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Arundhati Roy: Mumbai was not India’s 9/11

http://www.guardian .co.uk/world/ 2008/dec/ 12/mumbai- arundhati- roy

 

The Mumbai attacks have been dubbed ‘India’s 9/11′, and there are calls for a 9/11-style response, including an attack on Pakistan. Instead, the country must fight terrorism with justice, or face civil war.

 

We’ve forfeited the rights to our own tragedies. As the carnage in Mumbai raged on, day after horrible day, our 24-hour news channels informed us that we were watching "India’s 9/11". Like actors in a Bollywood rip-off of an old Hollywood film, we’re expected to play our parts and say our lines, even though we know it’s all been said and done before.

 

As tension in the region builds, US Senator John McCain has warned Pakistan that if it didn’t act fast to arrest the "Bad Guys" he had personal information that India would launch air strikes on "terrorist camps" in Pakistan and that Washington could do nothing because Mumbai was India’s 9/11.

 

But November isn’t September, 2008 isn’t 2001, Pakistan isn’t Afghanistan and India isn’t America. So perhaps we should reclaim our tragedy and pick through the debris with our own brains and our own broken hearts so that we can arrive at our own conclusions.

 

It’s odd how in the last week of November thousands of people in Kashmir supervised by thousands of Indian troops lined up to cast their vote, while the richest quarters of India’s richest city ended up looking like war-torn Kupwara – one of Kashmir’s most ravaged districts.

 

The Mumbai attacks are only the most recent of a spate of terrorist attacks on Indian towns and cities this year. Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi, Guwahati, Jaipur and Malegaon have all seen serial bomb blasts in which hundreds of ordinary people have been killed and wounded. If the police are right about the people they have arrested as suspects, both Hindu and Muslim, all Indian nationals, it obviously indicates that something’s going very badly wrong in this country.

 

If you were watching television you may not have heard that ordinary people too died in Mumbai. They were mowed down in a busy railway station and a public hospital. The terrorists did not distinguish between poor and rich. They killed both with equal cold-bloodedness. The Indian media, however, was transfixed by the rising tide of horror that breached the glittering barricades of India Shining and spread its stench in the marbled lobbies and crystal ballrooms of two incredibly luxurious hotels and a small Jewish centre.

 

We’re told one of these hotels is an icon of the city of Mumbai. That’s absolutely true. It’s an icon of the easy, obscene injustice that ordinary Indians endure every day. On a day when the newspapers were full of moving obituaries by beautiful people about the hotel rooms they had stayed in, the gourmet restaurants they loved (ironically one was called Kandahar), and the staff who served them, a small box on the top left-hand corner in the inner pages of a national newspaper (sponsored by a pizza company I think) said "Hungry, kya?" (Hungry eh?). It then, with the best of intentions I’m sure, informed its readers that on the international hunger index, India ranked below Sudan and Somalia. But of course this isn’t that war. That one’s still being fought in the Dalit bastis of our villages, on the banks of the Narmada and the Koel Karo rivers; in the rubber estate in Chengara; in the villages of Nandigram, Singur, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Orissa, Lalgarh in West Bengal and the slums and shantytowns of our gigantic cities.

 

That war isn’t on TV. Yet. So maybe, like everyone else, we should deal with the one that is.

 

There is a fierce, unforgiving fault-line that runs through the contemporary discourse on terrorism. On one side (let’s call it Side A) are those who see terrorism, especially "Islamist" terrorism, as a hateful, insane scourge that spins on its own axis, in its own orbit and has nothing to do with the world around it, nothing to do with history, geography or economics. Therefore, Side A says, to try and place it in a political context, or even try to understand it, amounts to justifying it and is a crime in itself.

 

Side B believes that though nothing can ever excuse or justify terrorism, it exists in a particular time, place and political context, and to refuse to see that will only aggravate the problem and put more and more people in harm’s way. Which is a crime in itself.

 

The sayings of Hafiz Saeed, who founded the Lashkar-e-Taiba (Army of the Pure) in 1990 and who belongs to the hardline Salafi tradition of Islam, certainly bolsters the case of Side A. Hafiz Saeed approves of suicide bombing, hates Jews, Shias and Democracy and believes that jihad should be waged until Islam, his Islam, rules the world. Among the things he said are: "There cannot be any peace while India remains intact. Cut them, cut them so much that they kneel before you and ask for mercy."

 

And: "India has shown us this path. We would like to give India a tit-for-tat response and reciprocate in the same way by killing the Hindus, just like it is killing the Muslims in Kashmir."

 

But where would Side A accommodate the sayings of Babu Bajrangi of Ahmedabad, India, who sees himself as a democrat, not a terrorist? He was one of the major lynchpins of the 2002 Gujarat genocide and has said (on camera): "We didn’t spare a single Muslim shop, we set everything on fire … we hacked, burned, set on fire … we believe in setting them on fire because these bastards don’t want to be cremated, they’re afraid of it … I have just one last wish … let me be sentenced to death … I don’t care if I’m hanged … just give me two days before my hanging and I will go and have a field day in Juhapura where seven or eight lakhs [seven or eight hundred thousand] of these people stay … I will finish them off … let a few more of them die … at least 25,000 to 50,000 should die."

 

And where, in Side A’s scheme of things, would we place the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh bible, We, or, Our Nationhood Defined by MS Golwalkar, who became head of the RSS in 1944. It says: "Ever since that evil day, when Moslems first landed in Hindustan, right up to the present moment, the Hindu Nation has been gallantly fighting on to take on these despoilers. The Race Spirit has been awakening."

 

Or: "To keep up the purity of its race and culture, Germany shocked the world by her purging the country of the Semitic races – the Jews. Race pride at its highest has been manifested here … a good lesson for us in Hindustan to learn and profit by."

