Understanding Colonisation

Chach Nama is the record of the first (?) Arab invasion of Sindh - 710 AD. 

I read this book with great interest and for a very personal reason. The book is written by the Arab chronicler, who was in the employ of Mohd. Bin Kasim. 

After reading the really long account of the victory of the Arabs against the mighty King Dahar, i shook my head in disbelief. Raja Dahar was so powerful that not only was he the Lord and Master of all he surveyed, he ruled all the way from Kashmir in the North to Makran in the West, Rajputana in the South - East. It was a massive kingdom that included all of the 5 rivers we proudly call Punj-ab. 

The land was fertile and wealthy. The military and technical prowess was great and at the start of the book, though it is written by the victor, the record of the Indian king is such that one believes that it is not possible for the Arabs to defeat this much power. Yet, a few months later, the mighty Raja Dahir is dead. Not just that, the dynasty is not even mentioned anywhere in Indian history. Sindh was a mighty land to the West of Hind, but it took an expert historian friend to recommend this book. Its not in the public discourse at all! (1)

So, how did the mighty Raja Dahir fall? 

The reason i put that book away in pure shock was the parallels. 

It was not just Raja Dahir who fell. No Hindu king could, subsequently, rule over those parts of India for at least a few centuries after that. 

The exact same thing happened to Kashmir. Once lost, it was never regained. 

The elements of colonisation 

The Islamic invasion and subsequent control of large parts of India and the world, was, in my view, the first wave of colonisation in recorded history. I call it the first wave of colonisation because: 

A. It was not localised. Large parts of the known world were systematically taken over. 

B. The power was political. 

C. The power was vested in people who were not the same as the people being ruled. In other words, the welfare of the ruled was not the primary concern of the ruling. OR, there was no self-rule.  

The subsequent colonisation 

There was a second colonisation. We know this one to be the main colonial movement. This one was led by trading companies originating in Europe. Almost as a pattern, trade relations or missionary movements were converted to political power. Once again, the 3 elements of colonisation make their appearance: 

A. Global 

B. Political Power 

C. The agenda of the rulers was not the welfare of the ruled. OR, there was no self-rule. 

So, this post has two parts. In the first part, I will try to present the common themes that emerge in the victory of the colonisers. 

The second part will compare the elements of the first two waves of colonisation with the third colonisation wave, that, I truly believe, is almost upon us. 

Why did the colonisers succeed? 

A. The Surprise Element 

In my study of riots, colonisation, and other forms of organised, group violence, information asymmetry is perhaps the MOST important element. It is this information asymmetry that leaves one side completely unprepared. 

In the times of Islamic colonisation, no one expected people to combine religion and political power. In the employ of Raja Dahir and indeed, every Hindu Raja in the subcontinent even in the modern ages, the armies were secular, the selection was based on merit and capability, and mercenaries were a recognised branch of fighters. 

Not in the Islamic colonisation. All the soldiers were Muslims. The glue holding them together was religion. Their motivation was religious conversion of the vanquished. No one expected this. No one expected large armies to seek and win political power on the basis of religion. Political battles were region to region. Sindh fought with Makran, Markan fought with Pashtoons, Sindh also fought with Rajputana, Rajputana fought with plateau kings and Central Indian kings, and so on. It was regional. Not religious. So, Raja Dahir prepared himself to fight the Afghani/ Arab army. Not a religious army. 

Likewise, in the 1600s , no one thought traders could ever want political power. They were profiteering idiots who would create their own facilities, warehouses, hold a small force to protect their wares, and pay taxes to make us rich. What will they do with power? That was the surprise element of the second colonisation. 

