Brett Kavanaugh Open Thread

What does everyone think?

These are my unedited thoughts (the sweet spot of BP is that we are read by enough people to make it lively but not enough to make us notorious).

(1.) I think there is no smoke without fire.

(2.) I also believe events may have exaggerated.

(3.) BK seems like a wannabe Alpha Male; doesn’t seem to be a nice chap at all either now or then.

(4.) Trump is a lot like Boris. A clownish public figure who has been relentless underestimated.

(5.) I do feel the BK nomination signals a darker turn in the Republic’s politics.

I do also think that men need to “guard themselves” the way women have done. Don’t drink irresponsibility, understand consent and frankly don’t “take liberties.”

0

Why is the British Muslim community such an underclass one?

I went to Peterborough yesterday to this charming cafe called “Chaiwallah.” The Karak chai was very good but the cafe was all male and they were speaking Mirpuri.

I don’t understand who let these people into the country. It’s a shame on the British Pakistani community that we, who are the children of Ghalib & the Mughals, are reduced to such a degraded state in the UK.

The only solution seems to be that British Muslim community vote for the Tory Party, grammar schools and ditch those retrograde aspects of the culture/religion that inhibits aspiration.

The byword should be:

Integration without Exception

1+

Book Review: Pakistan Adrift by Asad Durrani

Book review by Dr Hamid Hussain

Former Director General Inter-Services Intelligence (DGISI) Lieutenant General ® Asad Durrani’ s memoirs Pakistan Adrift will be released in Pakistan in the second week of October 2018. It is a memoir of a former DGISI and ambassador and his perspective about events of the last two decades.

Durrani is considered a cerebral officer by his peers and had a good career profile. Like most officers in the business of intelligence, the most controversial part of his career was his stint as head of Military Intelligence (MI) and ISI. This book is his perspective about the events but provides the reader an insight into the dynamics of power at the higher echelons. He is candid in accepting his own mistakes especially role in distributing money to politicians. Supreme Court of Pakistan is hearing this case.

Two segments about his stint as ambassador to Germany and Saudi Arabia are his views about these two societies. The most interesting segment is the chapter on terrorism when he seriously discusses the subject, its various shades and the use of this term by various states to pursue their own interests. He also elaborates on the consequences of recent destructive policy of United States of dismantling fragile states that has unleashed new demons. Very little academic and policy discussion has been devoted to this crucial subject that has made world more dangerous, violent and unstable.

Durrani devoted a significant segment towards the issue of Afghanistan. His own personal experience as DGISI and observations on later events where he had some contact in the form of ‘track two’ parleys accurately reflects thought process of majority of Pakistani officers. This view is based on a genuine national security interest of Pakistan about its western neighbor as country bears the fallout directly. As these officers interact with Afghans in official capacities therefore they sometimes get blindsided. Pakistan has influence over some Afghan clients, but Afghans are very good at playing one against the other. They survived as an independent nation based on mastering this art. Amir Dost Muhammad Khan’s letters to Czar of Russia, Shah of Persia and British Viceroy of India in nineteenth century sums up the foreign policy of the country. A good friend of former Afghan President Hamid Karzai told me in 2002 what Afghans thought about the new phase? Many key Afghan players were of the view that ‘in the previous round, neighbors played their game and we ran away from the country. This time around, we are staying put and if neighbors don’t behave, we have sworn that we will make sure that the winds of chaos will not stay in Afghanistan but blow in the other direction’. Afghan and Pakistan liaisons with Americans in Kabul share a space. At prayer time, Afghans always insist that Pakistani counterpart lead the prayer. A Pakistani can be seriously mistaken by this gesture. When with Americans, Afghans are unanimous in their view that real problem is not Afghanistan but Pakistan. Like any other intelligence agency, ISI is a large bureaucratic organization and not monolithic. Mid-level officers of the organization may have a unique perspective about an event and in some cases not in agreement with policies adopted by the high command. My own work on the subject to get opinion of the boss and his subordinate about a given event or policy provided some limited insight about many shades of grey.

In this work, Durrani is confident in claiming that ‘since leaving service, I have spilled a few beans, so to speak, but not once have I been cautioned or charged with indiscretion’. This claim was severely tested recently. Three months ago, his informal conversations with former Indian intelligence chief about diverse topics were published in a book ‘The Spy Chronicles’ that caused an uproar in Pakistan. He was severely criticized and, in some cases, abused by his uniformed colleagues. Pakistan army headquarters summoned him for explanation and an inquiry was initiated. Hopefully this work will help in understanding his views and not add more indiscretions to his charge sheet.

Durrani’ s book provides a useful insight into the thought process of senior brass. Shaky civil-military relations with deep mistrust on both sides is explained by Durrani with many anecdotes. Recent events have shown that this Achilles heel of Pakistan has not shown any sign of improvement. In view of the recent events of Pakistan and in the neighborhood, it looks that Pakistan’s policy has been consistent about what it views as its core interests. This book should be on the reading list of those interested in Pakistan.

Asad Durrani. Pakistan Adrift: Navigating Troubled Waters (London: Hurst & Company), 2018, pp. 273

0

Fascists on Hindu Twitter

It’s really getting very disturbing now..

0

Can a white liberal call a black conservative, a “bigot”

After Chris Evans patronised Kanye I waded into controversial territory myself. I’m being trolled on Twitter for calling out on Owen Jones.

