Mr Brahma Chellaney’s ‘An Unwinnable Battle’ (Times of India 03 November 09)
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=
Q0FQLzIwMDkvMTEvMDMjQXIwMTYwMA==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom
is based on flawed logic.

He has recommended US military exit from Afghanistan based on it’s inability to call the Pak bluff of aiding militants while pretending to be on America’s side. The contention being that thereby the US would be able to free it’s foreign policy from being held hostage by Pakistan and the need to supply aid to it – which he feels is benefiting the militants more than the nation. The author feels that the ground war is unwinnable (as it is limited to one side of the Af-Pak border) and hence, should be stopped especially in view of the contention that the remnants of Al Qaeda can be kept at bay by covert ops, predator drones and cruise missile attacks. Even while making a differentiation between the Taliban and the Al Qaeda, the author feels that US air power and special forces operations in conjunction with the non Taliban warlords are sufficient to stop the latter from grabbing power in Kabul. Hence, it has been opined that reduction of US troop level should be carried out. This he feels can contribute to balkanisation and consequent better management of Afghanistan.

The logic is cascading in statement; however the arguments are unlikely to play out in the said manner.

Counter Insurgency and anti terrorist campaigns have to focus on denying victory to the insurgent / terrorist and stymieing the flow of fresh recruits. It seeks to damage and destroy the capability of the terrorists to carryout acts of terror and ultimately convince them that their objectives cannot be achieved through terrorism. They cannot be won by a conventional military campaign. To that end, the US led campaign has achieved limited success in that the Al Qaeda and Taliban capabilities in Afghanistan have been reduced to that of a local insurgent group. Consequently, the flow of recruits from Afghanistan has also been reportedly reduced. In recent years most of the jihadi terror strikes have a Pak origin unlike an Afghan origin in the years prior to 9/11. By removing or reducing the forces would open the flood gates for the Pak Generals to play their games – on the pretext of strategic depth – in Afghanistan and take it back to the Taliban anarchical days.

Moreover, the logic given in the article is making a case for an increase of air, drone and missile strikes – strikes which are considered a major addition in the failures column of the campaign. The collateral damage in these strikes, have fuelled the popular anger against the US and any increase would only contribute to an increased recruit flow to the Jihadi Groups.

Thirdly, in an environment of anger against the US any balkanisation would not only contribute to an increase in the anger. In addition if it was linked to a force withdrawal it would also augment the spirit of the jihadis as the same would be seen and projected as a major success.

Repeated experience has demonstrated that boots on ground have no alternative. Hence, arguments to reduce or withdraw the force levels would essentially contribute to a defeat. The issue that needs to actually be discussed in the context of the force levels is whether the US policy of using the Pak Army on the Pak side of the Af-Pak border, while trying to simultaneously control it (through measures like the Kerry-Lugar Bill) working or not. Is it achieving the required results or is the Af-Pak border becoming the 12th parallel of Vietnam?

The second aspect which is required to be debated are the methods followed by the NATO forces and whether they are contributing to an anti US anger. It however, is a fact that the two issues have neither found mention and nor an alternative suggested.

The time factor to achieve success is required to be kept aloof from the discussion as not only are these campaigns time consuming but also cannot be followed on a time scale. In a sense, Osama’s International Islamic Front has just replaced the International Revolutionary Front of the 70s and 80s formed by Carlos. The French had led the campaign against him as the US is today leading the campaign against Osama. It took the French nineteen years to win the campaign, there is no evidence to suggest that the present campaign would be any shorter. Electoral politics should therefore not be allowed to fix an unrealistic time frame for the same.

Also, the Obama administration has sought to define the goals of the campaign too narrowly by giving overwhelming importance to avoiding a strike on US homeland. The same must be viewed as sop to the war weariness setting in his electorate. It should not be allowed to set the agenda for the campaign.

Lastly, from the Indian perspective, it is essential that efforts to include the anti India groups as the targets for the campaign be intensified lest we miss the bus. So far our efforts have translated only in meagre results and Pak has managed to keep the focus on the TTP and shielded groups like the Let JuM etc. They have managed to do so by focussing on the area where Osama is said to be hidden and operating from, thereby diverting attention from the anti India groups who actually were supporting the Taliban. As a nation we need to use all our tools to bring the focus on these groups.