 

(Of course Muslims are not the only people in the gun sights of the Hindu right. Dalits have been consistently targeted. Recently in Kandhamal in Orissa, Christians were the target of two and a half months of violence which left more than 40 dead. Forty thousand people have been driven from their homes, half of who now live in refugee camps.)

 

All these years Hafiz Saeed has lived the life of a respectable man in Lahore as the head of the Jamaat-ud Daawa, which many believe is a front organization for the Lashkar-e-Taiba. He continues to recruit young boys for his own bigoted jehad with his twisted, fiery sermons. On December 11 the UN imposed sanctions on the Jammat-ud-Daawa. The Pakistani government succumbed to international pressure and put Hafiz Saeed under house arrest. Babu Bajrangi, however, is out on bail and lives the life of a respectable man in Gujarat. A couple of years after the genocide he left the VHP to join the Shiv Sena. Narendra Modi, Bajrangi’s former mentor, is still the chief minister of Gujarat. So the man who presided over the Gujarat genocide was re-elected twice, and is deeply respected by India’s biggest corporate houses, Reliance and Tata.

 

Suhel Seth, a TV impresario and corporate spokesperson, recently said: "Modi is God." The policemen who supervised and sometimes even assisted the rampaging Hindu mobs in Gujarat have been rewarded and promoted. The RSS has 45,000 branches, its own range of charities and 7 million volunteers preaching its doctrine of hate across India. They include Narendra Modi, but also former prime minister AB Vajpayee, current leader of the opposition LK Advani, and a host of other senior politicians, bureaucrats and police and intelligence officers.

 

If that’s not enough to complicate our picture of secular democracy, we should place on record that there are plenty of Muslim organisations within India preaching their own narrow bigotry.

 

So, on balance, if I had to choose between Side A and Side B, I’d pick Side B. We need context. Always.

 

In this nuclear subcontinent that context is partition. The Radcliffe Line, which separated India and Pakistan and tore through states, districts, villages, fields, communities, water systems, homes and families, was drawn virtually overnight. It was Britain’s final, parting kick to us. Partition triggered the massacre of more than a million people and the largest migration of a human population in contemporary history. Eight million people, Hindus fleeing the new Pakistan, Muslims fleeing the new kind of India left their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

 

Each of those people carries and passes down a story of unimaginable pain, hate, horror but yearning too. That wound, those torn but still unsevered muscles, that blood and those splintered bones still lock us together in a close embrace of hatred, terrifying familiarity but also love. It has left Kashmir trapped in a nightmare from which it can’t seem to emerge, a nightmare that has claimed more than 60,000 lives. Pakistan, the Land of the Pure, became an Islamic Republic, and then, very quickly a corrupt, violent military state, openly intolerant of other faiths. India on the other hand declared herself an inclusive, secular democracy. It was a magnificent undertaking, but Babu Bajrangi’s predecessors had been hard at work since the 1920s, dripping poison into India’s bloodstream, undermining that idea of India even before it was born.

 

By 1990 they were ready to make a bid for power. In 1992 Hindu mobs exhorted by LK Advani stormed the Babri Masjid and demolished it. By 1998 the BJP was in power at the centre. The US war on terror put the wind in their sails. It allowed them to do exactly as they pleased, even to commit genocide and then present their fascism as a legitimate form of chaotic democracy. This happened at a time when India had opened its huge market to international finance and it was in the interests of international corporations and the media houses they owned to project it as a country that could do no wrong. That gave Hindu nationalists all the impetus and the impunity they needed.

 

This, then, is the larger historical context of terrorism in the subcontinent and of the Mumbai attacks. It shouldn’t surprise us that Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba is from Shimla (India) and LK Advani of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh is from Sindh (Pakistan).

 

In much the same way as it did after the 2001 parliament attack, the 2002 burning of the Sabarmati Express and the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express, the government of India announced that it has "incontrovertible" evidence that the Lashkar-e-Taiba backed by Pakistan’s ISI was behind the Mumbai strikes. The Lashkar has denied involvement, but remains the prime accused. According to the police and intelligence agencies the Lashkar operates in India through an organisation called the Indian Mujahideen. Two Indian nationals, Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmed, a Special Police Officer working for the Jammu and Kashmir police, and Tausif Rehman, a resident of Kolkata in West Bengal, have been arrested in connection with the Mumbai attacks.

 

So already the neat accusation against Pakistan is getting a little messy. Almost always, when these stories unspool, they reveal a complicated global network of foot soldiers, trainers, recruiters, middlemen and undercover intelligence and counter-intelligenc e operatives working not just on both sides of the India-Pakistan border, but in several countries simultaneously. In today’s world, trying to pin down the provenance of a terrorist strike and isolate it within the borders of a single nation state is very much like trying to pin down the provenance of corporate money. It’s almost impossible.

 

In circumstances like these, air strikes to "take out" terrorist camps may take out the camps, but certainly will not "take out" the terrorists. Neither will war. (Also, in our bid for the moral high ground, let’s try not to forget that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, the LTTE of neighbouring Sri Lanka, one of the world’s most deadly terrorist groups, were trained by the Indian army.)

 

Thanks largely to the part it was forced to play as America’s ally first in its war in support of the Afghan Islamists and then in its war against them, Pakistan, whose territory is reeling under these contradictions, is careening towards civil war. As recruiting agents for America’s jihad against the Soviet Union, it was the job of the Pakistan army and the ISI to nurture and channel funds to Islamic fundamentalist organizations. Having wired up these Frankensteins and released them into the world, the US expected it could rein them in like pet mastiffs whenever it wanted to.

 

Certainly it did not expect them to come calling in heart of the Homeland on September 11. So once again, Afghanistan had to be violently remade. Now the debris of a re-ravaged Afghanistan has washed up on Pakistan’s borders. Nobody, least of all the Pakistan government, denies that it is presiding over a country that is threatening to implode. The terrorist training camps, the fire-breathing mullahs and the maniacs who believe that Islam will, or should, rule the world is mostly the detritus of two Afghan wars. Their ire rains down on the Pakistan government and Pakistani civilians as much, if not more than it does on India.