The surprise element of the third colonisation is that we view political power in terms of physical countries and their leadership. No one envisages countries that are virtual. No one imagines that political power is, at the end of the day, control over the minds of people, making them behave in a way that the ruler wants them to behave. This can be achieved by being the entity that makes laws. It can also be achieved by being the entity that decides WHO will make the laws, until we make laws ourselves (remember British India and their advisors to Indian rajahs) 

 B. Only one side had a strategy 

This is a corollary to the first cause. Because only one side knew that it was doing something for a very long-term impact, only one side had a strategy. The other side, after realising that it was being had (in case of Raja Dahir, after losing some key battles before the main battle in which he lost his life. In case of Native India, the rulers coming together to try to stop some of the powers of the trading companies. In case of China, countries trying to create some local manufacturing capability after realising that it cannot survive without China). 

C. A belief in invincibility and resulting complacence 

In all three cases, the existing political leadership displays a marked complacence that almost borders on insolence. 

D. An important missing piece 

In the Islamic colonisation, it was lack of unity. In the British colonisation, it was lack of latest warfare technology. In the most recent one, it is the lack of manufacturing capability and lack of new age citizen engagement features. There is usually an important missing piece - a vulnerability that the coloniser exploits. The vulnerability may not be important in itself, but when exploited by a coloniser, proves to be the Achilles' heel. 

So, what are we saying? 

What we are saying is very simple. We are looking at a third colonisation. It will come from China OR Big Tech. They are both ripe colonisers waiting to pounce. Or perhaps, both. The Dutch and the French and the British all ruled at the same time. The Turks and the Arabs and the Afghans, all ruled, though under the same major umbrella. In this case, one will rule on the premise of mind control thru tech, and the other will rule because they have created enough global infra now to pounce and seize. 

End of Post 

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(1)One reason could be that for some reason, Burma, Sindh, Punjab, and Afghanistan have been completely left out of India's history, as if they were never a part of a single political entity. Nothing is further from the truth. Burma was an integral part of India and formed our Eastern border. A lot of the talent for the Hindi film industry actually came from Burma.  People travelled to and from Burma - Bengal - Assam rather effortlessly. Sindh, of course, was part of India all the way till 1947. 

For Afghanistan: 

https://www.sidmartinbio.org/when-was-afghanistan-separated-from-india/. 

Why Rahul Gandhi will be PM in 2024

As a rule, I stay away from partition and 1984 stories. But this one crept up unawares and before realising, I had read it. And then spent a sleepless night.

https://vashisharma.com/father-well-and-7-daughters-why-india-needs-caa-1/

In the morning, I wondered why. And here is the answer:

What strikes me is their incredulity at what is about to happen. Even as the mob is entering their house to rape and kill, the person remains incredulous and unbelieving. He simply does not believe that his neighbours are going to kill him and rape and share his daughters.

The same incredulity defines the massacre of 1990. No one thought it was going to be this bad. Or this sudden.

And 1970s terror in Punjab. No one thought things like this could happen. And 1984 - Rajiv Gandhi's riots. How were the thousands mobilised, voter lists procured, and organisation of troops, arrangement of kerosene done so fast? Within hours?

Godhra, Gujarat...

The "surprise" element that comes up again and again in rioting proves:
A. That there was asymmetry of information.
B. That one side was far more aggressive than the other.
C. That one side was also far better prepared than the other.

Let's understand one thing first, which people not into politics may not be aware of. The hardest thing to do in politics, even harder than raising funds, is getting the ground organisation right. The karyakartas, the local level connects and leaders, and their mobilisation mechanism - setting up a ground level organisation takes months, even with unlimited supply of funds. Then, this machinery needs to be kept lubricated and ready for action, because elections happen every few years.

The ground level organisation for riots is even more tricky. Because now you have to mobilise criminal elements, get ground support, and ensure no leakage. This tight sealing is what leads to information asymmetry. Then you have to ensure that the funds supply is in place and does not get delayed, else your operation can stop midway.

So, if the CAA protests have spread from JNU to AMU and from there to Osmania and then to other parts of the country, that is not a sudden thing. Ground organisation like that takes months to build. You have to radicalise people, ensure mobilisation mechanisms are in place and most importantly, ensure press coverage and a sympathetic press. This does not happen overnight.

I am more convinced every passing day that we will see a second partition in 2024. The level of mobilisation is the same.

