Book Review [54] : The Great War for Civilisation

Middle East fascinates me more than any other subject apart from India. Here lies the seeds of almost all the geopolitical problems World is facing right now. From the days of Hammurabi to Achaemenid Empire, from Alexander to the conquest of Islam, from Crusades to the end of WW2 and from the establishment of Israel to the ongoing civil war in Syria, Middle East has never been in peace. Wars, genocides, ethnic cleansing, riots, dictatorships etc have never left this ancient land that many people call as Cradle of human Civilisation. Robert Fisk has been a superbly talented Foreign Correspondent and a writer and no one tells the story of middle-east better than him. He writes with amazing authority and neutrality that one often thinks or mis-assumes him as an Arab. In this great book, aptly titled "The Great War For Civilisation", he talks about the legacy of World Wars, forgotten genocides, persecution, double standard of western powers and reconquista of middle east by the Neo-Crusaders. 

Arab people and countries are paying a heavy price for the sins committed by Nazi Germany. Hitler killed millions of Jews but instead of creating Jewish homeland in Germany and forcing Germany to give "compensation", Arab land of Palestine has been acquired for the Jews based mainly on the Biblical right of the Jews on the land of Palestine. Millions of Palestinians are now living in the neighboring countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria etc and in the pseudo-ghetto of the impoverished Gaza strip. And the remaining land of Palestine i.e West Bank and Gaza Strip are also getting illegaly encroached by the Israeli settlements and the World is sleeping.

He also talks about the Iranian Revolution of 1979 and post Revolution killings, the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-88, Gulf War 1990-91 and the final Gulf War of 2003. US supported Saddam like its baby until he invaded Kuwait. US even condoned the use of Chemical weapons on Iranian Army and the northern Kurds in late 1980s. The way US manufactured the consent for its Iraq war is also written very arty. He also talks about the USSR involvement in Afghanistan and its eventual withdrawal and disintegration, and his meeting with OBL first in Sudan and later in Afghanistan. 

He talks in detail about the "first" genocide of the 20th Century during first World War. In this genocide about 1.5 mn Armenian Christians were murdered by the Ottoman Turks and their hangmen the Kurds. Even today, Turkey denies this Holocaust and its a great shame that even Israel takes it lightly.

This book is a very good source for all the people who are interested in world politics and in the history causing the current turmoil.  
Highly Recommended (9/10).

Forgotten People

The last century was perhaps the most bloody, brutal and war prone century of the human history although 21st century is not devoid of the violence. There is a tendency among historians, Journalists, media houses, agencies etc to distort the facts by omission or by selective magnification or belittlement. We all know about the great Holocaust in which about 5-6 mn Europeans Jews were massacred in worst possible example of a genocide in world history. But i did not know few things before reading Robert Fisk great book "The Great War for civilization", the very first thing that there is an unwritten rule that says only 'Jewish Holocaust' will have Holocaust word starting with capital 'H' and all other Holocaust will have to use smaller 'h'. Is not this utter idiocy or lack of sensitivity on part of the Intellectuals of the world. 

World has mostly forgotten the genocide of Armenian people by the Ottoman Turks in 1915 (also known as leftovers of the sword). In this genocide close to 1.5 mn Armenian Christians were brutally murdered by the Turks and their hangmen, the Kurds. Turkey has the audacity to deny this genocide and calls it as the propaganda of western powers. The survivors of the Holocaust (with capital H ) i.e, the Israeli Jews denied this in order to make friendly relation with the Turkey (the only friend of Israel in middle east until the Mavi Marmara incident of May 2010), western nations are also not vocal mainly to have friendly relationship with Turkey (Turkey is a NATO member and a regional power of West Asia). Why cant the UN create a Holocaust memorial in the memory of all the people killed in these holocaust irrespective of the color of their skin, religion, nationality or language? 

Similar genocide was perpetrated by the Pakistani Army and their hangmen in  Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan) in 1970, 1971. Millions of Bengalis were killed in this genocide and Millions of Women were raped and raped. Read Anthony Mascarenhas works for detailed and vivid description. Among those killed and raped, Hindus were in disproportionately very high numbers.  Pakistan still denies it, India is not vocal and Indian intellectuals don't utter a word and US supported the Pakistan regime of Yahya Khan in that brutal genocide. There were no Nuremberg court after the 1971 war perhaps these lives were not worthy enough for these courts. Some Holocausts start with capital 'H', some with small 'h' and some simply vaporize in history books. This is the irony of human civilization.

Book Review [53] : No Easy Day

'No Easy Day' is a much sought out book these days as the writer (former US Navy Seal Member) claims that he participated in the operation that killed enemy number of US on 1/2 May 2011 in Abottabad, Pakistan. This book is the story of US SEAL and in a way its an autobiography of Mark Owen (the former SEAL), written in a bit amateurish style and sometimes even usage of English is pretty ordinary. The first half is a boring read while the second half is a fast track action movie script. It also gives in detail about the various aspects of the operation, specially about the plan/elevation of the 1 acre compound in Abbotabad and various stages of the operation in detail upto minute level. It looks and sounds really strange that the entire operation took less than 4 hours from Jalalabad to Jalalabad, and it took less than an hour to finish the combat operation in Abbotabad. To an Indian this book may not appeal much but to an American this book can soothe many wounds. So depending on allegiance and nationality this book may appeal or repel your attention. To me it was an OK kind of read.