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A historic attendance at 30th Yuba City Sikh Parade

Dr. Amrik Singh writes from Sacramento

ON November 1, 2009, a mild sunny day with moderate temperature kept a promise for several thousands of Sikhs to congregate in Yuba City for 30th Sikh Parade . First Sunday of every November remains scheduled for holding one of the largest events in Northern California. Over the last 30 years, the Sikh event has outgrown in its importance as well as in number of participants. This year there were estimated 100 thousand Sikhs from all over the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and India.

Tierra Buena Gurdwara became a site hectic activities almost a week before the Parade. Seminar, poetical recitation, recognition of key figures and special Keertan programs were held. Dr. Jasbir Singh Kang arranged the screening of a documentary film ‘Cultural Safari’ on Saturday. He also introduced Dr. I. J. Singh, a noted Sikh scholar from New York who was the key speaker in the Seminar. Dr. I.J. Singh dwelt on the Sikh American history and highlighted the relevance of Sikhism in the multicultural society. Dr. Onkar Singh Bindra addressed the absence of Sikh American history in the California School Curriculum and reviewed all the efforts for its inclusion.
On Sunday, an unprecedented number of Sikhs poured in the city to commemorate 301 years of Guruship to ‘Aad Granth.’ 1430 pages of the Holy Book embody encoded message of love, peace and fraternity of mankind.

Besides presenting a colorful visual delight, a medley of sounds of melodious music, exhilaration of the milling multitude, drone of helicopters showering flower petals above, and jingle of the clashing swords during a display of martial arts generates a unique experience. While walking alongside several dozens of floats, one can’t help feeling hungry as aroma of sizzling bread Pakora, Samosa, Chana Bhatura, and corn on the grill wafts one’s nostrils. Volunteers with food tray in their hands reaching out to one and all make people wonder of their infinite devotion. Besides bottles of water, soda, energy drinks, one can’t fail to notice fresh squeezed orange juice, sugar cane juice and pomegranate being served for free. Many residents of Yuba City consider it a wonderful opportunity to whet one’s palate with variety of ethnic foods and savor the spirit of spiritual delight at the same time. The religious devotion with which food (Langar) is prepared and served is to honor Sikh Gurus’ message of bonding with the surroundings through a spirit of service and gratefulness.

On four and half mile route there was an atmosphere of mutual happiness, service to others, devotion to One God, and yearning to find His image in the diversity of his creation. More than fifty colorfully decorated floats participated in the parade. News channels like CBS, NEWS 10, FOX NEWS and KCRA were present to cover the Parade. Punjjabi, JUS and NDTV were among the ethnic media.

The Sikh community has come a long way when they first built a Gurdwara in Stockton, California in 1912. Less than five thousand then, they had made their presence felt by holding Sikh Parades, tilling large tracts of uncultivated lands, organizing a movement for liberation of India from British occupation, and fighting for their civil rights in courts up to the highest Supreme Court of the United States. They owe their energies to the eternal message of their Guru that enjoins on them to work hard and share with others without any regard to religion, class, race, and color. A well documented history of 120 years, unfortunately, doesn’t find any mention in California School Textbooks. As a result, California school children form contradictory and misleading opinions about Sikhs.

All efforts to include information about more than a century of Sikhs’ presence in the United States by the State Education board and the California Legislature were scuttled by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto.
Punjabi Sahit Sabha California (Regd.) put its book stall. Satish Gulati of Chetna Parkashan from Ludhiana show cased his publications at Sahit Sabha’s stall. He did a good business.

Tierra Buena Gurdwara committee has started a Food Can Drive for arranging 250, 000 meals for the needy. Sacramento Food Bank has been contacted for this purpose. It is expected that next year, the size of the Nagar Kirtan will grow still larger as it has blended with the environs of Yuba and Sutter Counties.

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'Sikh Heritage in Lahore: The Dera Sahib Complex'

Varoon Prateek Anand

UPON arriving in New Delhi after a gap of almost 5 years I was treated by my father to accompany him to the Bhai Chanan Singh Memorial Lecture held at the Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan. I was born in New Delhi, but was raised outside my entire life and was, for the first time in my life, adapting myself to live in my native country after having undergone this process in several countries abroad. It was proving to be as smooth a transition as I could have expected.

My last official occupation was as a "Communications Specialist" in Panama for a small start-up software company that catered specifically to shipping lines. My job was to make sure that what our product did and could be used for was clear to all prospective clients, be it that this client was in Japan, China, Egypt, Germany or the United States. The fact that I speak 5 languages with fluency helps a great deal but more than this the emphasis is on communicating the message in a way that it can be understood and digested.

