Pakistan and Afghanistan – What To Do
Sanction Pakistan, Don’t Recognise Afghanistan
Browncast: Major Amin on the Ukraine Crisis
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In this episode I talk to our regular guest, Major Amin. Major sahib has a long association with Afghanistan and with Russia and as a fan of military history is a huge admirer of the country that brought us such earth shat operation Uranus and
00:00.00
Omar
Hello good evening, everyone and welcome to a new episode of the brown pundits browncast we have with us again today major a mean well known to our listeners. We have chatted with major amin before. About various topics related to military history and history in general and we are very lucky to have him again with us on this historic day when the russian federation has launched a major military operation against Ukraine. Mayor I mean has a long association in the region has been closely associated with has worked in Afghanistan has been worked a lot with the Soviet Union and then later with the russians so it’s very familiar with this whole. But the people involved in this business so we will start by asking him. Yeah, amaze up. What is your assessment what is going on in Ukraine right now. Ah Dr what has happened is that. Geopolitically there are 2 camps 1 camp as defined by a very eminent geopolitical erist professor van pigeon. From the netherlands teaching at susex university he defined 2 major contenders in geopolitics one is the atlantic name led by the Usa and basically Neto and one is the vast. Asian Heartland the euro asian greatest power foreign history which we call Russia so this power revelry is going on and has not ended. And as you know I will just give you in a short ah capsulated view that the ah atlantic grim at that time the western allies they made the Ussr fight the germans and the ussr suffered. 90% casualties in the second world war but the major ah geopolitical benefits were reved by the attack technique that by the Usa and with the charttle known as Britain at that time a charttle whose back was broken by the car first and by Hitler.
02:42.55
Omar
So the main of course player with the usa now we start with the cold war as soon as the and british and the american achieved their objectives they threw Russians The Uss are into the dustbin of. And geopolitics like Icondo and it was the most heartless betrayal and so-called cold war started and here I want to clarify to the apalridges and the so-called white version of history. But you find in very large numbers in University Like Yale Howard Berkeley Oxford Cambridge questions of intellectual dishonesty in all west european universities barring sussex and few universities now they started a false. The that they had waged the second world war based on ethics just imagine that eventually after second world war the americans the british and the late Nato which was formed adopted the same tazi philosophy of anti-reianism is. Slav batting and anti-communism and hidere the same nazis against the Ussr. So these things are very very clear to us. But till now the if you go to American University Or A British University or any best european university they are whitewashing this you know, ah claiming you know they are very you know they are very ethical people. They are very very they principal people which is total nonsenseensor and they are worse than the the deepest gutterent you know world. You know as far as intellectual honesty is concerned now coming to Ukraine state. But the uss are what resolved there was agreement between the atlantic them and the russians that Nato is not going to expand eastwards but the western allies they violated this principle this ah unwritten promise and they you know. Got the whole warsaback countries barring and maybe 1 or 2 into the Neto. So this was a dangerous enc encourageachment on the shia and Ukraine now which you know is the is the backyard of the russians ah most strategically important to russians. Last you know, um the the biggest brand of the americans and network comment was trying to bring network and this Ukraine into network. So Naturallyri Putin had no choice left but to react react.
05:24.57
Omar
Ah, regarding my assessments of americans and Neto in scratches. How I form these opinions based being based on the Afghanistan town from 2002 till almost two ah 2021 and also having participated. Ah the subcontractor in the so-called. Disgraful evacuation mismanaged evaquation by natural americans the most disgraceful evaqui industry I saw the Nato and the american army closely me and I saw that they were strategically clueless operationally totally incompetent. Yes, brave at the load level. I don’t blame the younger ranks I don’t blame the union commanders but characters like Patrias Mcquiel and all these people they were totally incompetent people having seen them in Afghanistan and knew that these people they just cannot fight that was the most hopeless bunch. Look at the disgraful way the germans behaved in Afghanistan they oppos caveards that they will not fight in any area where there is one bullet fired in anger just see how disgraceful the turkish behaved all the natural countries how they behaved the presence of the casualties was suffered by the us army. The 95 % casualties and some british muskets also suffered casualties but you know the only power which foughtd in Afghanistan alreadylthough they also suffered 2000 puny casualties and in 20 years hardly a war for the americans so based on this assessment. Ah I was very clear. Putin is going to have a clean run and is going to knock out Ukraine and this is the dividing line. This is a watershed in history in geopolitical history as you know it was a long time ago that a book was written and of the west. This now sir is the decline of the west juility. Thank you? So um, what do you think is happening operationally right now what was Putin’s plan and just sort of in military terms. What is he doing and what is it likely to what is likely to happen in the coming days. Ah, Putin’s plan was very simple and the russians had been wargaming it since the last um 10 years basically Ukraine. Is indefensible because the ukrainian Heartland Ki and harkov they are very close to the russian border so they are indefensible. So kif and Harco are a gone gone case in oppressa the main new UraPort russians have landed.
08:05.76
Omar
And it’s a matter of time. The russians are going to mop up and naturally they have to totally crush Ukraine and brutal. You know they have to over and it ruthlessly you know because you know they must not give the Atlantic Rem who are the successor of the tragedy Germany you know. Na Germany gave birth to the nato 1945 so this is there. They are the new nazis and the russianians as you know 19% sacrifice in Second World War against nazis and fascism all done by the Ussr not by Britain or Usa or any of these. Bike Mouse Miskeier so I think he’s going to over and Ukraine is going to consolidate and it is a good thing and I think if he place his cards carefully ah ce submitting the alliances with China with Iran even with countries like Pakistan. Ah. Already. He’s controlling the vast mass of the eurationian heartland as becon defined it and these Mickey Mouse characters on on the on the peripher these people who never fought of war whose women are not ready to produce children when there is minus grew growth decades people you know. Important cheap labours from turkey and ktan and from North Africa and from Syria these hopeless totally you know decadent west europeans they have no right to leave the word as per aggressive we can I am sure many listeners will argue. Or against these positions but just in terms of ah, the military capability. Do you think the ukrainian army is going to put up any fight at all. Ah Ukrainian um, the only. Ah. Thing you will find in Ukraine and is a Ukrainian proitutkrain and an army is totally useless in the hopeless bunch I have seen them very closely in Pakistan and trials and totally decadent hopeless bunch and not capable of putting any fight and. And they are the worst people you know as far as military effectiveness is concerned or ah, you know military virtues concerned totally hopeless enough. They have no military effectiveness. No military virtue and yeah, you’ll see that god willing our poses. Mr. Putin will have his day. Ah, okay, so if he does have his day and then they have conquer they reconquer or conquer all of Ukraine. Ah they will set up ah sort of a puppet ukrainian regime or they will incorporate it into Russia or what will be the next step and I think potan will.