Consider the timeline below: 
1936:   Jinnah returns from London and takes control of the Muslim League. For the first time, Nehru has a political adversary who is his equal in education, articulation, and advocacy / influence over Gandhi. What's more, Jinnah marries this ability with resolve. He is determined to make a lasting, positive change.

2014: The Congress loses an election and a leader comes to power who is capable of real change and is resolute.

1936 - 1940: Small news start appearing in the press about religion based skirmishes. These start as small things - one incident here, one skirmish there, one person dead, another injured. And slowly get more frequent and more violent. The frequency increases gradually, imperceptibly, but steadily. The narrative becomes religion based - slowly, imperceptibly, but definitely and increasingly. By 1940, the religions are polarised and the Muslims are clearly and openly aligned with the Muslim League. The slogan is for "Muslim hai to League mein aa."

The Muslims routinely and every single time, get a lot of victim press and relief - both from the League, which champions their cause from a religious standpoint, and from the Congress, which, under the leadership of Gandhi, is keen on wooing the Muslim voter for the provincial elections. (The 1936 provincial elections did not lead to a universal victory for the Congress).

The Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are painted as villains and their abuse cases buried under indifference. The Intelligentsia writes long articles about the threat of the Hindu nationalist, who will leave no space for the Muslim brethren. The media routinely gives prominent editorial space to such content.

The Christians are completely left out of this action. Neither are they attacked, nor they attack.

2015 - 2019: Small news start appearing in the press about religion based skirmishes. These start as small things - one incident here, one skirmish there, one person dead, another injured. And slowly get more frequent and more violent. The frequency increases gradually, imperceptibly, but steadily. The narrative becomes religion based - slowly, imperceptibly, but definitely and increasingly. One 23 year old who was killed because of a Muslim girlfriend, one Muslim old man who was lynched because he was suspected of being a cattle thief. 

The Muslims routinely and every single time, get a lot of victim press and relief - both from the Muslim parties, which champion their cause from a religious standpoint, and from the Congress and Left parties.

The Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists are painted as villains and their abuse cases buried under indifference. The Intelligentsia writes long articles about the threat of the Hindutva, which will leave no space for the Muslim brethren. The media routinely gives prominent editorial space to such content.

The Christians are completely left out of this action. Neither are they attacked, nor they attack. 

1942: The country witnesses first national level religious riots. The riots leave hundreds dead - from both religions, but only the deaths of Muslims is mourned by the press and the political parties. The Hindu Mahasabha, Arya Samaj, and RSS, are isolated in trying to bring some focus on the mass rioting and raping done by the Muslims. Under the threat of the demand for Poorna Swaraj by the Krantikaris, Gandhi suddenly launches the Quit India Movement in August 1942. The riots are not mentioned anywhere and mysteriously vanish from public records. 

The next elections are due and there is a need to add the vote bank to the franchise. 

The Christians are completely left out of this action. Neither are they attacked, nor they attack. They do not take a political stand, nor offer any support, humanitarian or otherwise, to anyone. 

2020: First national level riots based on religion (started as CAA protests in Dec 2019 but are purely communal in nature). 

The press focuses sympathetically on the Muslims and the Hindu, Sikh, Jain victims are completely left out of the narrative and press coverage. The Buddhists are now a separate vote bank and are left out. The next elections are due and there is a need to add the vote bank to the franchise. This is why a citizenship registry for Indians cannot be allowed. 

The Christians take a stand only when their girls are converted in Kerala. They also take a stand against the regularisation of voter lists in India. 

1945-47: The Partition of India is finalised. The British government is still reeling under the loss in WWII and the logistics of the partition need to be worked out, but it is almost certain that India is to be divided along religious lines. 

The Cabinet Mission Plan of 1946 is first accepted and then rejected by the 2 leading parties. 

