Thakur

Mumbai

What we have seen in Mumbai is not something for the world. Unfortunately, during the last ten years or so, we have been witness to so many terrorist activities that such horrendous acts as the killing of 200 odd innocent people coming back home after a full-day's work, does not come as a big surprise. In short, we have slowly got used to such news. It is one more in the long list of events- more important for the academicians, students, journalists and experts. And off-course for the politicians and political parties of all hues and cries.
The coming of age of terrorism is not very old. Hardly 15-20 years ago, such events were a rarity, if not completely unheard of. But, with the kind of media attention these people get and the frenzied reactions such events generate, the implanting bodies find them the most suitable acts for their purported goals.
And what goals do these people have. A lot has been said in this regard and a lot more will continue to be said. Thesre are people who are motivated by religion- they feel that their religion is being persecuted. There are those who want freedom for their nation and/or region. There are people fighting for their mother tongue. There are other causes as well- to change the political/ social system or structure, to introduce some major or minor changes in the setup etc.
None of these goals is a new one. They have been there since many many years. But the concept of killing unconcerned or innocent or common people was not a prevalent one. On the opposite, some thoughts were abhorred and condemned. But, with the advancement of civilization, we have come to accept this as well. As the saying goes- Everything is fair in love and war.
And if there is war, there has to be sound and fury. There has to collision. There has to be destruction. There has to be death. Death of every person who helps in winning the war. Destruction of everything that helps achieve the objective.
That death can be of any one. That destruction can be of any thing. And of-course anywhere. It doesnot matter if it is you or me or someone near and dear to either of us. It can be the terrorist's own son or daughter or his/her spouse or father/mother. Afterall, his own living place might as well be a playing turf for some other warfare.
With the rise of the number of troublespots in the world and the ever increasing fields of hatred and bitterness, it is not a distant future when none of us will be free of this great game called terrorism.
Let us all celebrate this- the coming of man to its age.
Amitabh Thakur

Iraq War

Iraq is among the most ancient civilizations in the world. Together with the Indus Valley civilization, the Chinese civilization and the Egyptian civilization, the Iraqi civilization (known at that time as the Sumerian and/or the Mesopotamian civilization) prospered at a time when the rest of the world was either humanless or primitive. The mesopotamian civilization went to dizzying heights. Ur, Uber and Babylon are words denoting the classical era of human excellence. During this long period, Iraq has undertaken an arduous journey, passing through its own ups and downs.
But what it is seeing today is something unseen in its history. Saddam Hussain may have been a despot, a bad one for that matter. The country was not having the best of its time during his tyrannic rule. The kurds were segregated, tortured and prosecuted. But, what has happened since then is even worse. Since the taking of the regime by the Americans, Iraq is in such a shamble that no words can describe its plight.
Other than the moral and psychological loss, there is actual economic fallout as well. Because of the non-stop disturbances and the continuing law-order collapse, the economy of the country has gone into shambles.
No amount of American force-keeping can help Iraq to return back to its better days as long as the people of Iraq are not made to participate fully in the decision-making process. This shall not only be a cosmetic make-over but shall be genuine and sincere. Then only can we see Iraq returning to normalcy, albeit with the additional advantage of having gotten rid of Saddam.
Amitabh Thakur

Introduction

I am Amitabh Thakur. I am an engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. Presently, I am working as a police officer in Uttar Pradesh, one of the larger states of India.
The purpose of creating this blog is to express my feelings with regards to various topics that are of concern for people all around the world. Though a person is always tied and bound by his/her place of origin as also by the current surroundings, yet it will be my effort to bring forth such ideas and concepts before you which are of universal concern.
An active participation would be highly appreciated.
With regards to one and all,
Yours,
Amitabh Thakur,
5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomti Nagar,
Lucknow