Atanu Dey On India's Development

India Funding Pakistani Jihadi Groups

October 31, 2005 by Atanu Dey

Money is fungible.

If I give money to my neighbor to help out with his grocery purchases, I may be acting out of good neighborly feelings. But what if he is an alcoholic? By giving him money, I could as well be funding his alcohol purchase. Even if I were to buy groceries and have them delivered to his home, I am again freeing up his own money for booze. Worse yet, what if my neighbor actually builds bombs in his basement which he frequently lobs over the fence and destroys parts of my house? Surely, giving him grocery money out of misplaced pity is the same as my paying him for his bombs which he uses against me.

Easy enough to understand, isn’t it? But which part of this simple argument do the sainted leaders of India don’t understand? Giving Pakistan US$25,000,000 is the same as partly funding jihadis that terrorise India. Let’s be clear about this. India is a generous country. It sent US$5 million to help the US with the recovery post Katrina. Now it is giving $25 million to a country which is buying 80 F16s from the US. The cost of these F16s would feed, clothe, educate, and entertain hundreds of thousands of impoverished Pakistanis. Instead, Pakistan is spending scarce resources and starving its own people just so that India can be bombed if the need arose in the near future. And just to help the Pakistanis out with their avowed goal of destroying India, India is sending them a $25 million check!

Centuries of being a dhimmi does that to one. Dhimmitude is hard-coded in the Indian psyche. There is no compulsion right now to pay the jaziya (the tax that non-Muslims pay to Muslim rulers) Indians used to pay. But old habits die hard and I am sure that however disguised, the $25 million is a simple jaziya that dhimmis must pay.

There are millions of children running naked and hungry around in India. Twenty-five million dollars would have helped them live a somewhat human existence. But now we are funding Pakistani jihadis who will bomb a few more cities. Seriously, we deserve what we get because we are really abyssmally and eternally stupid.

Update Nov 3rd: See the followup here in response to the comments.

  • Praveen

    Well said.Unless we break out of the nutshell of Dhimmi and Sepoy mindset, every one and sundry will continue to take India on a ride.

  • http://delhi1029.blogspot.com/ cynical nerd

    Good point.
    Here are some more statistics. The U.S. State department has cleared the sale of 55 brand new F-16s and 26 refurbished ones at an estimated value of $5 billion, mostly

    paid out by the American tax payer. In addition, it has signed a $1 billion deal for advanced Eyeris Airborne Surveillance System from Sweden’s Saab and Ericsson. Finally, Pakistani PM Shaukat Aziz goes to Russia and mulls over defense imports from that country. All this happened just days after the earthquake.

  • Vikram Asrani

    I’m all with you on this. Its unfortunate that our “saintly leaders” have not heard that charity begins at home. That said, I don’t believe that the so called $25mm donation will make it to Pakistan. The whole thing is probably an eyewash to fill the personal coffers of the corrupt and to portray a false image of India.

  • http://abhishek.weblogs.us Abhishek

    i entirely agree with you. India’s attitude towards Pakistan will only cost us dearly.

  • http://uspeed.blogspot.com Sudeep

    couldnt agree more.

  • http://www.broadbandblog.in Abhishek

    Atanu,
    Dont you feel “scared” to invite the warth of the secular people? They would line up to protest about what you have written. Your assertions, according to them are based on plain lies. There is no “proof” per se that Pakistan is supporting the “terrorists” or rather millitants ( let’s use the BBC’s laguage. If in Britain it’s terrorists but elsewhere it’s millitants).

    I mean, men of stature like Kuldip Nayar have been moving heaven and earth for “normalising the relationship” between the two nations. They even held a candle light vigil, in case you aren’t aware. Then we have people to people contacts which increase mututal understanding and help to reduce the “artificial distances”. Even if Pakistan gives “diplomatic and moral suport to freedom fighters”.Oh, dont forget the innocent Kashmiris who feel left out because India hasn’t been giving them enough economic aid. The likes of Hurriyat would go out of the way to aid and assist the two sides to come to a mutual dialogue.

