| 23 April 2004 | Friday | 02 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425 |
The courage of the clerk
Peace process not a poll issue
Predestined and predetermined are all those phenomena which owe their happening to God's creative power - the existence of planets and stars with their smooth and frictionless orbiting in space, sprouting of plants and trees and sustenance of life in all its forms on earth, and their ultimate destiny.
There are clear statements in the Quran to the effect that "having created every thing God has determined its measure and span" (25:2). Also that the sun (or the entire solar system) is moving towards its destination as determined by the Mighty and the Wise, and that the phases of waxing and waning of the moon too have been determined by Him" (36:38-39).
Many such references can be quoted here in regard to determining the movement of wind and falling of rain and occurrence of events, trivial or grave, "wet or dry" (Ratb-o-Yabis) by God.
The cosmologists and physicists working in the American space agency NASA have discovered recently that the whole fathomless universe is drifting but what force is causing this drift and movement is not determinable as it is beyond perception, defies all calculations and is, in one word, incomprehensible.
These "blind" men, who lack the eyes to see that force, have called it the "Dark Energy". The Being that has created the universe with the brightest and ever-burning lamp can be called anything but "Dark Energy".
The Bible begins with the phrases: "God said let there be light and there was light." So, light is the first manifestation of God's creative power. The Quran describes Allah as the Light of the heavens and the earth ... Light heaped upon light! (24:35).
Leaving the "Dark Energy" question to be, hopefully, analysed by the scientists who might see the light in some distant future, what concerns us here is the fact that God's predetermined plan can neither be anticipated nor easily comprehended unless guidance is sought from cryptic hints and suggestions dispersed in the Divine Scripture.
The issue of predestination (or fate, as commonly understood) has been set forth in the Almighty's own words in the Quran thus: "No disaster befalls in the earth or in your own selves but it is already recorded in a Book before it is brought into being. So, you should neither grieve for the sake of that which has been taken away from you nor exult (or boast) because of that which has been given to you." (57: 22-23).
This ayat perhaps indicates that the Divine intention is to inculcate in individuals and nations the notion that since every event, happy or unhappy, is predestined before its actual happening, no one should lose heart and feel sorry if something unsavoury or grossly hurting happens.
Instead, one should console oneself that it happened for no fault on one's part but because of God's inscrutable plan. And, similarly, no one should lose one's head and feel proud if something encouraging or extraordinarily creditable comes one's way.
Let us turn again to the Quran and see how it inspires confidence and steadfastness in the face of adversity and trying circumstances, instead of feeling dejected and resigned to one's fate.
It affirms that "no one can ever die except by Allah's Will ... and that many a Prophet had with them a number of devoted men who fought and did not flinch and slacken, because of what befell them in Allah's way, nor were they weakened, nor were they brought low" (3: 145-46).
According to Quranic teachings, belief in predestination and fate (karma in Hinduism) is as valid as belief in man's free will. It is only human beings, among earthly creatures, who are privileged to exercise their free will - the option to take this course or that course with full consciousness of the consequences. There is no pressure, physical or imperceptible, to do or not to do a thing.
The Quran comments on this freedom and exercise of free will, by referring to the patent plea of the idolaters of Arabia, during the time of revelation, that it was not their fault if they worshipped the idols because that was God's will.
The plea was rebutted by declaring that "Allah does not impose guidance by force" (6: 148-49). The wrongdoers of all sorts were also told in plain words that the Prophet (PBUH) was not such as a keeper over them nor was he responsible for them. (6: 107).
One more citation from the Quran on the subject of free will before we wind up the discussion. Those who had taken part with the Prophet in the battle of Uhud and fought in the outskirts of Madina to repel the attack launched by the pagans of Makkah, were feeling aggrieved as they had suffered a serious setback and had lost 70 lives.
Whereas the same enemy had suffered a humiliating defeat and had lost 70 men in the earlier battle of Badr and had retreated after leaving 70 captives.
In this situation, the revelation came to the Prophet to tell them that whatever happened, though with Allah's permission, was because of their own selves (disobedience of the Prophet's instructions, by some of them, regarding battlefield strategy, only for material gain). As for Allah, "He only wanted to know the true believers" (3: 165-66).
To sum up, belief in predestination is a direct corollary of belief in Allah's omnipotence, His supreme authority and ultimate decision in all matters, whatever their nature. Belief in free will granted to human beings is equally valid as, without it, the entire notion of crime and punishment, shared by all civilized societies, will lose its legitimacy and the whole edifice of accountability of each individual by society will come crashing down.