10:58.81
Omar
Lay his cars carefully as the russians have always done. You know they will have some sort of a you know on the old style soviet ssr you know as they they were called. You know the soviet socialist republic you know something like that with a different name and naturally. Ukraine present Lee is a usa puppet Ukraine is not an independent country at all. It’s a usa ne puppet and now it will become a russian puppet so puppet say as far as the puppet is concerned only the masters of the prophetpe ukraine is a policy of a state it’s not a state you know it’s a it’s a po it is a fairly large country and it’s very likely that a majority of the population may not want to be ruled by Russians as far as I see I visited Ukraine in Ninety five and ninety six as far as I see. Statistics and the sensors are cooked up and my impression was that almost half of Ukraine is russian number one. The second impression is that Ukraine is culturally economically logistically politically so close to Russia that it was hard to call it a country. Ah, as you know in second world War Stalin was able to gain a vote for Belaria and Ukraine and that is how this fiction was created but culturally politically. It is very you know. Naive to say that Ukraine is a has been a separate country yes separatism has been there. The russian civil war also they were Ukraine and separatists but Ukraine is so close to Russia geographically politically historically that I would not call it a separate country. So if you if as you say they are going to militarily they’re not going to have a problem they are going to sort of brush them aside and establish. Whatever puppet regime they want in in Ukraine once they have done that do you think they have other objectives. Beyond ukraine at this time. Ah, suddenly yeah, they will you know, bring back. Ah, the older republics put the fold geor has been creating a lot of problem affecting Georgia needs to be. You know, given a proper dose Azerbaijan yes, also playing. Between Israel and americans and you know so many people azerbaja um, certainly yes central asia is fully in their control. So no problem Poland yes Poland they are going to you know, sort of given them a minor rubbing you know which is not difficult so I think geopolitically.
13:50.26
Omar
This will be the start of the dissolution and the collapse of Netu as an alliance as far as I see netto is not totally irrelevant already. They have proved. They were totally hopeless in Afghanistan hopeless people and now I would say this is the end of Neto is is a. A matter of time that you know we you know ah a can the founder of Neto A we you know they should be buried in a very deep gutter. They don’t deserve a funeral. If you are saying they want other republics back does that mean also the Baltic Republics Estonia latvia Lithuania they will not attack the baltic republics but you know they are going to apply apply other cosive I just. You know, sort of you know, arms them to you know, sort of reduce them to their size because birthex republics you know again traditionally but part of Russia. It is very hard to say that they are separate countries. They were literally a part of Russia for more than you know, ah starting from the time of p the great. Hundred nine or so these republics were part of Russia and I think Mr put will be a wise man if he sort of armed to them rather than directly attacking them and directly attacking is not possible because they are part of Netu and. As far as I see and as far as I can assess nato is going to be you know dead within a year or two I think this alliance is not going to survive this fisco in Ukraine and Neto does not deserve to exist because they have proved totally useless. You know. Hiring hiring blondes andpronettes and ah buts. You know for their lust. You know, but totally hopeless people. You know if you go to the ne headquarters in Brussels you’ll find blondes and bruettes you know that’s about all but ne is militarily completely hopeless now the other. People on the other side will say that actually Neto will sort of revive because of this because the threat of the russian bear will sort of bring them back to their senses or or that even that they will expand that maybe Sweden will join neto as short as I see. Was a very famous book written by russian author gogo which was titled dead souls as far as I see europe is dead soldier with minus growth with you know women saying that our figures will be spoiled if we have children.
16:36.66
Omar
And you know a decadeant civilization and importing all kinds of characters. You know from Syria North Africa and you know East Europe you know Europe is dead you know it is very difficult that ne can be ever revived because their de people basically I saw them I saw ne and Afghanistan closed. Were protect people. They did not have that burning desire to fight. They did not have that you know that spirit that resolution which is required to fight even a third rate you know country with Peggy Trousers you know they could not even fight those of paths you know they were imposing caviars. They were hurting in kundul they were hiding in bajis. They were hiding in Kabul totally hopeless if you study the natural casualties in Afghanistan you will have to agree that Uto was a total failure in Afghanistan and Ricky Mouse western european new nazi power who could not fight in Afghanistan how can they fight and look how can they face Russia if they could not face the aghans were militarily farfer to Russia. How can they to face the russians. But you also included Poland in those who are going to be chastised Poland is a serious country. They have a history they have ah identity and they are as proud sort of of their polish identity and freedom as as the russians are of Russia you think they will just hold on. And again is ah also a fiction because you know, starting from 1770 s and 80 S Poland was a part of Russia and Germany and there was no poland for a short time after the french revolution the Poland was created but that also was a total you know french spawn. And Poland was not really a country if the revolution had not broken out of Russia in 1917 they would have been no poland so Poland again is ah very close to Russia and Russia cannot afford to have american or natural duke nuclear wars in and Poland. Poland is also hardly a country I would say I would not call Poland a country Germany yes is a country Sweden yes is a country even Finland was part of Russia, not a country and great period after the you know after after after the first world war. So all these historical things have to be seen russian history is very complicated and the ah rather myopic people in Brussels and Pentagon and bunching burglars and having blondes and brunus around. They did not study russian history probably if they had studied russian history probably they would
19:22.00
Omar
Not have suffered this massive classicco and tobacco in Ukraine. But if you are you know as you are saying if Russia is such a strong power with such a strong asabia. What do they fear from Poland why is it a big deal if Poland is in Nato what will they do to them. It’s a question of dominance. It’s a question of geopolitics and how can you answer the biggest question history. What the great powers want for what they have been fighting to study the first world war second world war they have their childish games what is dominance what is power what is the lust for power. These are questions difficult to answer brother. So. But other than that lust for power or whatever there doesn’t seem to be like a rational reason why they should fear Poland Latvia Sweden if they leave them alone. They will probably be left alone by these people. They will not bother rashia. Traditionally the burtex republics were part of Russia and when the Soviet Union on disintegreted they became independent so traditionally the russians regard the russian establishment regards I don’t regard my this is my impression of the russian establishment when i. Occupation of Russia Ninety five ninety six the russian establishment regards the british publics as their lost provincevincis and they don’t regard them as the country if letto collapses and neto it becomes inoperational. Even now it is hardly operational. You know except you know, ah playing pushy games that who is not capable of anything you know and except you know talking about hollow threads and bluffs. Ummartonian Bluffs you know why much suddenly you know was a british prime minister famous for bluff and the russians called but is Amerson’s bluff in 1863 when the there was a polishris palmersan said that Britain will you know do this and that and russians simply marched to Poland and palmusson was nowhere. And Parmason was only good in siu pushing the sister of the british minister or the wife of some other british count or lord a minister that it was all parmusan was voted just like the Nato characters in bruss no but towns and prunettes. That’s all.