 

If at this point India decides to go to war perhaps the descent of the whole region into chaos will be complete. The debris of a bankrupt, destroyed Pakistan will wash up on India’s shores, endangering us as never before. If Pakistan collapses, we can look forward to having millions of "non-state actors" with an arsenal of nuclear weapons at their disposal as neighbours. It’s hard to understand why those who steer India’s ship are so keen to replicate Pakistan’s mistakes and call damnation upon this country by inviting the United States to further meddle clumsily and dangerously in our extremely complicated affairs. A superpower never has allies. It only has agents.

 

On the plus side, the advantage of going to war is that it’s the best way for India to avoid facing up to the serious trouble building on our home front. The Mumbai attacks were broadcast live (and exclusive!) on all or most of our 67 24-hour news channels and god knows how many international ones. TV anchors in their studios and journalists at "ground zero" kept up an endless stream of excited commentary. Over three days and three nights we watched in disbelief as a small group of very young men armed with guns and gadgets exposed the powerlessness of the police, the elite National Security Guard and the marine commandos of this supposedly mighty, nuclear-powered nation.

 

While they did this they indiscriminately massacred unarmed people, in railway stations, hospitals and luxury hotels, unmindful of their class, caste, religion or nationality. (Part of the helplessness of the security forces had to do with having to worry about hostages. In other situations, in Kashmir for example, their tactics are not so sensitive. Whole buildings are blown up. Human shields are used. The U.S and Israeli armies don’t hesitate to send cruise missiles into buildings and drop daisy cutters on wedding parties in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. ) But this was different. And it was on TV.

 

The boy-terrorists’ nonchalant willingness to kill – and be killed – mesmerised their international audience. They delivered something different from the usual diet of suicide bombings and missile attacks that people have grown inured to on the news. Here was something new. Die Hard 25. The gruesome performance went on and on. TV ratings soared. Ask any television magnate or corporate advertiser who measures broadcast time in seconds, not minutes, what that’s worth.

 

Eventually the killers died and died hard, all but one. (Perhaps, in the chaos, some escaped. We may never know.) Throughout the standoff the terrorists made no demands and expressed no desire to negotiate. Their purpose was to kill people and inflict as much damage as they could before they were killed themselves. They left us completely bewildered. When we say "nothing can justify terrorism", what most of us mean is that nothing can justify the taking of human life. We say this because we respect life, because we think it’s precious. So what are we to make of those who care nothing for life, not even their own? The truth is that we have no idea what to make of them, because we can sense that even before they’ve died, they’ve journeyed to another world where we cannot reach them.

 

One TV channel (India TV) broadcast a phone conversation with one of the attackers, who called himself Imran Babar. I cannot vouch for the veracity of the conversation, but the things he talked about were the things contained in the "terror emails" that were sent out before several other bomb attacks in India. Things we don’t want to talk about any more: the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the genocidal slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002, the brutal repression in Kashmir. "You’re surrounded," the anchor told him. "You are definitely going to die. Why don’t you surrender?"

 

"We die every day," he replied in a strange, mechanical way. "It’s better to live one day as a lion and then die this way." He didn’t seem to want to change the world. He just seemed to want to take it down with him.

 

If the men were indeed members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, why didn’t it matter to them that a large number of their victims were Muslim, or that their action was likely to result in a severe backlash against the Muslim community in India whose rights they claim to be fighting for? Terrorism is a heartless ideology, and like most ideologies that have their eye on the Big Picture, individuals don’t figure in their calculations except as collateral damage. It has always been a part of and often even the aim of terrorist strategy to exacerbate a bad situation in order to expose hidden faultlines. The blood of "martyrs" irrigates terrorism. Hindu terrorists need dead Hindus, Communist terrorists need dead proletarians, Islamist terrorists need dead Muslims. The dead become the demonstration, the proof of victimhood, which is central to the project. A single act of terrorism is not in itself meant to achieve military victory; at best it is meant to be a catalyst that triggers something else, something much larger than itself, a tectonic shift, a realignment. The act itself is theatre, spectacle and symbolism, and today, the stage on which it pirouettes and performs its acts of bestiality is Live TV. Even as the attack was being condemned by TV anchors, the effectiveness of the terror strikes were being magnified a thousandfold by TV broadcasts.

 

Through the endless hours of analysis and the endless op-ed essays, in India at least there has been very little mention of the elephants in the room: Kashmir, Gujarat and the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Instead we had retired diplomats and strategic experts debate the pros and cons of a war against Pakistan. We had the rich threatening not to pay their taxes unless their security was guaranteed (is it alright for the poor to remain unprotected? ). We had people suggest that the government step down and each state in India be handed over to a separate corporation. We had the death of former prime minster VP Singh, the hero of Dalits and lower castes and villain of Upper caste Hindus pass without a mention.

 

We had Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City and co-writer of the Bollywood film Mission Kashmir, give us his version of George Bush’s famous "Why they hate us" speech. His analysis of why religious bigots, both Hindu and Muslim hate Mumbai: "Perhaps because Mumbai stands for lucre, profane dreams and an indiscriminate openness." His prescription: "The best answer to the terrorists is to dream bigger, make even more money, and visit Mumbai more than ever." Didn’t George Bush ask Americans to go out and shop after 9/11? Ah yes. 9/11, the day we can’t seem to get away from.

 

Though one chapter of horror in Mumbai has ended, another might have just begun. Day after day, a powerful, vociferous section of the Indian elite, goaded by marauding TV anchors who make Fox News look almost radical and leftwing, have taken to mindlessly attacking politicians, all politicians, glorifying the police and the army and virtually asking for a police state. It isn’t surprising that those who have grown plump on the pickings of democracy (such as it is) should now be calling for a police state. The era of "pickings" is long gone. We’re now in the era of Grabbing by Force, and democracy has a terrible habit of getting in the way.