My father would preside over the evening's lecture delivering his remarks at the end of the presentation. The lecture was to be on "Sikh Heritage in Lahore", a look at the architecture of the Dera Sahib Complex delivered by Prof. Nadhra Shahbaz Naeem, from the Lahore University of Management Sciences. In attendance were to be several dignitaries connected with the foundation and also, as Chief Guest, the Pakistani High Commissioner, Shahid Malik. There's a tendency to refer to heads of foreign mission as "Excellencies" or the abbreviation "H.E.", a practice I still do not fully understand since I neither deem them royalty nor am aware of what excellent achievement gives them this title. The presence, however, of the Pakistani High Commissioner certainly made this more than just a simple exposition of architecture but an insight into present Indo-Pak relations, at a freeze since last year's Mumbai Attacks.

We arrived ahead of schedule at the venue, allowing me plenty of time to look about the premises. The setup was quite effective for the purpose. A projector had been set up and the audience was positioned in a half circle around the speaker. Away from the speaking area was a collection of books on Sikh History and heritage. These immediately caught my interest and I began to peruse through them. I came upon a book titles Sikh Forms and Symbols. Although not a practicing Sikh I use a Kada on my right arm that my brother gave me at his wedding. I know very little of the pillars of Sikhism and was always interested in learning more about what the significance of these were. I excitedly thumbed through the collection of essays and found two in the contents named "Sikh Symbols". I hurriedly found them and began reading before the lecture began. I was sadly dismayed when I found that the contents of both essays had nothing to do with the meanings or history of the symbols but were laments on the lack of knowledge about the meaning of symbols in today's youth. There was a line in the middle of the first paragraph that went, "Easily 90% of today's youth do not know the meaning of the Khanda." It saddened me that the author of this essay, besides not providing a source for this statistic, had not considered to provide an explanation of the Khanda in history along with his admonishment. I returned the book to its place among the neat stacks and prepared for the speech.

There was the normal protocol of naming the dignitaries present and a small introduction of the speaker, this was done appropriately, but I was hoping to hear more about the foundation and the significance and purpose of these lectures. I would have thought that this would have been a good idea to present when the ears of all present were available. I was quite surprised by the turnout. The room was filled to capacity and there seemed to be an expectation in the air. Architecture, for my father and I, is a great personal interest and we were keen to learn more about the sites of Sikh Heritage in Lahore, considering that both of us even had the experience of visiting Panja Sahib during my father's tenure in Pakistan as Deputy High Commissioner.

In the end the lecture was incredibly accurate and detailed on the structure and history of the buildings. There were small interesting tidbits that further raised the curiosity of this listener, such as the consistent presence of inlay work consisting of leaves on all doors in all the different locations that the speaker mentioned and a pattern of small squares within the doors. The speaker also seemed to be personally enjoying the explanation of the frescoes that had been damaged over time. Unfortunately there was a problem with the projector and the vibrant colors of these were not partly lost to the audience.

However, going back to the point of distilling and adapting your message to an audience; it appeared that the speaker had completely forgotten that her audience was not architecture students of any sort, but practitioners of the Sikh faith. As accurate as the presentation may have been regarding the amount of columns, entrances, or mezzanines there really was no effort on the speaker's part to engage the audience as laymen. Any mention of the significance culturally of the architecture or it's relation to Sikh history was forgotten. The one note of mention was the damage done to the entranceway of one of the buildings by applying plastic emulsion that, according to the speaker, there was no way of removing or repairing. Still, the speaker had done her research well and effectively had placed a huge store of factual information in the hands of an audience that had come to hear about the beauty and representation of their faith through building.

After the speech, my father spoke, about which I can only reserve my opinion since I am biased. After him, the Pakistani High Commissioner, who was not actually meant to speak, but, I believe, my father's playful jibes had aroused him to join in as well. This turned out to be the most impressive point of the evening. Usually diplomats tend to listen and not be heard, postponing their call to action until said proposal has been through the bureaucratic channels. The High Commissioner spoke only briefly, but managed to point out that had listened to key points during the presentation. He even went so far as to turn to one of the other guests at the event and invite him to Pakistan to solve the problem the plastic emulsion had caused. In a small moment, His Excellency had shown his genuine interest, expressed his appreciation, respectfully requested the aid of India for Pakistan, and touched the hearts of the audience. Truly deserving of the title of excellent.
 

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