21:58.39
Omar
Right? But the british had the largest empire in the world after all, they had some military capability to back it up. They could not when when russian forces the March into Poland in 63 Britain did not oppos the the nations and all the british threats came yeah thrown into the gutter. Because it was a but sodian bluff if you study the european history you will find that there’s a very famous ah section on on the parsonian bluff and all but the british are masters of bluff. They hardly fought any war or if you study the british history let’s say let’s go back to british history to study british history. British never fought a major war in europethey always financed Russia pressure austro-hungary to fight against Napoleon in the first world war. Yes, the british were forced to fight a war and what happened the British Army totally was yet not destroyed. In the battle of Ees and in the first battles of first world war. It was totally destroyed and the british bag was broken after first world war Britain never fought, a major war. They were always made others fight and shape as the case with americans they have never fought a major war but the royal navy that is the last major war americans. But the civil war after that americans are made um the european powers fight especially the russians and if you study the casualties the russian casualties were the highest in first world war and in second world and even against Napoleon it was the russians who broke the back of Napo Napoleon um ah but Atroer or anybody you don’t want any depressions. You don’t want to give any credit to the royal navy after all they they maintain dominance all across the globe for 200 years yes I give royal the navy full credit but as far as the land war is concerned. land warfare the british strategy was that to finance the you know the european armies and the as far as the land warfare was concerned if decisive victories like lii like you know in moshco if the sassiveies were achieved in 1812 1813 and 14 in which the russians and the prussians played the major role. The British Army had no road Waterloo was they you know was a sideline battle when Napoleon’s defeat was a forone conclusion even if Napoleon had won at whattleloo he would have been defeated because whole europe and mobilized. Ah, huge russian army was coming depressions were there the austrohung erran was there so british as far as the land warfare concerned they are nowhere very they were never they were never go on land warfare and the last major battles they fought was in first world war in which you know, um, their back was broken.
24:49.91
Omar
Is all you know indians you know board independence you know first and second world war because 2 great men at Kaer William to and adollf hitler they broke the back of grit it was not Mr Gandhi or jiha or any character who gave and india freedom it was Hitler. That some that many people might agree with but anyway what is the what is the equation between China and Russia right now China and the shia have to come close. They already are Joe Political clothes but now the currents of history. The the pressure of geopolitics will force these 2 giants to come together and if they don’t come together. There is no survival. But I think chinese are very clear and they are going to play the cards correctly and you will see a major. Ah. Shana Rahia lands and of course russiahi after all this you know they will have to turn eastward you know it will always isiatic country and now Russia is going to become more asiatic for will survival the joeo political survival and I think ah. Ah, China rahia alliance in a major way. The the fourgo rule as far as but you kind of when you say that the western europeans are decadent and will not be able to do anything. They have a low fertility rate fertility rate is not much higher in Russia either. Now Russia’s original population is much bigger than west europe that you have to see their real population. Their actual population is much bigger. They they have got a far larger army landmas and all that all these things have to be seen my question to you is that if netto was so. Marshal them such a great power why they was you know so beak and covered in Afghanistan what was there? no zero two why Why us and had to fight the whole of 1 war and was not willing to fight if ne was not willing to fight in a third grade environment like Afghanistan where they had. Massive superiority massive superiority of laws had nothing and yet this narrow this hopeless network was a total failure and um understand if we to you told team if you study the operations will find that ne one was the I would say the height of cowardice. As far as the real battle was concerned in Afghanistan they fight they did not fight they did not fight well the british other than the british I guess nobody fought, really the americans did the bulk of the fighting but did a more an 80% of the fighting right? British yes were there but you know british casualties are much smaller right? I mean.
27:39.80
Omar
But um, but but wanted but somebody could argue that in Afghanistan they were you know this was really a mission of that american mission in which they are just showing the flag and going there are they are not really interested in this mission but when they are defending Poland or let we are whatever they are closer to home. Ah, is not like is maybe a different situation. You don’t think that that’s going to be a consideration law. You see your you have to see your cortex from a very wide angle and probably you have to take a long view if you study the cold war the Ussr collapsed not because of neto but because of the so. Ah, the oil price havinging to 50% which but broke the bag of ussr thatto never broke the back of Ussr great. All we saw the so the hoving of the oil eto has never been a credible player you see letto help and you know, ah, how can. Ah, on earth can you say that Nato had a peaceful mission you see that was ah Usa it was Usa who created Neto and created the Usa who saved western europe from Ussr Usa is the benefactor of western europe and how ungrateful. And I see these west europeans net over in a Afghanistan far their behavior in any way cannot be justified job take me morally militarily in any way. So this is ah I don’t agree with this both respectfully but now the total failure in Afghanistan right? So let’s say the western in europeans. No longer have the jews or whatever. ah but the United States still a significant power ah is there is the you feel that the United States itself is no longer capable of confronting any of these people or Russia. No United States had imposed a very very well-p planned you know, strategy on western europe that they will be part of the us camp there will be us satellites now. The danger is that with Russia emerging victorious in Ukraine. And now this strategic you know that dominance of the Usa may be challenged and even power like Germany and you know even central european powers part of Netu will think twice about being part of neu and they will sort of have have some sort of engagement with russians you know. Because it’s ah it’s power play. You know it was a sheer military power with which the uss are an over Nay Germany and it was shier and military power overall military power that the americans used to reconr western european.