 

Dangerous, stupid television flashcards like the Police are Good Politicians are Bad/Chief Executives are Good Chief Ministers are Bad/Army is Good Government is Bad/ India is Good Pakistan is Bad are being bandied about by TV channels that have already whipped their viewers into a state of almost uncontrollable hysteria.

 

Tragically, this regression into intellectual infancy comes at a time when people in India were beginning to see that in the business of terrorism, victims and perpetrators sometimes exchange roles. It’s an understanding that the people of Kashmir, given their dreadful experiences of the last 20 years, have honed to an exquisite art. On the mainland we’re still learning. (If Kashmir won’t willingly integrate into India, it’s beginning to look as though India will integrate/disintegr ate into Kashmir.)

 

It was after the 2001 parliament attack that the first serious questions began to be raised. A campaign by a group of lawyers and activists exposed how innocent people had been framed by the police and the press, how evidence was fabricated, how witnesses lied, how due process had been criminally violated at every stage of the investigation. Eventually the courts acquitted two out of the four accused, including SAR Geelani, the man whom the police claimed was the mastermind of the operation. A third, Showkat Guru, was acquitted of all the charges brought against him but was then convicted for a fresh, comparatively minor offence. The supreme court upheld the death sentence of another of the accused, Mohammad Afzal. In its judgment the court acknowledged there was no proof that Mohammed Afzal belonged to any terrorist group, but went on to say, quite shockingly, "The collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender." Even today we don’t really know who the terrorists that attacked the Indian parliament were and who they worked for.

 

More recently, on September 19 this year, we had the controversial "encounter" at Batla House in Jamia Nagar, Delhi, where the Special Cell of the Delhi police gunned down two Muslim students in their rented flat under seriously questionable circumstances, claiming that they were responsible for serial bombings in Delhi, Jaipur and Ahmedabad in 2008. An assistant commissioner of Police, Mohan Chand Sharma, who played a key role in the parliament attack investigation, lost his life as well. He was one of India’s many "encounter specialists" known and rewarded for having summarily executed several "terrorists" . There was an outcry against the Special Cell from a spectrum of people, ranging from eyewitnesses in the local community to senior Congress Party leaders, students, journalists, lawyers, academics and activists all of whom demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. In response, the BJP and LK Advani lauded Mohan Chand Sharma as a "Braveheart" and launched a concerted campaign in which they targeted those who had dared to question the integrity of the police, saying it was "suicidal" and calling them "anti-national" . Of course there has been no inquiry.

 

Only days after the Batla House event, another story about "terrorists" surfaced in the news. In a report submitted to a sessions court, the CBI said that a team from Delhi’s Special Cell (the same team that led the Batla House encounter, including Mohan Chand Sharma) had abducted two innocent men, Irshad Ali and Moarif Qamar, in December 2005, planted 2kg of RDX and two pistols on them and then arrested them as "terrorists" who belonged to Al Badr (which operates out of Kashmir). Ali and Qamar who have spent years in jail, are only two examples out of hundreds of Muslims who have been similarly jailed, tortured and even killed on false charges.

 

This pattern changed in October 2008 when Maharashtra’ s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) that was investigating the September 2008 Malegaon blasts arrested a Hindu preacher Sadhvi Pragya, a self-styled God man Swami Dayanand Pande and Lt Col Purohit, a serving officer of the Indian Army. All the arrested belong to Hindu Nationalist organizations including a Hindu Supremacist group called Abhinav Bharat. The Shiv Sena, the BJP and the RSS condemned the Maharashtra ATS, and vilified its chief, Hemant Karkare, claiming he was part of a political conspiracy and declaring that "Hindus could not be terrorists". LK Advani changed his mind about his policy on the police and made rabble rousing speeches to huge gatherings in which he denounced the ATS for daring to cast aspersions on holy men and women.

 

On the November 25 newspapers reported that the ATS was investigating the high profile VHP Chief Pravin Togadia’s possible role in the Malegaon blasts. The next day, in an extraordinary twist of fate, Hemant Karkare was killed in the Mumbai Attacks. The chances are that the new chief whoever he is, will find it hard to withstand the political pressure that is bound to be brought on him over the Malegaon investigation.

 

While the Sangh Parivar does not seem to have come to a final decision over whether or not it is anti-national and suicidal to question the police, Arnab Goswami, anchorperson of Times Now television, has stepped up to the plate. He has taken to naming, demonising and openly heckling people who have dared to question the integrity of the police and armed forces. My name and the name of the well-known lawyer Prashant Bhushan have come up several times. At one point, while interviewing a former police officer, Arnab Goswami turned to camera: "Arundhati Roy and Prashant Bhushan," he said, "I hope you are watching this. We think you are disgusting." For a TV anchor to do this in an atmosphere as charged and as frenzied as the one that prevails today, amounts to incitement as well as threat, and would probably in different circumstances have cost a journalist his or her job.

 

So according to a man aspiring to be the next prime minister of India, and another who is the public face of a mainstream TV channel, citizens have no right to raise questions about the police. This in a country with a shadowy history of suspicious terror attacks, murky investigations, and fake "encounters" . This in a country that boasts of the highest number of custodial deaths in the world and yet refuses to ratify the International Covenant on Torture. A country where the ones who make it to torture chambers are the lucky ones because at least they’ve escaped being "encountered" by our Encounter Specialists. A country where the line between the Underworld and the Encounter Specialists virtually does not exist.