    Elsewhere, if you look from Paki’s perspective, why blame them? They have full right to defend themselves. Let them buy whatever version of fighter jets they are planning to buy.

    I am sure, the likes of secularists would definitely oppose the concept of “dhimmitude”. This is but a natural humantarian gesture. We may not have enough funds for ourselves, but heck, it’s our neighbour in distress. So many people consumed by the killer earthquake.We ought to open up our purse strings.

    Of course, the English media would extend this gesture whole heartedly. Here is the spirit of a “true nation”- to help the dispossesed neighbour to help stand on it’s feet. We as Indians should feel proud to help the Pakis in their time of distress. In any case, how could you assume that they would use this money to nuke us?

    The worthies mentioned are not enough. Let’s see. N Ram of The Hindu who has been a vocal advocate of the peace process. Shabana Azmi, Arundhati Roy, AID and ASHA- the NGO’s who are doing a yeoman’s job to improve ties- headed by Sandip Pandey; Natwar Singh who as a foreign minister believes strongly in Nehruvian vision. Mani Shankar Aiyar- who wants to see the pipeline from Iran go through Pakistan so that it can benefit them to the tune of millions of dollars.Natwar Singh, even if indicted in the Volcker report, isnt guilty. Has any court of law of proven him guilty? Well, even our worthy Prime Minister issued a statement from the office that he isnt guilty. Probably Sonia Gandhi would say that soon. We let Bofors pass us. 21 years and it was CBI’s fault for not pulling up the socks for so long to carry out the investigations properly.

    For that reason, it is the bigotism and communalism in the name of Hindutva- the likes of BJP and RSS that have held hostage to this nation.

    I just cut my nose to spite the face.

  • http://citizendiplomacy.blogspot.com/ Dan

    Atanu,
    Couldn’t you make the argument Indian charity and compassion during Pakistan’s time of need might make a positive impression on at least a few Pakistanis. Maybe the aid provided will change a couple of hearts and minds and they will be less likely to “throw a bomb over your fence”. Soft power can be quite influential.
    And as far as the F-16′s are concerned…let’s be honest, don’t you think the recent agreement between the American and Indian govenment on the exchange of nuclear energy technology does more than compensate for the sale of the fighter jets to Pakistan?
    But, I’ve been wrong before…If I’m wrong now let me have it!!! I’m trying to learn here.

    Atanu’s response: Dan, India has been playing “nice” for a long enough time. Even a cursory look at the history will convince you of that. But every kindness is repaid with further horror. Bus trip of Mr Vajpayee was quickly followed by the Kargil war in which a thousand Indian soldiers lost their lives. Of course the Indian leaders don’t care, since it was no skin off their backs. The Pakistanis even mutilated the bodies of Indian soldiers. The butcher of Kargil? General Musharraf. The same murderous asshole that the Indian government invites over to India and lays out the red carpet. No skin off the Indian leaders’ backs. I would like to see some of their children killed by Musharraf and then I would like to know how many millions they send over to support the Pakistani military.

    Dan, you are an American. Want to know a dirty little secret? Read Dollar Auctions and Deadly Games if you have a few minutes.

  • http://www.broadbandblog.in Abhishek

    Dan, it’s very naive to expect that Pakis would reciprocate Indian’sgesture. Their whole existence is based on animosity towards India.

    The reasons are far too complex to be detailed here. Yet, more than “dhimmitude” it’s plain simple cowardice of the bunch of idiots who are “ruling” India. Would Isreal reach out to Palestine in time of distress? And would Palestine reciprocate with open arms? They would perhaps burn Isreali aid.

    I have no idea why Indians tend to forget the straightforward rule of dharma. Why? Why? Why?

  • http://bombatbengluru.blogspot.com/ Prasanna

    Agree with you absolutely. I posted on a similar vein too.