30:24.17
Omar
But that you know scenario has changed the americans are not willing to sacrifice 23 veterans have are been have been committing suicides since 9090 and over 200000 us veterans have committed suicide. It’s an internally shattered society and. It is not the same usa the same us say who was brutally willing to kill and fight the certain world war is just totally different game and cor war. They did very well even in Vietnam they sacrificed 60000 but now it’s a totally different bulk of game a decadent society not willing to fight. Certainly. Usa may go for some sort sort of isolation some sort of you know, going back to the north and south american continent something like that till first for what they were like that they you know and they were practicing as so asulliationism and all that right? So they may revert back to that. But you know they they have lost faith. Also let me tell you that the americans have lost faith in network because Neto has proved so hopeless first in Afghanistan and now in Ukraine that americans have lost faith him and you know the fear of the fear of nuclear war you know that of course you know. Americans but are so afraid of nuclear weapons that that they could not even coerce a ah thirdly country like Pakistan because of fear of nuclear weapons this fear of nuclear weapons has also altered geopolitics and now you know. Major power forms. Want to fight a war you know, even Ukraine if you study Ukraine’s newss but taken by the russians when the us are collapsed. So even ah, you know it was lack of nuclear weapons that Russia invaed Ukraine. Just imagine America has never invaed any power which has nuclear weapons. You know they are very very brave and marshal if there is iraqi or afghans you know were no new Yorks but you know as far as Pakistan is concerned they were covered in the aran war. Although although 90% of the us soldiers 2200 killed and Afghanistan were killed by insurgents based in Pakistan but Usa like the strategic resolution of moral courage to confront Pakistan so nuclear weapon weapons are also a very important part and western europe or Usa simply cannot start a conventional war and the bottom line is that. Puttan also invaded Ukraine because Ukraine had no news if Ukraine had its nukes or if they had retained the nukes stationed in Ukraine at the time of Visa Putin could never have invaded Ukraine. So all these things have to be also taken in the context of the nuclear weapons. So is it.
33:12.96
Omar
Possible that in the coming years countries like Germany maybe even Sweden that they will try to develop own nuclear weapons. Ah Germany certainly will them up but there’s a major power and Germany as far as I see germany or. Ah, the west european countries they may they may like to form a sort of a european ah lands primarily to protect western europe yes, that is possible and german they certainly is a you but you know, um you you will see that. Um. a european alliance can emerge out of this because ne has by by and large become redirected to America has failed to provide the leadership. Basically the the the big dog in Neto was America and the big dog will proved a miserable failure as far as saving Ukraine or as far as defending Ukraine muslims. So the big dog has failed so now the small dogs might decide that they must get together and make another lance and that alliance can protect western europe from being bullied by Putin or whatever western europe certainly has new books. As yeah as but as you know the France and other powers they have Nukes Britain as nukes so they can always form and former european alliance the the the bottom line are the news western europe certainly has the nukes to counter Putin and Putin also like a Usa is very careful but he you know. Carefully calculated and invaded Ukraine knowing fully well that Ukraine had no nuclear data so western europe putin is not going to touch because yes, yes, politically you know Gepolily is you know on the rise. Certainly if you play this cards carefully and. You know as mchelley has said that it is better to act and regret battle rather than not to act and regret so putin is going to act and in action lies his survival. So Ukraine has to be fully. You know, pacified and aa and that certainly he will do. Will go for a China ah lands major lens and the survival of both China and Russia lives now in being a plants you know in me being allies, you know as you know the and very famous american leaders said that. If we don’t hang together. We’ll be hang separate so they don’t want to get hanged and so they will come very close but is as this confrontation sort of goes on. There is going to be like a cold war kind of situation that there will be ah.
35:59.63
Omar
These b blocks will sort of have sanctions economic differences even separate banking system internet whatever or there will be simple cooperation between western europe and Russia then what? What do you foresee? ah. As far as I understand Rasha and China are working on a separate bank system and it’s not a very big deal. It’s a matter of fine matter of maybe two or three years that you will see a rival banking system already as you see the bitcoin and. So also many these digital currencies they have changed the ball game and already the banks are very Vari because the digital currencies you know are are a big threat to the bank and if you study carefully all the russian and iranian and chinese code operations are run on. But but on the digital currency and it’s a known thing even I’ve won insurgents were getting and getting a aid with you know, digital currency vi Dubai during the us have one war. So the whole ball game exchange yes certainty arrival to short will be created. And yes, certainly if the weapon camps will be there right? So when and if that happens in this situation. I mean this world was economically relatively integrated until a couple of years ago ah this separation and cold war kind of situation. Obviously will lead to economic disruption. Also you see the world was never integrated. The Usa had very very strong protective tariffs western europe had very very strong protective tariffs and they regarded the as and then africans as you know as third grade. You know man manyial colonies were was never integrated economic. Yes, they were claiming that you know w to you and all sort of you know facades. You know the jargons and you know false claims that we are integrated what was never integrated as it has always been the biased place. Protectionism has always been there and is going to stay and certainly you know, um, the the so-called great powers. You know the the english-speaking people basically the foundation of their greatness was piracy. Was not in trade or anything. It was piracy selling opm and you know so many things you know, but it’s a long history. So you know, let’s stick to the basics and I think I have summed up my you know my assessments if you want to ask any question please. Ah.
38:44.73
Omar
Ask me 1 last question. 1 last question is do you think that this will also mean China taking Taiwan ah China taking Taiwan is ah just a matter of time and maybe China takes Taiwan in the next one year next five years a matter of time Taiwan is a gone case and the Usa already has proved its irresolution and incompetence and its strategic meekness in Afghanistan by just deserting Afghanistan instead of placing some forces there the partitioning the country and again in Ukraine. Ah, americans have proved their total strategic meekness. So this is ah going to be a big encouragement to China and Thiwa and is a gone case. Maybe one year five years you know but thwa certainly America also will not be able to defend because again fear of continued war Europe nuclear war is dead and. Unless unless ah unless taiwa develops its own use and decides to wipe out the eurochina communist as a state. You know it’s a it’s a difficult thing if if Taiwan does not have news which it does not have. Is a matter of time that you know is what what do you foresee? There are a couple of countries that have there are not necessarily permanent american allies but their own situation sort of forces them on the american side right now one is India and the other is Japan. Are significant powers. Ah what is their future in this new world Japan you see Japan received such a druming from the chinese who infected the maximum casualties in Japan and second world war maximum casualties on Japan were in fact. But chinese second world war and then japanese got such a traumatic shock with these 2 2 nuclear strikes that japanese also you know strategically and they are totally hopeless. You yes, there are a lot of talk that there was Ziam and all that. Yeah. But japanese have lost that you know lost that spread of crucial japanese war or the wars in China or in the second world war they are totally you know I would I would again call them decade you japanese they are not. You know, serious players. And indian as you know are as hopeless as pakistanis to totally third powers. Both of them. So don’t expect anything good from indians you know they’re as hopeless as pakistanis same race know same you know da for race. You know you don’t expect things. It is on that note.