Even though there are 2 years between the decision and the action, the 3 key stakeholders: The congress, the Muslim League, and the British, take no action to: 

A. Demarcate territory that will go to the 2 respective communities. 

B. Ensure smooth and peaceful movement of people with their assets to minimise bloodshed. 

Instead, in August 1946, India again sees massive rioting on Direct Action Day. On this day, the Muslims in Kolkata basically get a free for all and kill 4,000 people, and render another 1,00,000 homeless within 3 days of rioting. Surprisingly, this, or the violence endured by the Bengalis in the partition of 1947, does not find mention in the popular narrative of the 1947 partition violence. The violence in UP, Punjab, and Delhi is highlighted in these narratives. 

The intelligentsia, in the meantime, returns to its ivory towers, taking no responsibility for the hatred that they have fanned for more than a decade. The Press takes no responsibility for its role in the Carnage. 

Only one person works at this time - Vallabhbhai Patel. He is the natural leader of the party. He works tirelessly to unite the princely states into India. He is poised to be the Prime Minister when power is transferred. 

2023-24: There will be massive religion based killing and culling. The powers that be will make no effort to save the common man. The intelligentsia will return to its ivory tower, Tut-tutting the violence and the intolerance. The media will accept no blame for lopsided reporting and incendiary writing. 

Amit Shah will work during this time to ensure that there is unification of  India. 

1947: Two things happen: 

1. One million people from both sides are dead. 

2. Nehru, who was not being taken seriously by anyone, is, in a sudden, swift movement by Gandhi, made the PM of India. 

2024: Two things will happen: 

1. More than one million people from both sides are dead. 

2. Rahul Gandhi, whom no one takes seriously as PM material, will become the Prime Minister of India. 

1948: Within 6 months of Nehru becoming PM, Gandhi is dead. This is the third attempt by Godse, but the first to succeed. He succeeds in the super secure Birla House. No enquiry is ordered into how he gained access to Gandhi in the first place. No one asks how the British could keep Gandhi safe but not Nehru. 

Power does not leave the hands of the dynasty since then. When Shastri is elected PM, he is killed in Tashkent. No post-mortem is ordered, and within 9 days, Indira, who is not even a senior leader in the party, is made the PM without an election. 1984, when Indira dies, her son, who has no political experience at all, is made the Prime Minister overnight and without elections. At that time, he was not even an elected parliamentarian nor the leader of the party. 

The only difference between 1947 and 2024 is this: 

In 2024, there is no Gandhi. I think that whoever is following that 1936-47 script is missing this very important point.

Update: This has been my theory for many months now. It was only after the recent violent protests that left many people dead, that my blood boiled enough to do some basic research and put these things down in a coherent blog post. Unfortunately, the archives I had seen to understand the partition of India (God knows when, many years ago) are no longer available, and i did not store them, bcs i honestly didn't think that we would go through this again. So I will go through whatever is still available online and present whatever is possible, by and by. 

How to get rid of useless people on social media

This has been an interesting week. On Facebook, which is my primary social medium, i have unfriended one person and unfollowed i don't know how many.


As the election fever grips the nation and India can't make sense of Bharat bcs it is wearing the niqab of 1936 and imagined aggrievement, I have set some personal rules for unfollowing and unfriending:
1. If you post a Pappu joke or a Namo meme, or a joke that is on the person and not on the policy, i will unfollow you. Irrespective of where politics stoops, if you, as an educated voter, make personal jokes about a politician, you really should pay the country that subsidy back on your education. OR, if you are that cheap anyway, join politics.


2. If you present one side of a story, any story, and use that to prove a point, I will unfollow you. This is called Jingoism and i don't care whether the person doing it is an MBA or a farmer from Timbucktoo. If your conduct does not behove your position in life, the respect you get should not either. When presenting a news piece, investigate both sides of the story, read up enough, and then, if you think you know enough, only then, open your mouth. Tez lehar se baadh to ik johad mein bhi aa sakti hai. If you want to be respected for your education and awareness, earn that respect.


