Because Islam has held the monopoly on suicide bombers for far too long...

So recently two bombs were planted in Bombay auditoriums Thane and Vashi. One was diffused by police and the other went off and injured 7 people. Well there may have been universal condemnation in Indian media but it was not all quite for the right reasons.

“When we heard that Hindus have been making bombs, we were happy. But we felt ashamed when we read that the blast injured were Hindus,” says the editorial for the Bombay paper Saamna, a mouthpiece for the Hindu Nationalist Shiv Sena party. In fact the piece was titled: titled "The dud bombs of Hindus! Why embarrass us?". Yes those shoddy bomb-makers put upon all Hindus a grave shame, the shame of not being good enough to even put together a decent bomb, let alone have the guts to go and blow their guts all over the place with it like their Muslim brothers.








That's right folks, Hindus need suicide bombing squads to compete these days!

"Islamic terrorism is on the rise in India and in order to counter Islamic terrorism, we should match it with Hindu terrorism," the unsigned editorial said in Marathi. "Just like Islamic extremism, to safeguard the country and Hindus we must create Hindu suicide squads if Hindu society is to be saved."

One has to wonder, this is a Hindu nationalist party... and isn't Hinduism meant to be a peaceful reilgion? I mean there may have been a lot of bloodshed in the past but does this make sense? I mean how far back into samsara do you think one gets thrown? They probably get reincarnated as cockroaches. And what happened to the great Hindu tradition of ahimsa, or peaceful resistance? I think Gandhi has turned in his grave so many times by now that he's burrowed a hole to the centre of the earth.

Let's look at the Goverment's reactions? The Congress Party, aka. staunch defender of secularism says "The Congress strongly condemns the remarks said to have been made by Mr Bal Thackeray with regard to the formation of suicide squads. This is a clear call not only to lawlessness and violence but will be also the death knell for peaceful democracy," its spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters in New Delhi. I agree, India is a secular democracy, not a Hindu nation.

And the BJP? Aka. the moderate Hindu nationalist party that used to hold Government in India and is still a major contender? Criticising the comments, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday advised its ally to respect the law. “People should not take law into their hands. It is the duty of the government to counter terror,” BJP Vice President Venkaiah Naidu said. Fairly weak response designed to not lose any Shiv Sena supporters. Nice.

So seeing as the monopoly may be broken are we going to see Mormon terrorism now? Jehova's Witness extremism? Scientological suicide attacks? I'd like to see Tom Cruise blow himself up on Oprah's couch, that'd be something. Or maybe he'd do it Last Samurai style and go nuts with a big sword? OK I know I shouldnt be making light of this but seriously this is ridiculous. Has Inda not seen enough bloodshed during partition? What about Bombay? The riots? When will people learn?

HT Times coverage here and here for the Government reaction. The Age coverage here (yes it made the Aussie papers).

Written: [Sheikh Zayed Mosque, Abu Dhabi] 5.23pm 4th May

Prayer Room

It is possible to swallowed up in a place like this, the light bounces off the white columns, dances around the room like so many fingers of God. As the tourists wander around, mouths open, looking at the opulence, they seem irrelevant, ants, no identity, no uniqueness. Humbling. A man-made structure can contain God in it if the minds of the men are turned towards Him. He made us in His image or do we make ourselves, our experiences, our work in His image?

Now empty, the hall seems less Heavenly. The sound of a vacuum cleaner reminds me that even Majesty requires hoovering. Was God in the minds of the architects or simply grandeur? Glory? Biggest mosque in the world? Who is flexing their might here? Man or God? I can outbuild you, man says, towers reaching towards the Heavens, sprawling Halls, domes, minarets, colours, volumes, carpets, marble and gold. All to bring me closer to You, closer to knowing You. But what is the achievement? God resides in our hearts, our minds and our souls. A simple prayer rug in Gaza holds more power than 1000 Sheikh Zayed Mosques. Anything over and above that is conflited.

God or Glory? If the minaret is built tall enough can it pierce the clouds and the Heavens themselves? Steadfastly reaching towards God, declaring, we will outbuild you, see Man's might. Man is foolish, Heaven has always been in our heats and we get closer to God on that Gaza prayer rug and more distant with every shiny marble column.