41:35.17
Omar
I’m sure many of our listeners will have their own sort of opinions about this but I know that they all look forward to hearing about your opinion and and it is always stimulating even if people disagree with you. So thank you very much sir and we will be in touch we will in shalla do more podcasts. As things develop and we will process in within a Div thank you congress thank you so thank you you
Major Amin on Pan-Islamism and Afghanistan, etc
Of historical interest. An old letter to the editor that Major Amin wrote in 2001 before 9-11 happened. At the end I have also added an excerpt from his book (written in 2012) about the grand American strategic failure in Afghanistan.
Letter to the Editor, from Major Amin (in response to some story about Chechens and our Islamic duty to help them).Â
The Afghanistan analogy is not applicable to Chechnya. TheRussians withdrew from Afghanistan not because they weremilitarily defeated but because Gorbachev rightly assessed thatstaying on was not cost effective (Pages-207 & 208- Out ofAfghanistan-Cordovez and Harrison-Oxford-1995). Chechnya is analtogether different case because Russian presence there is costeffective because of Chechen oil! The political situation in Russia isonce again stabilising. The Communists are once again regainingstrength while Putin is likely to emerge as a strong statesman. Noamount of statements from the OIC can change the situation. If theRussians are ignoring the OSCE and USA why should they botherabout OIC! Why should Iran surrounded by three hostile or potentially hostile neighbours and one super power which every yearallocates funds to destabilise Iran antagonise the Russians ; theironly trustworthy ally!
Where is Islam in case of Kurds! How many Kurds have diedfighting Iranian Iraqi and Turkish armies since the last one hundredyears! I think ten times more than total number of Chechens killedfrom January 1999! Where is the Islam of the Islamic Contact Groupin case of Kurds who are condemned for eternity to be subjects ofIran, Iraq and Turkey. The first modern Chemical Warfare attackwas carried out against the Iraqi Kurds during the Iran-Iraq war!Where was Islam when genocide was committed in 1971 by aMuslim (a misconceived misnomer!) Army against the BengaliMuslims! Religion, ideology etc is nothing but cheap toolsemployed by the ruling elite to galvanise and drug the masses! Themiddle class and the feudal clique of UP and Punjab becameinterested in Muslim separatism only once their class interests werethreatened with competitive examinations and concepts of Britishdemocracy! The same was true for the Hindu middle and businessclasses that joined the congress! They thought that they would
succeed the British Viceroys in ruling entire India! Hinduism wasonly a slogan, just as was the case with the Muslim elite! Religion isa good slogan but only a slogan! Democracy ends immediatelywhen Muslims leave the Mosque! Lip service is paid but that iswhere Islam ends!
It will be good for our intellectual health if we forget about PanIslamism and try to set our own house in order! So far we havemiserably failed even to stay as one nation in case of East Pakistan!Today we have the smaller ethnic group’s issue which is intricate aswell as genuine and demands good statesmanship which is sadlylacking both in India and Pakistan ! Both have been termed as ‘failedstates’ by political scientists ! Both have a history of using coercive power of a modern state against smaller ethnic groups e.g. Kashmir1989-2000, East Pakistan-1971 , Balochistan 1958-64, Balochistan1974-77 etc etc. Both the states have been steadily involved in anarms race that will end only once a war limited or total is finallyfought . A dispassionate study of history proves that men are butvictims of currents of history and cannot change the tide of history!Europe learned its lesson after two world wars and is saner ! Chinalearned its lesson from 1911-1949 and is now saner ! UnfortunatelyPakistan and India have fought small wars ; petty skirmishes bywestern standards in which total casualties of each side was less than10,000 killed. That is why both have hawks; theoretical hawks Iwould say; arm chair strategists; Don Quixote’s who think thatKashmir can we won (Pakistan) or retained (India)! The motivationof the ruling elite on both sides is ulterior! Its not ideology Islam orsecularism but ego, powers, lusts for glory! Bismarck’s does not leadthem or Churchill’s but myopic men with limited vision, short-termgoals and personal agendas advised by dark horse adventistintelligence agencies! Sundarji called them blind men of Hindustan ;a better name may be ‘Blind men of Hind-o-Pak’! These are
shortsighted men who have not understood what General Shermansaid at Atlanta after the US Civil War i.e. ‘there are many a boyshere who think of war as glory, but it is hell!’ As a soldier I wish that both the countries should either fight it out so that we at leastdiscover (I would say rediscover or confirm as far as ex soldiers areconcerned!) The qualitative efficiency of our general officers orarrive at a settlement! Otherwise it’s a never-ending game of musicalchairs, which the ruling elite of both the countries is making thecommon man play! The qualities of generalship and mediocrity inhigher ranks on both sides have been well proved in 1947-48, 1965and 1971! 2000 if it proves decisive will inshaallah prove as noexception.
And lastly Pan Islamism is dangerous . It is better if we concentrateon setting our own house in order.
Major A.H Amin(Retired)
An excerpt from Major Amin’s book:Â
The Mullah who was at the lowest rung of the society was elevated and the traditional leaders of Pashtun society eliminated and destroyed. Basically the Pakistani leadership likethe usurper Zia comprised of men with humble origins preferred pliable Afghans withhumble origins who would obey the third rate ISI major again from lower middle classhumble origins.
Afghan resistance in Pakistan was thus led by Panjsheri puncturemen previously repairingtyres in Kabul , obscure and humble Mullahs like Haqqani and failed engineering universitydropouts with no tribal standing like Hekmatyar. It suited the Pakistanis and their Americanfathers to deal with non entities who could be moulded and manipulated.The Americans were funding people like Zia who was selling eggs to survive with 250 and400 milion dollars annually. It is a white lie to think that the Americans stepped in after theDecember 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.US and British assistance to the bastardchild Zia military regime started in 1978 and early 1979. The Pakistanis and Americansbrought all types of mad dog Islamists to Pakistan for the so called Afghan Jihad.Nowpeople like Bruce Riedel are blaming and attacking the same characters patronized by theUS in 1980s as Al Qaeda and Islamic extremists. Islamist volunteers were brought by theISI,CIA and Saudi GID to Pakistan because the Afghan mercenaries enlisted by the ISI werenot fighting as ruthlessly as their ISI handlers wanted them to fight. It is ironic that IslamicJihad was transformed into a global cause under CIA stewardship. Characters like HafizSeed , today topping the US hate list were groomed and gained prominence during the CIA-ISIGID Afghan war. HAMAS was established in 1987 with Abdullah Azzam as one of itsideals.