 

How should those of us whose hearts have been sickened by the knowledge of all of this view the Mumbai attacks, and what are we to do about them? There are those who point out that US strategy has been successful inasmuch as the United States has not suffered a major attack on its home ground since 9/11. However, some would say that what America is suffering now is far worse. If the idea behind the 9/11 terror attacks was to goad America into showing its true colors, what greater success could the terrorists have asked for? The US army is bogged down in two unwinnable wars, which have made the United States the most hated country in the world. Those wars have contributed greatly to the unraveling of the American economy and who knows, perhaps eventually the American empire. (Could it be that battered, bombed Afghanistan, the graveyard of the Soviet Union, will be the undoing of this one too?) Hundreds of thousands people including thousands of American soldiers have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. The frequency of terrorist strikes on U.S allies/agents (including India) and U.S interests in the rest of the world has increased dramatically since 9/11. George Bush, the man who led the US response to 9/11 is a despised figure not just internationally, but also by his own people. Who can possibly claim that the United States is winning the war on terror?

 

Homeland Security has cost the US government billions of dollars. Few countries, certainly not India, can afford that sort of price tag. But even if we could, the fact is that this vast homeland of ours cannot be secured or policed in the way the United States has been. It’s not that kind of homeland. We have a hostile nuclear weapons state that is slowly spinning out of control as a neighbour, we have a military occupation in Kashmir and a shamefully persecuted, impoverished minority of more than 150 million Muslims who are being targeted as a community and pushed to the wall, whose young see no justice on the horizon, and who, were they to totally lose hope and radicalise, end up as a threat not just to India, but to the whole world. If ten men can hold off the NSG commandos, and the police for three days, and if it takes half a million soldiers to hold down the Kashmir valley, do the math. What kind of Homeland Security can secure India?

 

Nor for that matter will any other quick fix. Anti-terrorism laws are not meant for terrorists; they’re for people that governments don’t like. That’s why they have a conviction rate of less than 2%. They’re just a means of putting inconvenient people away without bail for a long time and eventually letting them go. Terrorists like those who attacked Mumbai are hardly likely to be deterred by the prospect of being refused bail or being sentenced to death. It’s what they want.

 

What we’re experiencing now is blowback, the cumulative result of decades of quick fixes and dirty deeds. The carpet’s squelching under our feet.

 

The only way to contain (it would be naïve to say end) terrorism is to look at the monster in the mirror. We’re standing at a fork in the road. One sign says Justice, the other Civil War. There’s no third sign and there’s no going back. Choose.

 

MUHAMMAD SHAKEER KS
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/arundhati-roy-mumbai-was-not-indias-911-711720.html

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<a href=”http://panamacitybeachhotels.blogspot.com/2008/12/playa-bonita-hotel-and-resort-in-panama.html”>Playa Bonita Beach Hotel and Resort  </a>is 20 minutes west of Panama, 40 minutes away from Tocumen International Airport (PTY), 15 minutes to the Panama Canal’s visitors center in Miraflores locks.  It’s an excellent location for those who wish to experience much of what Panama has to give its visitors on their Panama vacation.  Also, this beach resort offers an excellent spa.  At this resort in Panama, you will have a beach resort atmosphere, near to downtown Panama, and near to the Panama Canal.

Surrounded by the Punta Bruja Nature Reserve, with a gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean, the Playa Bonita Resort offers vacationers a natural and private setting which to watch the sun rise over the Pacific, immerse yourself in a natural setting, and experience great service.. 

Bring insect repellent if you are going to explore the surrounding forests, watch the ships lining up at the Panama Canal., Take long walks on the beach .  The Playa Bonita Resort is a large resort with five free form swimming pools.

The Playa Bonita Resort has 300 Deluxe Rooms in total, 15 are one bedroom suites and there are two Presidential suites.  For dining, there are three restaurants and a Lobby Bar.  There is 24 hour room service for you and the Club InterContinental Lounge.  Other services include a concierge, guest relations service, laundry and valet service, a gift shop, staff who speak your language and a heliport are available if you chose to land by helicopter..  There are poolside bars by the pools.  Your rooms, designed with rich wood décor and a touch of ethnic Panamanian style,  provide all the modern amenities you could desire such as 36-inch TVs with pay-per-view movies, VCRs, wireless Internet, direct-dial phones with voice mail, in-room printer and fax, mini bars and coffeemakers.  The beds are comfortable, the rooms have terrific ocean views with tiled floors and there are hair dryers, robes, slippers, and plenty of toiletries.

You will find at Playa Bonita that the dining experience includes  formal indoor and outdoor dining.  Gourmet chef  John Haueter will even whip up something extra special should you wish a gourmet  delight served in your hotel room.

The Spa at the resort.  The gym is air conditioned with a nice view of the Pacific ocean, with modern exercise equipment, a sauna room and a Jacuzzi. Definitely visit and stay in shape!  The Bonita Del Mar Spa offers outdoor massage, seaweed wraps, facials, soothing stress relief treatments.
Day trips from the hotel include 18 hole par 72 golf at Tucan Club championship golf course minutes away from the Resort. Daytrips can be booked for visits to the Panama Canal, and the historical district of Panama city.  Take the Gamboa Rainforest Aerial Tram only 45 minutes away.  Take a wildlife observation safari trip on the Panama Canal shores, go salt water fishing trips for Tuna, wahoo, sea bass, marlin, and sail fish,.  You can also book sailing and boat trips to the Pearl Islands.  Visit the Embera Cultural village and see the life of Panama’s original inhabitants .  For bird watchers, there is an endless supply of tropical birds to witness.

The Playa Bonita Resort is one of the luxury hotel resorts in Panama you could visit that will provide you with a taste of all that Panama has to offer.

Veraz
http://www.articlesbase.com/hotels-articles/playa-bonita-resort-and-spa-in-panama-681534.html

Planning a vacation may be fairly easy, but planning to make sure your vacation is the best it can be may take more work. If you want your vacation to include sun, surf, sand, and solitude, you may want to consider going to one of the world’s best beach resort options.