Also, the concept of good and evil deeds and reward and retribution in one's lifetime or after life, which is common to all religious systems, will become baseless.
The courage of the clerk
I am the clerk, the technician, the mechanic, the driver. They said, Do this, do that, don't look left or right. Don't read the text. Don't look at the whole machine. You are only responsible for this one bolt, this one rubber stamp.
Mordechai Vanunu wrote that about halfway through his eighteen-year jail sentence (twelve years of it in solitary confinement), which was imposed because he told the world about Israel's nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday he came out of jail at last, having refused early parole in return for a promise never to speak about his kidnapping, his prison ordeal, or Israeli nuclear weapons. "He is the most stubborn, disciplined and tough person I have ever met," said his former lawyer Avigdor Feldman. But his ordeal is not over.
In January, knowing that Mr Vanunu was scheduled for release on 21 April, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon called a meeting attended by the defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, the attorney-general, Menachem Mazuz, Yehiel Horev, who has final responsibility for both Shin Beth and Mossad, the country's internal and external intelligence services, and a representative of the Israeli Atomic Energy Committee. They decided that Vanunu will only be a little bit free.
He cannot leave the country, nor can he even leave the town he settles in without permission - and he is not allowed to approach any port, airport or border crossing. He cannot have a passport, and he is banned from contact with foreigners or with foreign embassies in Israel.
He is not allowed to tell anybody, including Israelis, anything about his work at Israel's nuclear weapons production facility at Dimona (even though it is now nineteen years since he worked there), or about the circumstances surrounding his kidnapping by the Israeli secret services.
"They say I have additional secrets," said Vanunu, who is appealing the restrictions, "but that is a lie, an excuse, a cover-up. All that was known to me has been published. Anything I can say will be a repetition."
And a senior Israeli security official more or less confirmed that to the Independent newspaper in Britain, admitting that "He may have no new secrets, but it is sufficient that he will mount a campaign. People around the world will use him as a banner. There is no reason for us to allow this kind of provocation when we can stop it."
No reason except that Israel used to be a country under the rule of law, where a citizen who had discharged his prison sentence, justifiable or not, was once again a free person. If he opens his mouth and you think he has spilled new secrets, take him to court and prove it. And by the way, what right have you to forbid an Israeli citizen to leave the country?
Mordechai Vanunu was 'the clerk, the technician, the mechanic' who got mixed up in nuclear weapons. He was one of eight children of a poor family of orthodox Jews who immigrated from Morocco to Israel in 1961, and after doing his army service he got a job as a technician at the Dimona nuclear plant in the Negev desert, where Israel manufactures its nuclear weapons.
After working quietly away in a relatively low-level job for nine years, he was laid off in 1985, probably because his friendly contacts with Palestinians and his links with a group called the Movement for the Advancement of Peace had alarmed Shin Beth.
He travelled across Asia and ended up in Sydney, Australia, where he converted to Christianity. He was already much troubled about his role in helping to make nuclear weapons, and a journalist he met in Sydney put him in contact with the Sunday Times in London.
He told reporter Peter Hounam the whole story, flew to London to meet nuclear scientists there for further debriefings - and then, catastrophically, got frustrated by delays in publication at the Sunday Times and dropped some pictures off at the Daily Mirror as well.
He did not know that the Mirror's publisher, Robert Maxwell, was a dedicated Zionist with close links to the Israeli government. Maxwell sent Vanunu's pictures of the Dimona plant to the Israeli embassy, which immediately put a female agent called 'Cindy', posing as an American tourist, in Vanunu's way. 'Cindy' persuaded him to fly to Rome, and Israeli agents at airport kidnapped him and flew him back to Israel. -Copyright
Peace process not a poll issue
Neither Pakistan nor the ongoing India-Pakistan peace process appear to be an issue in the Indian general elections, the first phase of which was held on Tuesday. Contrary to what was widely feared, there was virtually no communal violence and most of the poll-related deaths took place in the Indian-held state of Jammu and Kashmir, where the people traditionally challenge the authority of the New Delhi government to hold any elections at all.
Clashes between freedom fighters and the Indian security forces in the occupied territory form a recurrent feature. There were also a few random attacks on election candidates reported from Bihar and Jharkhand.
Reports appearing in a section of the foreign press on Tuesday said that one particular police station in Nalanda in Bihar had piles of seized country-made guns which had been manufactured on demand from many of the "poll hopefuls".
According to the officer in charge of the police station, many of those who were held on the charge of manufacturing the illegal weapons were former employees of the Indian Army's ordnance factories.