3. If I find you selectively enraged - like enraged for the minority girls in Pakistan but not for the family that was attacked as Pakistani near Gurgaon, like enraged for not being allowed to vote in Gurgaon, but accepting that for Mewat as "normal", I will unfollow you. Either people matter, or they don't. Only one kind of people cannot matter. What happened in Pakistan has also happened in India - with both communities. Find out the truth about your own country. What happened to that Muslim family was not even a fraction of what happens to Hindu families in Mewat, AMU and other areas. Have the emotional maturity to understand all the facts, absorb, and then open your mouth. The enemy is not one religion over another. The enemy is the idea that power can, and should be abused and people can get away with it. I don't care who is doing the abusing.


4. All armchair activists - OUT. Enough said. I am soooo done with people shouting platitudes or slogans or universal truths in life. SO, SO DONE WITH THAT BUNCH whose ignorance is exceeded only by their arrogance, or maybe its the other way round.

Capitalism 2.0 Series - Google shows Australia who's boss

In my last post:
https://ki-jaana-main-kaun.blogspot.com/2019/02/the-new-global-capitalist.html


I had mentioned that Capitalism 2.0, just like Capitalism 1.0, will start with companies. I am not sure yet, just how it will pass to countries.


The step after appeasement, is assertion. I believe that assertion started with Twitter CEO refusing to present himself to the Indian parliamentary committee.


And now, in continuation, Google tells the Australian government that it does not have a monopoly (It has a 90 percent share of the Australian search) and therefore will not present itself for scrutiny.


https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/google-refuses-australian-regulators-call-for-scrutiny-denies-market-power-5613324/


Hello, World!

The New Global Capitalist

It is neither a coincidence nor a flash in the pan that the Twitter CEO refuses to present himself to the parliamentary committee of India.


Bear with me while I present a little history.
Circa: 1800 or thereabouts


The British Resident, in every Indian state, was subservient to the Indian king. His job was to "advise" the king in matters of military strategy and to ensure deployment of the British troops whenever the king wanted.


In time, as the dependence of the kings on the British armies increased, the power of the Resident grew. To the extent where, the military strategy was being decided by the Resident, not by the king or his senapati. With this military dependence came the loss of sovereignty. The kings realised, one by one, slowly and painfully, that though they were called "Kings", they were nothing more than vassals of the company.


Slowly, the company's rules became binding upon the kings of India - not through a de jure authority, but a de facto one. The Company ruled India.


It was against this backdrop that the Mutiny of 1857 was planned. It was a revolt against a government that was not a government.
******
End of history. Cut to present.


A few days ago, I had asked, why is all this data actually being collected by the IT behemoths? I now get it. This is the creation of a government that is not a government.


By not appearing in front of the parliamentary committee, the Twitter CEO is doing exactly what the British Resident did in the 1800s. Twitter is saying:


A. Your house is fragmented. No way that they will all follow you as a unified group.
B. I have control over what your people see, what they think, and what they will do. In effect, I can make them do as I please, and therefore, I am the one who rules them.
C. I am not answerable to you, or to anyone.
D. You cannot touch me, and in fact, you should be scared of me. Because I can undermine your own sovereign position within your country, by using simple mind control and digital mob management.

I have just realised the point of it all. And it is devastating.


It does not matter whether I am dependent on Twitter or not. One person not being dependent on Facebook or Twitter or Google is one Indian minister warning his king against the British. The entire ecosystem was moving in that direction. Everyone needed to be stopped. If the other kings were using British cannons, and winning because the British would not supply cannons or know-how to the Indian armies, then every king would have to do it.


If one politician used Facebook advertising to sway votes, and the rival politician was left with no recourse, then everyone who wanted to win elections would HAVE to do it. Guess who are the earliest adopters of this unethical mind management? The most unethical people. These are the few that created the Tipping Point, after which, the Sun never set on the British empire for 300 years.


Colonisation of the world was not a coincidence. It was based on very precise and very accurate understanding of human nature.


And we are not just in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are also in the second colonisation.


Think. About. That.

New Taxation that I would like to see

Everyone is saying that Income Tax rates are too high. I agree. I believe it is time to move from individual earning taxation to taxing on the basis of the burden an individual puts on the ecosystem.