Common Perks of The Best Beach Resorts

Besides the common elements of offering spectacular sights with the ocean, the sunset, the sunrise, the unending beach, and the serenity that surrounds you, a beach resort offers perks that will amaze, relax, and inspire you. With the amenities offered by a beach resort, having the dream vacation of your life is possible at the best beach resort.

When you want to plan the best beach resort vacation possible, make a list of what you want to have included in your options. Many beach resort options offer perks that will help make your stay more enjoyable. You may also find a beach resort that will offer packages which will include many local things to see and do. Buying a package at a beach resort and staying at an all inclusive beach resort may not only save you time with planning and making arrangements for your days, but may also end up saving you money.

Some of the things you might want in a beach resort will be available with an all inclusive beach resort. Having your meals available at no additional charge, enjoying the pool and spa that may be provided, taking advantage of the child care which may be offered, and using the optional room service to enjoy a meal in your beach resort room can add a dimension to your vacation that will increase the fun and adventure you are looking for. With the addition of possible entertainment available, you will have everything you need right there at your beach resort.

Many beach resort options offer packages which may include local sights, activities, and entertainment. Visiting an aquarium, taking a whale watching or dolphin sighting tour, visiting some of the local museums or gardens, and even going to an amusement park, are some of the common packages that many of the best beach resort options all around the world, offer.

When you are looking for all the perks you can get from a beach resort, you will want to check into a beach resort in the area you want to visit. With the beach right there outside the doors to the resort, you will have access to all the sun, sand, and surf that you can handle.

Areas to Look At

When you know what type of beach resort you want, finding it in an area of the world that you want to visit will make it even more special. From the beaches of the United Stated, to the beaches of France, to the beaches of Mexico, and even Australia, there is so much to see, and more options for a good beach resort than you might think of.

Most beach resort options offer many different themes, packages, and perks. If you are into art, you might want a beach resort that will offer museum passes and maybe an art expo.

If you love gourmet food and wine, you may want to stay at a beach resort that will offer you a sample of local wine appreciation. With vineyards to visit, wine tasting to be done, and the romance that comes along with those things, you will have your taste buds awakened with the best of the vine, and a package from one of the best beach resort options available. The options are endless, and there are many packages and perks available when you vacation at the best beach resort you can find.

Frank Demming
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/beach-resort-perks-677119.html

Located on its own private island atoll of swaying palm trees and pristine white beaches, Club Med Kani is one of the most refined Club Med Resorts available to guests, a true green pearl in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

Club Med Kani incorporates private Lagoon Suites luxurious bungalows perched above a brilliant turquoise lagoon on stilts. With panoramic views of the Indian Ocean, guests can snorkel from their own doorstep!

Limitless all-inclusive gourmet dining at the Resort is at two venues. The buffet style, open-air Velhi Main Restaurant serves international and Asian cuisine with an abundance of fresh fish served oven cooked, grilled or sashimi style. The Kandu Speciality Restaurant serves a la carte dinners under the stars with sensational views over the lagoon.

Duration : 0:3:54

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Technorati Tags: all-inclusive holidays, club med, club med kani, holiday for couples, kani, maldives, romantic holidays

So, the only time to take the kids is Thanksgiving/Christmas break/Winter break?  You know it is crowded, usually three to four times the usual rates for vacations, but that’s usually the best time to take the kids on vacation. Probably one of the only positive viewpoints about our economy right now is the hotels and cruise lines want your business and they are slashing their prices to get it.

I have researched and found the following deals; I also will give my two cents on it.  For the Caribbean & Mexico, in all my years, I have never seen it this low:

Funjet Vacations is having a HUGE sale, with airfare from $199 round trip to Mexico or the Caribbean during the upcoming holidays!

You can fly roundtrip to Mexico or the Caribbean for as low as 9  when you book a hotel + flight vacation with Funjet Vacations. I have used them, they are fine – just like any travel during busy seasons, call ahead to make sure the flight is on time, get there early and research the hotel. On top of this amazing airfare, save an extra $200 instantly on air/hotel packages when you travel between Dec. 13, 2008 and Jan. 5, 2009. And if that’s not enough – many of the all inclusives also have added values like kids stay, play and eat free at participating hotels. Hurry—this is a limited time offer and deals will sell out fast. Book by Oct. 30, 2008.

Click  on your local airport and you will see deals for all inclusive resorts (which is a personal favorite of mine when travelling with the kids), and if you have traveled during the holidays before – you will see how low these rates are. I found a 7nt, four star, all inclusive resort in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic with air from New York for $1,099 per person, and kids are even less. I like all inclusives with my kids because there is so much for them to do and especially with the eight year old, I don’t have to worry about where he is, just like a cruise ship, he really can’t go far and is always having fun. I don’t have to give them money every day for juice or food – it’s all included.

Let’s talk a little about All -Inclusives. The all inclusives are mainly located in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico and a few in the Bahamas. I can give you many amazing deals, but there are a few questions to keep in mind for choosing the right resort.

1) Do you want to explore and get away from the resort daily? If so, all inclusives may not be for you.

2)  Are you looking for a beach get away where you are being catered to in every way? If yes, all inclusives are perfect.

3) Do you like buffets or a choice of a number of restaurants, some upscale? If you don’t really care about the food, you can look at the less expensive all inclusives, if you want fine dining and diverse menu choices look closely at the resort description, you will probably want a 4 or 5 star all inclusive.

4) Is this a close family vacation or one of those everybody does what they want vacation? All inclusives vary on kids programs, some have kid activities others have full blown programs for the entire day. If you want some special time with your child, don’t pick the one with the best kid program, because he/she will want to be with the other kids.
 
Advice: Especially during the holiday season, find all inclusives that have more than one pool.

