Domestic Terrorism

The recent shooting rampage in Texas by an army psychiatrist has complicated matters for the US. It was a simple open and shut case if the gunman was a Hispanic, European or a South East Asian. But he turned out to be a Muslim. Even then, had he refrained from taking the name of Allah, as some reports suggest, the matter could be conveniently sidelined. But the combination of these two facts poses a question that cannot be avoided: Was the Texas firing an act of terrorism? Apparently, there is now evidence that the gunman was in contact with an individual sympathetic to Al Qaeda. That may not mean much, but it is hard to ignore that the US Army, supposedly the mightiest in the world, has just been shown to be vulnerable.

Now this is precisely the problem India has faced since Independence. A small minority of our population has perpetrated terror attacks on our soil. Inevitably, they owe allegiance to Pakistan and happen to be Muslims. To separate the criminals from the innocent majority is no mean feat, and we have failed horribly. And as support, the US has offered nothing more than platitudes such as India being an important ally in the war against terror. The US had no idea how difficult it is to tackle domestic terrorism. Until now.

When you are attacked by foreign forces, the enemy is clear (not necessarily easy) and you can kindle the spirit of unity and patriotism and get into a war. But when attacked internally, you dont know who the enemy is. Where do you start?

It will be interesting to see what the US does now. I doubt if they will let this pass as a one-off incident. But then there is no way the US can create two classes of citizens based on religion - that will be a slap on the face of American values. Neither can it afford to assume that all US citizens are beyond doubt. The current case of David Headley is an example. Even pulling up Asians for additional security checks post-9/11 caused a huge backlash against "racial profiling".

One thing is certain. Whatever measures are adopted, we wont know the complete details. The American intelligence agencies are good at these things.

Saved by our incompetence

The jury is still out on why we missed the financial crisis. Some popular reasons include the strong culture of domestic savings, rural demand, YV Reddy's supposed foresight and so on. But there is one cause that is completely overlooked, our own incompetence.

A simple analysis of bike and car accidents should reveal that the cause is often a foolish driver. He was drunk, speeding, trying to cut lanes, racing with another driver etc. What goes unnoticed is that the people enticed into doing these things are competent as well. I mean, do you see cars used by driving schools ever involved in an accident. Yes, the teacher can control them, but considering that you have all the beginners driving, these cars must be the most accident prone. Yet it rarely happens because learners hardly drive faster than 20kmph.

The Americans really pushed the envelope of their financial system. But only because they were thoroughly familiar with its intricacies in the first place. Most of our bankers are still grappling with our financial system, thanks to the public sector legacy. Our capital markets are not well developed and the general public is still skeptical about the term "investment".

In a sense, the US went into the Olympics and made a mess whereas we never qualified. But hey, at least, we are not losers!

Independence Patriotism and Stardom

We are supposedly proud of our Independence yet the celebrations are ridiculously formal, typically limited to the hoisting of our tricolor and distribution of sweets from the neighborhood halwai. Today's HT editorial says we should express ourselves more freely. Totally agree with that coz in the US, most people look at 4th of July as an occasion to meet family or go to Vegas rather than stick US flags on their shirts. Of course, its been more than 200 years for them now but only 60 for us, so maybe at a subconscious level we are a little afraid to celebrate. If we relaxed too much and let our guard down, maybe...you get the point.

Next is the question of patriotism. In the movie, "The Rock", Sean Connery surrenders after Ed Harris threatens to kill a tourist held as hostage. In the ensuing conversation, Connery says he thinks Harris is a friggin idiot. Harris quotes Thomas Jefferson about nurturing the roots of liberty from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Connery retorts with Oscar Wilde's "Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious". Harris strikes Connery behind the neck, who falls to his knees and follows up with "Thank you for making my point!" If it was a Bollywood movie, the hall would be drowned in whistles.

Is patriotism losing its relevance today? For that matter even independence. No country can claim to be totally independent of the rest of the world. Except Iran and North Korea maybe, but even they have some outside help. The great United States that proclaims itself to be land of the free and home of the brave is probably the least independent nation today. Why, even our economy is intimately linked to the fortunes of the US as the recent crisis has shown. So in days of globalization where interdependency and interconnectedness rule, independence is an illusion. Even governments get influenced when making policy choices.

Things are even murkier with patriotism, which was never clearly defined to begin with. Its not right to love and protect one's own faith, gender, community or even state against another, but it is miraculously right to defend one's nation against another. The definition and boundaries of patriotism have been conveniently morphed over time. Some freedom fighters and most kings are revered as valiant patriots although their actions amounted to nothing more than protecting their own little territory. If patriotism is the feeling that one's nation is the best among all, how different is it from terrorism? I am not denying the need to defend one's nation against terrorists and wars, but let us clearly identify it as a necessary evil than an inherent virtue.

Finally on SRK's detention at Newark. Applying my learnings from Taleb's FBR, someone being a celebrity doesnt rule out their possibility of being a terrorist. That he is popular doesnt mean he cannot be a criminal. Plus the fact that someone has not killed until today doesnt mean he wont ever. That's a black swan for you. Although in SRK's case, I have this funny feeling that the immigration officer's wife is a big fan of SRK and must have dragged him along to watch one of his inane movies. Wont blame him for the reaction! But our politicians are taking this incident more seriously than Kalam's frisking!!