Book Review [139] : India vs Pakistan - Why cant we Just be friends

After a busy marathon of many activities including a 40 km route march with 12 kg load ,16 km cross country race and heavy doze of written examinations i finally managed to find time to read this book 'India vs Pakistan - why cant we just be friends' written by Hussain Haqqani, a former Pakistan ambassador to US. This book is yet another book written in bulk by many 'liberal' intellectuals living in the fantasy of a light year ahead Indo-Pakistan El dorado.

 This book is not for academic purpose but for the common public of Pakistan. The writer rues that Pakistan instead of bettering relations with India continues to harbor and sponsor terrorist groups against India. 

He claims that there is a fault in the DNA of Pakistan itself. Its future has been hijacked by its military since its independence. At the time of Independence Pakistan received 30% of British Indian Army which was huge compared to its size. Pakistan resources were disproportionately diverted to sustain this huge monster and the anti-India and anti-Hindu policy fueled and channelized the frenzy of the Pakistan people at large. Kashmir acted as a catalyst. 

After 1962 war between India and China, under US influence there were more than 6 rounds of talks between India and Pakistan over Kashmir between Sardar Swaran Singh and Zulfikar Bhutto (both ministers of respective countries) in 1963. India offered 1500 square miles of territory to Pakistan but Pakistan rejected the offer. In one talk when Bhutto was asked about Pakistan's position of Kashmir then he got up and made a tiny circle in Jammu region and told Indian counterpart that you can keep this the rest is ours. This attitude of Pakistan scuttled the talks.

The writer also claims that India suffered heavy losses compared to Pakistan in 1965 war. Immediately after 1971 embarrassment Bhutto asked his scientists and military to start building the nuclear bomb and in that A Q Khan played the major role. Writer blames military's visceral hatred of India as the major stumbling block between friendship.

Its a light book and can be read in bus or train journey, not even 200 pages.

Recommended (7/10)

Book Review [138] : Operation Thunder - The Entebbe Raid

Indian Airlines Plane IC 814 was hijacked by Pakistan based terrorist on 24th Dec 1999 in Indian Airspace and taken to Kandhaar. The then Indian government response was to capitulate to the demands of the terrorist and release those brutal terrorists from jail. It was not a good response and exposed the soft underbelly of Indian counter terrorism infrastructure. 

Similar hijacking happened on 27th June 1976 (and this book describes in detail) when Air France 139 was hijacked by 4 terrorists belonging to 'Popular front for the liberation of Palestine' when it took off from Athens Airport en route to Paris carrying 246 passengers (mostly Israelis as the Plane was coming from Israel) and 12 crew members. It was taken first to Benghazi (Libya) and then to Entebbe (Uganda). The leader of hijackers was a German anarchist Wilfred Boese. The hijackers were welcomed by Idi Amin Dada (Dictator of Uganda) and given full protectio. The hijackers demanded release of hardcore terrorists from jails of Israel, France and other countries. The hijackers main focus was Israel so they released almost all non Israelis by 1st July 1976. On 2nd July there were about 109 hostages left in Entebbe. Israel entered into negotiations with the terrorist and also started preparing for the military operation. The entire political spectrum of Israel supported Itzhak Rabin (the PM of Israel) and Shimon Peres (the Defence Minister of Israel). 

Lt Colonel Jonathan 'Yoni' Netanyahu (elder brother of Benjamin Netanyahu) was given responsibility of leading the strike force. Three Hercules Aircraft landed in sheer silence at Entebbe Airport at 00:001 AM on 4th July. The strike force was in the building housing the hostages within few seconds and exchange of fire started immediately. The sheer surprise of the raid helped the Israel to liquidate the hijackers. All 4 hijackers were killed in firing. Yoni also died in line of duty as he was exposed in while commanding his troops. All the hostages were rescued except 3 civilians (who died in raid) and one 74 year lady. She was killed by Ugandans later. The whole operation lasted only 53 minutes - two minutes less than the dress rehearsal held on the previous day in Israel. The commandos also destroyed 11 Mig Aircraft of Ugandan Air Force lying on the airport.

The Israelis planes were refueled at Nairobi, Kenya. It was a great feat of human spirit and against all odds Israel did the impossible. The name of this raid on Entebbe was "Operation Jonathan". There is also a movie based on this incident.

May be we shall be able to replicate his operation in case we face similar situation.

Highly Recommended (9/10)

Book Review [137] : Don't Lose Your Mind, Lose Your Weight

I happened to be at my academy in January 2016 to attend a dietary session taken by Rujuta Diwekar. She gave some very good pointers to stay healthy and fit. Though i did not get chance to follow her systematically. Last week i read her magnum opus 'Don't lose your mind, lose your weight' and i was really impressed by sheer logic behind her all suggestions. Tips like - Don't start your day with coffee instead eat fruit immediately after waking up, take heavy but healthy breakfast, eat light food every 2 hours, cut down on sweetners and processed food, take light dinner and sleep atleast 1 hour after dinner. Crash diet is not good for heath and one should not be dependent on only one kind of food, diversification is really good. 

This book is highly recommended for anyone and everyone who are health conscious.

Highly Recommended (10/10)