Mexico - although travelling around Mexico is fun, since it is so inexpensive, an all inclusive can still be worth it especially in the less touristy areas such as Playa del Carmen which is about 30 minutes from Cancun. Cancun has both all inclusives and regular hotels, personally I loved it at 22yrs, but now with a family, I don’t love the hustle and bustle, there are so many big hotels, bars, restaurants – it is a young people’s scene. Some 30+ adults do enjoy Cancun if they want to get away inexpensively for a good time.

Jamaica – I have heard a lot of negatives’ about Jamaica and yes, the natives will go up and try to sell you stuff, and yes, if you are alone in an unknown area it could be dangerous, but for the most part, I don’t know why Jamaica has gotten a bad rap. I have been there seven times and just love it. Yes, if you wander from the resort a Rasta may ask you if you want some illegal substance, just smile and say no, walk away. On any island, in any situation, never go somewhere unknown alone with a local.

I have been to both all inclusives and regular hotels in Jamaica, and I would say unless you are a very independent traveler who wants to explore daily, stay in the all inclusive and venture out a few times. There are some beautiful cliffs, sunsets and beaches there. The people are mellow and nice. They take you out of the fast paced environment we are all used to.

Dominican Republic: this is one of those countries where the scenery/beaches, etc are outstanding – just not the kind of place you would want to venture out on a daily basis. This is why the all inclusives there are so good. The price is right; the big difference is obviously price – the more expensive, the better the food, the more choice, the more “extra” amenities. All of them have plenty to offer families.

Here are a number of companies I know well and trust – that are offering great deals both during holiday breaks and through out winter:

Apple Vacations featuring Deluxe to Luxury All Inclusives:

Apple Vacations is a trusted company. They own their own planes which allows for the “package” pricing to be so low. Package pricing means airfare, hotel and transfers to and from the hotel. They have a big sale going on right now with an All inclusive resort chain called Dreams.  They have a number of all inclusive resorts through out the Caribbean, and they are all Deluxe – Luxury. The difference between a three star and a five star all inclusive besides price – there are more choices of restaurants, there are gourmet, high end restaurants, there are more times to have access to food and drink, usually 24.7 – room service and all -  not one penny more! An example, two adults are $849pp for air, transfers and 3nights. I believe they have three, four and seven night packages for winter and they are all on sale right now.  Children are usually free- all you pay is airfare. Read up on each resort, child friendly ones will have children programs, and at this level of resort, they are excellent!

BookIt.com featuring family all inclusives and resorts:

BookIt.com has a way to find the newest resorts, buy up plenty of rooms and practically give them away. I can tell you if you go, and chat with people at the pool, they will be pissed when they find out how much less you pay. BookIt basically gets a certain amount of rooms for the great price and then stops selling it.

Since it is new, I can’t give a thumbs up or down, but I don’t think BookIt would push a resort that was not up to par. This is a very big resort, so you have to be ok with a lot of people and a few buildings; however, it is a little city in itself, so you never have to leave the resort if you do not want to. The Majestic Elegance Resort in Punta Cana (the best place for all inclusives in the Dominican Republic) is offering $89per person, per night!

Think about it, food, drinks including alcohol, activities, pools, supervised children’s programs for ages 3 -14 yrs (9am to 6pm daily) and more. This one is also a 24hr all inclusive, which means food and room service is available 24/7. This is a big deal because it means you do not have to be on someone else’s schedule. Some resorts have lunch from 12-2, breakfast from 7-10am. I personally don’t like those kinds of schedules and love the open 24hr all inclusive, but that is a personal choice. Check out this deal and others like it here.

Ilizabeth Sutera
http://www.articlesbase.com/destinations-articles/holidays-winter-deals-619520.html

The title looks so attractive and tempting but that is not all. Imagine this: You are flying 40,000 feet above ground with the best service you can get inclusive of full gourmet meals, privacy, free lounge access and all other amenities that come with a first class accommodation. You get to avoid the crowded economy seats wherein you have to endure long hours of sitting on one position while trying to avoid the seat reclining in front of your to hit your face.

Every time you fly, you always want to seat in front portion of the plane receiving all the pampering and luxuries you can get. But then, you have to settle in seats where a majority of the people is seating. Crowd, noise, tight space and alleys make everything so uncomfortable in the economy class! It sounds like an instant nightmare already.

Thinking that there are people on board on the same plane who are enjoying themselves on the flight while you are hopelessly praying that the plane will arrive in your destination in the next minute so that your agony will end makes it all so ridiculous. But then, all these happened because you simply cannot afford the price of first class tickets. When you have no choice but to fly economy, there is nothing wrong with that except you have to endure the noise and the cramped spaces in between aisles and I between seats.

If, there is a way to fly first class with really cheap airline ticket, hat would be good news to all. Just thinking about hearing the voice of the flight attendant serving you with the finest wine on board is already music to your ears. You see yourself wandering around the plane with some of the people in top class society enjoying every minute of your flight and hope that the plane would fly a little longer.

One way to seat first class with a really cheap airline ticket is to look for several airline companies other than those you see on your TV screen. Chances are, these smaller airline companies offer airline tickets that allow you to fly first class at the price of an economy class. Although you are still allowed to check on the ticket prices of big airline companies, if your priority is to get really cheap airline tickets that will send you directly on the first class seat you need to look for other small airlines offering the same flight to your destination.

First class seats are often much cheaper with smaller airlines than bigger airlines. If you are worried about the luxury, other smaller airlines do have great service that can be comparable with big airline companies.

One more thing: off-beat carriers often offer cheap airline ticket for their first class seat compared to known airline companies because they do not pay too much on advertisements and marketing stints.

There are also some business class carriers that offer first class flights at a much cheaper rate. Tickets on these carriers might surprise you if one first class ticket could cost around $3000-$7000 from US to some countries in Europe, these carriers can give you as much as 80% on savings. That’s all the money’s worth for trying alternatives.