After 1989 Jihad in Afghanistan degraded into a Pakistani version of Jihad. The JihadsAmerican fathers had abandoned Jihad in 1989 after the Soviet withdrawal. The Iraq war of1991 was a watershed event. From 1991 Afghan war assumed a more Pakistani and Saudishape. Mujahideen were increasingly patronized and were replaced with Taliban who weremore rabidly Islamist Pakistani Saudi proxies.Again from the lowest and humblest sectionsof AfghanPashtun society.Men who would readily obey their ISI handlers without anydissent. Pakistans civilian prime minister Nawaz Sharif was an ISI creation and a man withlimited vision.The other civilian prime minister Benazir Bhutto was a subject of ISI blackmail thanks tosome scandalous material gathered by the ISI cheap operatives in the Zia era. BenazirBhuttos handpicked Interior Minister Naseerullah Babar was spiritual Godfather of the maddog Islamist Talibans in Afghanistan.
Benazir Bhutto had no control on Pakistans intelligence in both her tenures and the ISIdid as it pleased in Afghanistan and India.A sad reflection on a supposed secular andeducated prime minister who claimed that she was the best guarantee against Islamicextremism in the region. Hafiz Saeed now much hated by the CIA grew in stature inBenazirs two tenures as prime minister ! It is hilarious when one reads about Benazirsclaims as the wests best bet against Islamic extremism in her last book !
When the Americans ditched the ISI after 1989 , the ISI found a new patron in theKashmir Jihad in shape of China. The Chinese feared that an independent Kashmir would bea US base against China and had decided in late 1980s to support Kashmiri separatists whowanted accession with Pakistan.
The period 1988-2000 was the golden period of ISIs Kashmir War. Ex DG ISI LTG Ziauddinnarrated to this scribe that Pakistan Army regulars and ISI regulars were fully involved inthe Kashmir Jihad and participated in deep penetration raids in Indian Occupied Kashmir.Meanwhile the 8 years of Bill Clinton in the USA from 1992 to 2000 were a total foreignpolicy disaster and during these 8 years the US had literally no Afghan policy. MonicaLewinsky no doubt was a high priority for Bill Clinton. While Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaedatrained and regrouped in Afghanistan the Americans were just sleeping .But now theiranalysts like Riedel brand Pakistan as worlds most dangerous country. It is an ISI and CIAachievement that characters like Mulla Omar became Afghanistans key leaders.Humble menwith no political status were elevated to Afghanistans power brokers just because they weregood sons of some ISI major commanding an ISI detachment ! This is history ! Charismaand power comes when a man sells his soul and works for some one.No tribute to MullaOmars personality.The very word Mulla signifies a mans lowest social status in Pashtunsociety. A large part of what analysts like Riedel now define as Islamic terrorism wascreated by the CIA in its notorious partnership with ISI and CIA in 1980-90. While the USabandoned Afghanistan and Pakistan in the period 1990-2001 , the Pakistani ISI sawAfghanistan as a giant training camp to train ISI proxies for the war in Indian occupiedKashmir.Thus the rise of the Taliban from 1994 to 2001. American policy makers weresimply sleeping during this period and today the Americans are simply paying the price fortheir naive complacency.
A.H Amin
A good, wide-ranging interview with Romila Thapar   (original link is broken, I am not sure what it was, but this video is around the same time (and i posted another one below this post)
I did have a few random thoughts of FB and just copy and paste them here. Not well formulated, but you may get the drift (or I may learn something from any comments):
I have no argument with a lot of the history or the ideal of the neutral, skeptical, inquiring historian.., as far as it goes. But something is missing; her own overall worldview. It is frequently said (mostly by her enemies?) that her basic framework is Marxism. But as far as I know, she does not explicitly claim this. Is it? and if she does not like to claim it, why not? And even if it is, there are so many subcults within Marxism by now, we may need to know more specifics.. But anyway, let us assume it is some sort of Marxism, but Marxist Chinese and Russians ended up with very strong (and expansive) nationalist visions of Russia and China. What is her vision of India? and what is that identity based on (what is âIndiaâ in her mind? in her worldview?). Maybe she should lay it out more instead of relying on the understanding and sympathy of others who hold equally vaguely Marxist views?
Let us assume she has a vision of India that requires India to be India (the specific modern state that exists) and not part of the greater Ummah (or ten separate warring states for that matter) but she seems to take it for granted. Maybe she thinks it doesnt need to be contested, it is so obvious and clear. But maybe she should put it out there. Let us judge how solid it is. Maybe it IS very solid. Maybe it will turn out to be rather thin. Or standing on ground that is more âcolonialâ than her fans would like to admit?
Doesnât she seem to assume the liberal secular democratic state exists without its own legitimating narrative, common culture, foundation, history, development, challenges and responses? And even economy?
And what about the economy? Supposedly the economy changes and the narratives (mostly half-imaginary) will follow? isnt that what the âVulgar Marxistsâ (the only ones who actually ran states) used to say? But it is interesting that those Marxist states remained true to older identities and borders, frequently with a vigourous (and even vicious) nationalism that their Manchu or Romanov or Khmer ancestors would have been proud ofâŠ. But anyway, doesnt that raise the problem of her wider circle of supporters and fellow travelers having picked the âwrongâ economics? Or does she still think those are the right economics? Maybe she does, but I find that most leftists donât argue very deeply and firmly about that these days, preferring the easier and more superficial BS about postcolonialism and intersectionality or whatever. This too needs some work..and some discussion.
Anyway, she could be right about ALL the factual details of this raja, that monument, that battleâŠand still have said little that is deep/insightful about how all that evolved into modern India and where it may/will/should evolve next..or why THIS fact/line in book matters more than that fact/line in book?