Now a lot of people may think I’m some sort of Social Justice Warrior. I’m not since my inclination is towards High Toryism. I prefer the Monarchy, Aristocracy (it’s why I prefer Urdu High Culture to Hindi low culture, where is the Indian Ghalib?), the Established Church and general veer towards the Tory party. I tend to respect Republicans and Tories since for them their guiding principle is their nationalism/patriotism. Whilst I prefer patriotism to nationalism I can sympathize with native white people who want to keep their countries as they are.

Continue reading “Can a white liberal call a black conservative, a “bigot””

0

A single nation divided by a civilisation

I made an important observation on Twitter after reading about this fantastic article on Ferdowsi’s “Iranianisation” that I thought I would share here:

The article I linked to makes the stunning point that Iran has captured “Turan’s” legacy to the exclusion of any other country in Central Asia. While Afghanistan, which is nominally Dari-speaking, can barely lay claim to Jalaluddin Rumi because Afghan is an ethnonym for the Pashtun speaking population (who historically have been geared towards India rather than Iran).

Iranian (and by extension) Persian national construction in the 19th century is probably one of the most successful enterprises despite the initial difficulties involved. I’ll relay two stories. Continue reading “A single nation divided by a civilisation”

0

The bisexual & the Baha’i Twins + why do Pakistanis fake it?

The Bisexual & the Baha’i Twin

As an aside I saw an instagram clip of a new show (I’ve removed the name to protect the privacy). It was directed by this budding bisexual young actress. It wasn’t hard to guess that she was Iranian-American (she doesn’t identify as Iranian though just American) but something about the name was ringing in my ear. I thought she might be a Baha’i of Zoroastrian descent.

It turns out I was partially right in that she has a doppelganger of the same exact age, location and ethnicity who happens to be a friend of a friend and more importantly a Baha’i (and a strong one at that). They are probably distantly related (the bisexual almost certainly has a lapsed Baha’i grandparent since some surnames are distinctly Baha’i and there are so many Iranians who have some hidden Babi-Baha’i ancestry) but what is shocking is too see two similar people (with an astonishingly uncommon first name that I have never ever encountered before) lead such different lives.

The two look so similar that I had to ask Vidhi for help in parsing them about; the Bisexual actress simply looked like the Vamped risque version of the Baha’i twin.

Religion certainly has the power the transform culture; the Bisexual actress is a SJW progressive on Twitter fighting for Queer rights while her Baha’i twin is on Instagram steadfast in our Faith. Continue reading “The bisexual & the Baha’i Twins + why do Pakistanis fake it?”

0

Book Review: India’s Wars. A Military History 1947-1971

 

India’s wars by Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramaniam is a history of the wars (external wars, not counter-insurgencies) fought by the Indian army from 1947 to 1971. It is a pretty good summary, but does have it’s weaknesses.

The book starts with a bit of the “pre-history” of the Indian army. Interestingly Subramaniam chooses to highlight two distinct streams that he believes should get credit for the internal culture and ethos of the Indian army. One is obvious: the British Indian army, which was the parent organization that was split (unequally) between Pakistan and India to create the Indian army. The second is an angle that would not have been included by an official observer/author in 1950, but that has obviously grown since then to the point that a Pucca Air Marshal gives it near-equal billing in his book: i.e. the armies of the Marhattas and the Sikhs. I think this reflects contemporary politics and cultural arguments in India more than it reflects the reality of the Indian army from 1947 to 1971, but will be happy to be corrected by people who have better direct knowledge of the Indian army in that period. Anyway, the author gives a quick and very brief account of the British Indian army. The origins and growth of that force are dealt with very quickly and summarily, but there is more details about developments closer to 1947. This is not a book that is heavy on relevant numerical data (i.e. this is not the sort of book where you get tables showing “The caste/religious/ethnic composition of the British Indian army from X to 1947”) and this is a weakness that persists throughout the book; the author is not big on tables or data. Perhaps as someone who grew up with some of that history, I did not find it detailed or insightful enough, but most readers may not mind this omission too much. And even if you are a British Indian army brat, the sections on the origins of the Royal Indian Air Force and the Royal Indian Navy are likely to add to your knowledge. Incidentally, many of the early aviators in the Indian air force seem to have Bengali surnames; the author does not comment on this, but I wonder if anyone has more information about this. If you do, please add in the comments section.

Continue reading “Book Review: India’s Wars. A Military History 1947-1971”

0

Global alliances and wheels within wheels

Over ten years ago I read Adam K. Webb’s Beyond the Global Culture War with some skepticism. In it, Webb outlined the future revitalization of non-Western societies and cultures and their ultimate face-off with global liberalism.  It’s a really strange book, which talks positively about the Iranian Revolution and Rabindranath Tagore.

But I think elements of the thesis are coming to fruition in ways I couldn’t have imagined. For example, the Western Left has a very strong animus against Hindu Nationalism. case in point, the Western (mostly American) feminist website, Feministing, has published a piece documenting a protesting a Hindu meeting in Chicago: Why These Activists are Protesting Hindu Nationalism in Trump’s America.

Here’s a thought experiment: can you imagine left-wing activists protesting an Islamic Society of North American meeting? Curiously, the atheist ex-Muslim activist Armin Navabi, who was at the meeting in Houston this summer, observed that the people who were most hostile to the ex-Muslims were not the Muslims themselves (most of whom were curious), but philo-Islamic Communist activists. These activists were apparently shouting Islamic slogans at right-wing anti-Islamic demonstrators.

Navabi even reported that the Muslim attendees talked to him and seemed disturbed and confused by the specter of hammer & sickle brandishing Communists, and could not understand why or how they were pro-Islam.

1+