Lastly, keeping your frequent flyer points will take you in first class. If you fly often, you earn certain points. And those points are extra miles that can be converted to enough miles for your next first class flights, and then you get a really cheap airline ticket.

So, the next time you want to fly think of these ways and surely, you will be one of the few who are lucky to have the luxury of seating on wide couch and enjoying every minute of the flight without spending too much of your fortune.

Jed Baguio
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/how-to-get-a-cheap-first-class-airline-ticket-88873.html

Velas Vallarta Suite Resort & Convention Center in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico offers an all-inclusive ocean-front paradise for families and business conventions. Enjoy spacious suites and fun-filled days on white sand beaches, plus gourmet dining, tennis, spa and swimming at our all-inclusive Puerto Vallarta resort.

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Technorati Tags: Cntr4, Conv, GV

http://bookit.com/mexico/cancun/hotels/ceiba-del-mar-beach-and-spa-resort-boutique-gourmet-all-inclusive/?adid=So_3
Accommodations at the Ceiba del Mar Beach and Spa Boutique Gourmet All-Inclusive Resort range to suit all tastes and budgets. Guests will have room choices such as the Junior Suite, Deluxe Room,Master Suite, and the Adults-Only Penthouse from which to choose.

Depending on the room type chosen, amenities at the Ceiba del Mar Beach Resort & Spa will include features such as 300 thread-count cotton sheets, pillow menu, complimentary wireless internet access, private balcony or terrace with hammock for relaxing or dining, full bathroom with shower and a separate bathtub overlooking the room through shuttered doors, international cable TV and DVD/CD player, in-room safe, enhanced turn down service with complimentary Mexican handcraft gift, fine cotton bath robes and slippers, twice daily maid service, two telephones, data port on telephone, air-conditioning with individual climate control, alarm clock and radio, ceiling fan and personalized minibar service at upon request, exclusive bath amenities, hairdryer, and exclusive bath amenities.

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Technorati Tags: ceiba del mar, ceiba del mar cancun, ceiba del mar mexico, ceiba del mar puerto morelos, ceiba del mar resort, ceiba del mar rooms, la ceiba del mar

Aruba. If this word makes you think of Paradise, of pristine beaches and a vibrant nightlife, of beautiful sites, of great all inclusive vacation resorts and perfect weather, you will not be disappointed.

Aruba is a charming contradiction, an island of “two faces”. Its milky beaches and transparent blue waters will make you feel like you are the first person to walk on the sand and soak your feet. But its Vegas-style casinos, parties and shows reveal the other, wilder side. Aruba is the perfect marriage of entertainment and leisure, an island where there really is something for everyone.

All inclusive resorts and Aruba are practically synonymous.

Engulfed in its ambience and relaxed atmosphere, the last thing you want to do is search for your wallet, worry about paying for daily meals and constantly watch the family vacation budget.

With the affordability and convenience of all inclusive resorts, Aruba visitors can forget all about that and let Aruba charm and spirit sweep them off their feet.

Aruba all inclusive resorts are some of the best in the world. There are over twenty five resorts on the island, but the best, highest rated ones are:

Wyndham Aruba Beach Resort
Marriott Resort and Stellaris Casino
Renaissance Aruba Resort and Casino
Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort
Radisson Aruba Resort and Casino
Aruba Grand Beach Resort and Casino
Allegro Aruba by Occidental

Aruba calling card is its year round perfect weather. Aruba is located well below the hurricane belt. It is one of the three islands, along with Bonaire and Curacao, located outside the hurricane belt. The average annual temperature is 83 degrees Fahrenheit, and rainfall amounts to just 17 inches a year, most of which occurs during the months of October, and November. It is rare and warm, lasting no more than 15 minutes. If you are planning a vacation of fun in the sun, picking Aruba is almost a guarantee you will not be stuck in your hotel room, watching gray clouds pass over the roof.

If the blue clear waters call your name, and in Aruba, they certainly will, you will find the island full of options.

Snorkeling, windsurfing, deep sea fishing, paragliding, jet skiing, Aruba is happy to oblige. If you can scuba, or want to learn, Aruba is world-famous for its coral reefs and friendly waters. At your all inclusive resort, many water activities are free. Others, like scuba, can be conveniently arranged by the concierge.

Exploring Aruba is easy with an island tour. Better yet, consider a Jeep tour. Driving is fun and the sites are incredible. Aruba most photographed spot is its natural bridge, a coral formation rising 25 feet above the sea. Kids love guessing what the cactuses, which dot the island outside the resorts, look like.

Popular sites include:

Oranjestad city tour
Wilhelmina Park
Fort Zoutman
Aruba Historical Museum
Willem III Tower
Archaeological Museum Aruba
Numismatic Museum
Natural bridge
Hooiberg Mountain
Fontein, Guadirikiri and Huliba caves
California Dunes
California Lighthouse
Chapel of Alto Vista
Church of Santa Anna in Noord
Arikok National Park
De Olde Molen, an old Dutch windmill from Holland
Balashi and Bushiribana gold mill ruins
Boca Prins Cove
San Nicolas

If you love gourmet food, Aruba does not disappoint on this front either. Every resort has its own buffet, featuring local and American cuisine, and plenty of seafood. One or two sit down restaurants inside of each resort serve dinner, exquisitely delicious and fresh.

After a long, relaxing day of being pampered and soaking up the sun at your all inclusive resort, enjoy one of Aruba Vegas style shows. The Broadway and Latin shows are long-time staples, along with the hilarious Do not Tell Mama show. You can also try your hand at poker or blackjack inside one of Aruba dozen casinos. Back at your all inclusive resort, drinks are, of course, included. Order your favorite and do not worry about the wallet at an all inclusive Aruba resort, you do not need it.

It is true what they say in Aruba. It is One Happy Island.

George Allen
http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/all-inclusive-resorts-in-aruba-58259.html