That all those movements and kingdoms and conquerors will not fit into the neat categories and stories of various nationalist or religious parties is hardly a great discovery. In India it is sometimes claimed that Hindutvadis are the main mythmakers about the past, but obviously there are as many mythmakers as there are parties contending today. We may need to examine her foundational myth in more detail. Which means she may have to lay it out in more detail..
PS: I would prefer a secular democratic liberal Indian state. But even such a state needs a legitimating narrative, , Look at China or the USA: there is a central culture that is in charge and confident of its place (this last thing may not apply fully to all sections of Western academia but still applies far more than âthe sky is fallingâ critics sometimes claim.. though how that may eventually shift is an interesting question) and it incorporates Muslims into society just as it incorporates other cults, as long as they are law-abidingâŠotherwise there is trouble. India is far from that ideal, but that IS the ideal. But it presupposes a dominant common culture. Or so I think. Maybe I am wrong. But we may need to debate this more explicitly than she ever does..I am just not sure she has enough to say about the development of that ideal, and the challenges that stand in its way today, in India, in any deep sense. ..
Of course, whatever it is, I dont expect it to make me happy necessarily. Happiness being a whole separate issue, much smaller in scale most of the time.
Pakistan Political Crisis
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Fragmented Consciousness:Do Varna-Jatis Learn?
Keep the slanderer near you, build him a hut in your courtyard â
For, without soap or water, he will scrub your character clean. ~Kabir
Ancient India post Indus civilization did not have a written language. Therefore the creations of Vedas and the requirements of memory in order to preserve it was the driving force for the believers. It therefore was a constraint to overcome, and in doing so created a class of people beginning from various stock to record and memorize verbally what was central to their lives and to enact the rituals.
Over time,as the volume of the content increased it perhaps became more laborious to try to remember all the relevant information and rituals, that meant the learning had to start early. This created a constraint for the preservers of knowledge (Veda) to become a lineage and over time for it to pass on from father to son and so on. This happened for a period of 1500 yrs before the writing system came to them. A very unique event. The consequence of this kind of development was that knowledge and learning was specific to particular varna-Jatis that developed as a result and the knowledge gained would not reverberate across all of society. And the consciousness of the people as a whole would be fragmented, the concerns fractured, the languages of the people also fragmented.
One notices the learning and who was eligible to acquire it go from a set of general principles to particulars. Consider the Artha Shastra, It speaks of a past referring to schools of similar genre before it.
â The usanas school considered that the only source of knowledge was the science of government.The Brihaspati school, considered that there were only two sources of knowledge, the science of government and the science of economics,Vedas but were a pretext to make it seem the rulers were not solely materialistic in their aims.The Manu school considered that there were three sources of knowledge, economics,science of government,Vedas and Anvishiki was but a part of Vedas. For Chankaya, there were four sources of knowledge, economics,science of government,Vedas and Anvishiki. Of these for Chanakya, Anvishiki is the lamp that illuminates all the other three sciences. â
 Of the above three predecessors, chanakya seems a radical realist only in comparison with the manu school. What was new in chanakya was the value for anvishiki. For chanakya , anvisiki meant sankhya,yoga,lokayata and could hence perhaps be called as âphilosophyâ in his specific case. However one cannot simply use terms such as âphilosophyâ in general to describe it for the later period. What was clear though is that even during his time, nothing much was recorded about the yavanas, their ways of life , their beliefs,the place they come from, their politics,social systems . The contact with Alexander was a moment for the people of India to confront a different point of view, a different worldview, to see them in their own eyes without being lost in their own world. This opportunity was lost. And the opportunity of what could have developed from the term âAnvishikiâ into philosophy was also lost. As a consequence varna-jatis never built true âphilosophyâ. They instead built different soteriological traditions.
Philosophy proper is interested in knowledge for its own sake, irrespective of soteriological aims.For philosophy is interested in various forms of ordering society which is rarely discussed. The next group of conquerors were the kushans, once again, the traditions of India never seem to record these groups that they came in contact for being part of kushan empire, who they were, what was their social system?. And then came the Huns. By now India did have formal writing systems, but one never records the social systems and beliefs of the outsiders nor developed any work of History despite coming in contact with both the hellenics and chinese who did have such a tradition. Time and again there was an inwardness and aloofness to all things foreign and developed no curiosity to familiarize and learn about their social structures etc We know this as there was extensive interaction with China through Buddhism.The Chinese emperor did send material about Confucianism to India (Argumentative Indian). This peculiar ignorance seems to be due to the social system built around Varna-Jati. Â
Consider therefore the shape of ignorance as a result. One could say that there was growth of knowledge in regards to mathematics, developed by some Jatis, similar was the case with what one would call as chemistry, metallurgy,grammar also by some Jatis .Then we see nyaya, a logical system was also a soteriological view of shedding oneâs ignorance. Unlike other paths, under this path even the statements of mlecchas could not be rejected. However over time their motivations went from shedding ignorance to one of providing support for vedas for at least some (jayantha bhatta ,author of much ado about religion). And traditional dharmashastras like manusmriti (7.3 ) called for kings to be trained in only approved forms of anvisiki and to discard the science of reasoning of buddhists, charvakas and others as they are injurious to beliefs of vedas if one is not sufficiently intelligent. So in spite of a robust presence of a tradition of nyaya, one does not hear much about their critique of caste. And when it came to the question of History, such a system of knowledge was never developed in most of the country until perhaps kalhana in kashmir, so was the case of knowledge of foreigners or their societies. The travel to foreign countries through seas was hence considered prohibited, so was it the case that settling beyond the country of India was permissible only to Sudras during distress (manusmriti 2.24). Even now there is controversy regarding priests of famous temples and mutts going abroad. There thus seems to be a strong correlation with ignorance of the very specific knowledge that could challenge the ideas of Varna-Jati . So much so, that some Historians consider the mimamsa view to declare Vedas as authorless was a way to make it ahistorical so as to avoid them being brought into disrepute as a scheme of priests to earn money. The stance of school of mimamsa, the peculiar ignorance of History and complete lack of curiosity of foreigners and restrictions to travel abroad even for the purpose of strategic intelligence seem to correlate with the belief of Varna Jatis. Â