So these are the 2 taxes I want:
1. Children Tax: The state allows you to have 2 children. You want more than that, you better be able to afford them and compensate for their carbon footprint on the world.


There's more: In a Christian wedding, before you get married, you have to undergo mandatory counselling in the church. I believe this is an excellent way to prepare people for life changes. There should be a mandatory mental fitness test that parents should have to pass before they have children. This will put an end to people who have kids just to get rid of pesky relatives. If you don't have it in you to be responsible for a child for 18 years, then please don't have children.


While adoptive parents have to prove a thousand things, the State takes no measures to ensure the safety and well being of biologically born children. If a couple is not fit to be a parent - they should not be allowed to have children. Because children are a nation's collective resource. And no child should be abused or ignored by indifferent parenting. Parenting is not a right or a fertility contest. Its a responsibility. If you can't take it, have the courage to tell your families. And to yourself.


2. Trash Tax: A person should be taxed on the basis of how much trash they generate. Commercial establishments too. This will ensure that 5 star hotels start serving their guests water in glass tumblers instead of generating plastic waste for every 200 ml of water their guests drink. This will ensure that people think before they buy. A mindful consumer will be rewarded in this way and the environment will be automatically better. Amazon will start shipping in containers that actually match the product being shipped. And people will learn to not waste food. If you do not do waste segregation at source, you should have to pay extra because someone else has to do it for you.


The Trash Tax will reduce consumerism, and therefore, will be bitterly opposed by the major companies of the world. I think it is time we decided, as a species, which we need more - the world, or the  growth of the companies.


The world has enough for our need, not enough for our greed. - This quote is usually attributed to Gandhi.

Disilusioned? Ignore that cacophony!

From 1930 to 1947, a gradual, but definite radicalisation was done. This radicalisation took in its fold rational intellectuals like Allama Iqbal (who went from translating the Gayatri Mantra to insisting on offering namaaz at a converted cathedral) and Md. Ali Jinnah(who went from being staunchly anti Pakistan in 1936 to being the Qaid-e-azam of Pakistan) - people who had grown up in cosmopolitan surroundings, had friends from all faiths and nationalities.


Even they were converted to radicalism by this paranoia of "Muslims cannot co exist with Hindus without living in perpetual fear." As a result of this, not one but 2 separate and new countries were created, for Muslims to live in peace, without fear and with freedom to practice their religion.


It has now been 70 years. History has seen the result of the 2 theories - that Muslims will live in fear in a Hindu country, and that Muslims will live well in a country of their own.


Today, I see the replay of that paranoia. I hear the same cacophony that played from 1930 to 1947. So, as a survivor of 1947, here is my humble request to you:


If you feel that Muslims are not secure or free to live as they please in India, please understand that this is not a new or original thought. With exactly this fear in mind, Jinnah has created 2 countries for Muslims to live free and happy. All you need to do is, prepare your citizenship papers, then go to the country of your choice, and tell them, "My forefathers made a mistake when they decided to continue living in India. Jinnah was right. Muslims cannot live in a Hindu India without fearing for their life and belief. Please don't punish me for the wrong decision of my grandparents. I need to join the dream that Jinnah saw for us."


But please, do NOT poison the air that we breathe. Because when I turn off your cacophony and look around me, I see Muslim craftsmen making Jain marble temples. I see maids saying "Didi I wont come tomorrow, its my Eid, and the Hindu didi putting enough money to cover the Eidi of all the maid's children. I see a national Muslim body saying they will sing Saare Jahaan se accha instead of Vande Mataram, and no one batting an eyelid.


This poison is worse than you can imagine in your wildest dreams. It killed millions of people in a gory, bloody journey, displaced millions, created orphans and widows who didn't care about religion in the first place. Just honest men and women concerned with earning their daily bread. My family went through this and By God , I do not want to go through this again. So please, unless you can control the consequences of your short term power hunger(and you cannot): SHUT THE FUCK UP.