Time-pass Read (5/10)   

Book Review [52] : Civilization The West and the Rest

Civilization is easy to experience but difficult to define in words. Its a complex system of political, cultural, religious and scientific institutions that govern or define a large community of people. The ancient civilization of Indus Valley, Sumerian, Egyptian, Greek, Phoenician, Roman, Persian, Indian, Chinese are few examples. Since they represent and define living beings, so like living beings they also follow natural process of growth and decay. Every Civilization evolves, goes through a glorious age, decays and sometimes rises again as can be seen in the rise of Western Civilization from the ashes of Roman civilization. Sometimes a new civilization replaces a much older civilization like American or African.  Niall Ferguson's book deals with the eternal question, Why western civilization which was geographically, demographically, culturally and militarily much inferior to Ottoman, Mughal and Ming Empires till 16th century, was able to outpace these great and mighty empires within 2 centuries and by 19th century was able to dominate the entire known world? Many great writers have tried to find the reasons and Nial tries to do the same. According to him there were 6 killer apps/agents that helped the West to gain dominance on the Eastern world. These were (not in any order):

Competition

Scientific Revolution

The rule of law and polity

Modern Medicine

Consumer Society

Religion and Work ethic

He is very lucid in his approach but at many a times, he appears to me an agent of Neo-Imperialism and my allegation is based on his one sided appraisal of Western Imperialism/colonialism over Asia and Africa. He assumes most of the time that West was doing its civilizing duty (aka White man's burden) and never appreciates the indigenous knowledge, culture and economy of the colonies. Not a great book by any standard but can be read to understand the mental faculty of Niall Ferguson and his gang. 

Recommended (6/10)

Book Review [51] : Before Memory Fades

Fali Sam Nariman has been one of the most prominent legal luminaries and has played a significant role in the outcome of various court cases and like his senior Nani Palkiwala, he has been a great agent of world wide human rights movement. He was born in Burma in a Parsi family and had to return to India in the wake of invasion of Burma by imperial Japan in 1942. He belongs to a great community of Parsi people who are in number below any contempt but in contribution to India's social, economic, legal development, they are beyond any contempt. Nariman, Palkiwala and Soli Sorabjee were the three great lawyers who permeated the cosmos of Indian judiciary after 1947. Nani Palkiwala was responsible for the 'Basic Structure' doctrine that was decreed by 13 member bench of Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati case (1973) and Nariman also played his bit in it. Fali S Nariman became the Additional Solicitor General of India in 1972 but he resigned on the very first day when the Emergency was proclaimed by the Indira Gandhi led Congress government. He was as firm as the pole star in that dark night of Indian democracy if you allow me to quote Shakespeare. 

As humans however great they may be after all they remain human so Nariman is also no exception and he committed the unforgiving sin of defending Union Carbide Corporation in the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (3rd Dec 1984) case. The defender of Human Rights was outdone by the sparkling light of the crony capitalist world. Later he became the nominated member of Rajya Sabha (1999-2005). He abhors intolerant and extremist elements in Indian society and compares those elements to the Dinosaurs, well quite a tautology. 

In nutshell 'Before Memory Fades' is an eloquently written book by Nariman, full of very interesting anecdotes, provides a rich survey of Indian judges, lawyers and covers various court cases. It is a must read for all the aspiring lawyers  as well as students of post 1947 India.  
Highly recommended (8/10).

Book Review [50] : Worshipping False Gods

'Worshipping False Gods' is an Arun Shorie magnum opus and like all the Magnum Opuses, it is a must read. This book mainly focuses on the three crucial times of 20th century India: Gandhiji's fast of 1932 and Poona Pact, Gandhiji's fast of 1943 and the making of the Indian constitution 1946-49. By sheer facts Arun Shorie punctures very wide spread and almost universal myths about a great man. No one can deny that he really championed the cause of Dalits similarly the contribution of Gandhiji in this great process of the upliftment of Dalits can not be belittled. Although we have not been able to eradicate the original sin of caste system but we have indeed made a great progress. This process should not take the role of a divisive force else it will defeat its sacred purpose and we all should be open minded to rationally analyze any personality without any exception whether Gandhi or Dr. Ambedkar but a community who is in the process of coming out from centuries old "slavery" tends to be defensive in its approach and it tries hard to defend its first reformers by minimizing his or her drawbacks and magnifying his or her qualities. The reaction to this book from certain section of people proves the point. Its very natural and people from other communities should show some patience. 

I admire Arun Shorie's well researched book but i question the need for this book in current time. Its a must read only for people who are well read and open minded else it will look like an upper caste manuwadi polemic against Dr. Ambedkar. Dr. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel are the three leaders that i admire the most but its really unfortunate for the country that all these three great leaders died within a decade after Independence and the later leaders perpetuated the dynastic politics.

Highly recommended (9/10)

P.S. As we all have entered into a new year, please accept my heartiest greetings.