How is it that with a very long interaction of Islam in India, there is no traditional commentary on what the belief system is, its motivation, the threats brought about by it by any of the shankaracharya?. The closest one gets is perhaps in bhavishya purana?. This is an astounding degree of ignorance. Such a system makes it difficult to pass on the learnings of one specific jati to others in the society. By comparison one can consider Christianity . One can clearly see the difference in regarding the motivation for learning. Christians were not in power under the Romans, their skill was to make converts from a position of not being in power. They needed to use a method of acculturation in a clever way, their need for social conquest was their motivation. And that meant they had to master the art of assimilating knowledge that helps them on this purpose and learn the invisible threads that held the society together and dissolve them accordingly. So they mastered a kind of social knowledge. The presence of Philosophy was useful for this purpose too. They do it to this day, Conquest brings about a motivation to learn, to interact across different people and different ideas , to challenge oneself against them again and again.A sophistication one sees in Chanakya and no where else. If Chanakya seems smarter it was due to his aim for conquest that brought about problems needing solutions to be integrated into a united framework. By comparison the Varna Jati system did not provide any motivation for one set of subgroups to familiarize themselves to the threats posed by others elsewhere in the north.One can see that even now to the plight of dalits or other groups in districts where they are in minority or without power,wealth in much of the country and those stuck in pakistan,bangladesh. And the stories of those unfortunate people does not reverberate, its not recorded for historical posterity and so gets questioned by those on the left. Why is it that one does not record the memory ?. It is from this that one often hears questions on the presence of Hinduism before the contact with the British. One could legitimately compare the record of the catholic church interactions with the Mongols and the crusades. Was there any such pan Varna-Jatis concern among the believers of what one would call Hinduism?.Much worse, the basic recognition of dignity for lower classes as important politically for its own good was perhaps not understood among many until the contact with the British. Unlike Islam which didnt concern itself with learning and exploiting the issue of dignity , christianity however did . One can see that in kerala and tamilnadu. Dignity and egalitarianism are pieces of political knowledge of strategic value.A mistake Chanakya would have clearly understood. The Indians did Interact with China and yet never picked up on egalitarianism or the examination system either. Which could have been of value.Â
Although Gita originally does bring about a synthesis in forms of different systems of yoga ,its implication didnt go far until the modern times. And one rarely addresses the question of people of other faiths outside of India, beliefs in other lands, what does the belief system say of their fates?. They donât have a Varna-Jati system, so how important is it?.Why is it that one does not recognize to educate other believers?.What is their position in this. Such questions are rarely considered.Â
It could be said that the knowledge to bring about a synthesis was already there, isolated, fractured among various traditions. But there was not much motivation to bring them together. It was under threat of Islam and later christianity that the motivation was there to do so. Here too the tradition among the non elites beginning with alwars and later to veera shaivas (before Islam), ramananda, dadupanth,nath yogis played its part. One could also perhaps see such pan resistance was in the militant sanyasis and it is hard not to see that they are the only groups where to join them , neither caste nor gender was relevant.The religious ecstasy available to bhakti cults, yogis and the elite intellectual tradition of advaita came together as an intersection of overlapping commitments among the believers. It is this we call today as Hinduism. Commitments beyond oneâs own Varna-Jati and sampradayas. For some offered better arguments, others egalitarian views and even others better strategic value ,resources. One can see an example of this in the book , much ado about religion in Jayanta Bhatta.And how in a debate a follower of saiva and mimamsa divided their work in order to defeat a charvaka in a debate. And this further continued later due to the interaction with the british, the availability of printing press. Some pejoratively call this as neo advaita or neo hinduism. A pejorative term with politically loaded implication of being inauthentic. But one rarely calls christianity as neo christianity in spite of the many disguises it puts on to achieve its social conquest. The difference however is in the pace of learning,the motivation for conquest vs the motivation for self preservation. Â
 What one could realize from this is that the diversity of ideas in thought is different from the diversity of traditions lying in close proximity even if interacting with one another. And how little a role did the tradition of nyaya(logic) itself play in furthering this synthesis. To possess a logical framework of views made little difference in of itself to society as it too was not philosophy, it too was a soteriological tradition. And the atheists among Hindus only found value in the society only during times of danger. Here is the fact, Jati-varna traditions interacted with Buddhists, Jains but never learned the value for egalitarianism while they too believed in reincarnation, they had contacts with hellenics but never developed philosophy, had interactions with chinese civilization but never profited from the views of Confucian view nor learn of the better system of examinations conducted there. Had interactions with the atheists but never saw any benefit in them until the likes of savarkar in modern times or during danger (somadeva a Jain, 9th century talks of learning from charvakas in dealing with enemies). They were in contact with Islam for close to 1000 yrs and yet never bothered to write down what it was. Infact much of the persecution due to Islam was perhaps better recorded by muslims themselves than the native.Â
Itâs clear that the pace of learning was very slow and there was an unwillingness to learn from criticism of others on the social issues, it was mostly ignored even when it was of strategic value.This in part explains why history turned out the way it did.
As sun tzu put it, âIf you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battleâ .
This recognition was a jolt to me, by looking at the mathematical and other sciences and logical and intellectual traditions I assumed premodern Hinduism (Jati Varna system ) was philosophically rich. It turns out that it was a retarded system that only learned to interconnect and integrate either sporadically or when under mortal threat.For there was hardly any true internal motivation to transcend oneâs narrow parochial view. It also is a blow to the arguments purely from ideas. That âideas have consequencesâ, when in fact the social reality has bigger consequences than ideas themselves, so much so as to retard the synthesis of ideas over long periods of time.Much of what Hindus have achieved in past 1000 yrs and especially in last 200 years has been due to their willingness to have multiple commitments across different varnas, Jatis and sampradaya ,creating very many cross links as to create a clear and a fully aware consciousness.
 In response to the pejorative view of neo advaita/neo Hinduism, there is now work being done to bring awareness to âGreater Advaitaâ which goes beyond the orthodox works and sanskrit to vernacular works of various traditions. Thus premodern Hinduism was long periods of stagnation with few periods of synthesis between various traditions.  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10781-019-09417-x
Browncast: North India 700 to 1200 AD.
Another Browncast is up. You can listen on Libsyn, Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher (and a variety of other platforms). Probably the easiest way to keep up the podcast since we donât have a regular schedule is to subscribe to one of the links above!
The history podcast returns to North India. Gaurav, Omar and Jay are in conversation with Maneesh about the changes in the North Indian landscape as the Islamicate invasions of India begin, first with the Arab colonization of Sindh, then heating up with the Turkic plunder raids of Mahmud of Ghazna and the gradual colonization of the Northwest by Turkic and Afghan raiders.