A large number of other persons were also said to have acquired the skill to make such guns. Home-made pistols are reportedly sold at Rs 1,000 a piece while a rifle can sometimes fetch as much as Rs 10,000.
There were widespread apprehensions of communal (Hindu- Muslim) violence in the state of Gujarat which had been the centre of trouble only two years ago when about 2,000 Muslims were killed.
But the polling passed off without any incident. A New Delhi based British diplomat toured Godhra in Gujarat to observe the polling there. Godhra had been the centre of trouble during the communal carnage two years ago.
The diplomat, Mr Peter Holland, first secretary of the British high commission, visited about 50 polling stations in what were said to be particularly sensitive constituencies. However, it appears that he has not offered any comments. He may do so once the elections are over.
The general elections in India are a massive exercise with polling in as many as 29 states, many of them far apart, and a lot of them not very easily accessible. Polling will be held on four different dates. Constituencies in Gujarat and Ayodhya are being specially kept under watch.
There are said to be some 4,000 members of various paramilitary forces on duty at the site of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. In addition, some 200 Muslim volunteers are protecting the ruins of the historic mosque.
According to a report in a Gulf daily, there are about 6,000 Hindu temples in Ayodhya and almost quite as many mosques in Faizabad next door. However, the number of worshippers both in Ayodhya and Faizabad has drastically come down since the assault on the Babri Masjid in 1992.
Incidentally, reports in the foreign media suggest that what has evoked a great deal of interest is Rahul Gandhi's candidature from the Nehru-Gandhis' favourite constituency, Amethi in the Uttar Pradesh. Pandit Nehru, Ms Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi all were returned to the Lok Sabha in their time from Amethi. Once, when Ms Indira Gandhi won from Amethi, her election was challenged on technical grounds and she was unseated.
Rahul Gandhi in his election campaign is being closely supported by his sister Priyanka. She appears confident of his victory and as the saying in Amethi goes: "Call a tree Gandhi and it will win the election by five lakh votes."
At this stage it is difficult to foresee the outcome of the elections. The last phase of the four-phase polling will be on May 13 and the counting will commence immediately after the polls are closed. The official results may be declared by the evening of May 13.
India is using electronic voting in hundreds of constituencies. Most in the Indian media after the first phase of voting have expressed the view that the BJP has an edge over its rival.
In their election strategies, both the BJP and Congress have placed the greatest emphasis on their economic programmes and each believes that India would make substantial progress by 2015 in the economic and technological field, with a marked improvement in the quality of life of the common people.
Unlike the previous elections in India, there has not been much of an appeal to the "Muslim vote bank" by the contending parties this time. A spirited leader of the community, Syed Shahabuddin, who has been prominent in Indian politics for some time, in a BBC interview the other day, fervently hoped that India would revert to its secular moorings which in recent years have been substantially eroded because of the rise of the BJP and other Hindutva elements.
Although the BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani believes that the communists have had their day, two women candidates from the militant Naxalite wing of the communist factions have been fielded as candidates in the south.
In Delhi where Congress has been in power for some time there now seems to be a preference for a more youthful leadership by various parties. It is claimed that if it were left to the youth the Congress party would get a "thumping victory".
A 21-year old college student, Achint Gupta, who has just become eligible to vote, has declared: " I am surely voting for Congress; I don't think the BJP has done anything worthy of making it the ruling party for another five years." Other younger voters refer to Congress as "the grand old party".
A 22-year old Muslim young man, Bilal Zaidi, however, has declared, "I would prefer to vote for Congress which has traditionally treated Muslims better but since I am convinced that Congress won't win at the centre, I may vote for the BJP."
From Pakistan's point of view, it seems important that the BJP and Atal Behari Vajpayee should be able to form a government at the end of the elections. Mr Vajpayee has a personal commitment to carry on with the peace process which has only just been launched between India and Pakistan.
While overall Mr Vajpayee is widely perceived as being in a clearly stronger position, some states such as Bihar and Uttar Pradesh could turn out to be a problem for him.
There is believed to be considerable opposition to the BJP in some of India's southern states. However, a Shiv Sena supporter from Aurangabad, Mr Mohammad Mukhtar, maintains: "The BJP is not anti-Muslim. In fact many Muslims like Shahnawaz Hussain and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi have risen in the party (BJP) hierarchy."
Traditionally, Muslims do not support the BJP. Mr Mukhtar's statement suggests that the situation in the south could be undergoing a change. Pakistan's trust in Mr Vajpayee for bringing about a transformation in this country's ties with its neighbour may therefore not be altogether misplaced.