    I think we do need new jargon in place of the old to get rid of this dhimmi mindset.

    http://bombatbengluru.blogspot.com/2005/10/terrorist-attacks-just-before-diwali.html

  • http://perspicuous.typepad.com/niranjani Raj

    This is beyond comprehension!

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  • http://opinion.paifamily.com Nitin

    Atanu,

    I think you should have explained about how it adds up to saving ’2000′ lives. You made that point very well on my blog. I received several emails that appreciated your point :-)

  • http://www.dhwanit.org/jot/ dp

    My understanding of the $25m is that its a pledge (as have many other countries) that will be used by the UN in rebuilding the quake affected areas. Its akin to having a member of your family, a member of your neighbor’s family, along with the members of all the families in your community to decide how the pledged money will be allocated to help rebuild part of your neighbor’s house damaged by a natural disaster.

    Even though I’m in agreement with your statement that money in Pakistan’s coffers generally have an earmarked sum for Kashmir activities, there is a certain moral ground to be traversed in pledging money on humanitarian grounds, when nature turns deadly.

    But yes, along with the sainted nature of adopting such moral ground, the politicians of India fail to achieve a balance toward national security. Infact I think it shouldn’t be an even balance, but a major bias geared toward national interests. I wonder if Indian politicians are capable of such thought.

  • http://citizendiplomacy.blogspot.com/ Dan

    Abhishek,
    Based on your comment it seems to me you don’t think there will ever be a time where their will be a peaceful co-existence between Pakistan and India. I guess I can understand your realist pessemisim. History has provided you with plenty of ammunition for your argument.
    Call me navie but I can’t give up on at least the possibility that two rival groups can work out their disagreements through a series concentrated and dedicated measures in an effort to reduce hostilities. Its about shifting the context of the strategic relationship. Its also about maintaining the political will and stanima to fight through setbacks.

  • http://theblacktrain.blogspot.com Ayesha

    Atanu,

    I stumbled across your post from an orkut community and wasn’t entirely surprised by its contents. I was expecting something of this sort and I know many more such posts will come.

    On the onset, let me just say that we are very grateful to India for this generous offer. It is highly appreciated. But now let me put some things in perspective.

    One, you don’t need to worry about the money going to support militant groups or buying F-16s. We, the nation, have seen immense destruction resulting from the deadly earthquake- 73,000+ dead on the latest count. So we have greater and more pressing issues to worry about than funding militant groups in Kashmir.

    Moving on to your concerns regarding accountability of the earthquake funds. Musharraf has pledged and is ensuring that there will be complete book-keeping of the relief funds received. Each donor country will be informed of the way the money is spent. In fact, just yesterday the PM informed the press that a private auditing firm will be hired to double check the funding. So please put those worries at rest. Further, did you know Pakistan is actually considering cancelling the F-16 purchase? [http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2005%5c10%5c26%5cstory_26-10-2005_pg1_3] Yes, we are aware that the money used to purchase F-16 can be better utilised elsewhere. (On a tangential note, what is so wrong with Pakistan beefing up its fleet, when India does the exact same thing? Really?)

    Finally by attributing the offer to “dhimmitude”, you ridicule the generous sentiments of the offer itself. Please trust things a little. That will have a lot of positive effect.

    Atanu’s response: I see the transfer of resources to the Pakistani military (which rules the land and therefore any transfer is a transfer to the military) as having any real effect on the people in Pakistan who need help. Your analysis will of course vary.

    Musharraf’s promises? Shirley you are kidding.

    So also your understanding of history will vary with mine. What are to you are valiant heroes, to me they are barbarous invadors who raped and pillaged and murdered the ancestors of the very people who now name their most destructive weapons after those tyrants.

    Dhimmi and jaziya are not ideas or concepts that I came up with. I learnt about them on the internet and so can you. Seems real enough to me and I would like to see any refutations of the proposition that Indians giving money for their own destruction is not a sign of dhimmitude.

  • http://jagan.biz Jagan Mohan

    DAN:: ‘Appleasement policy’ anyone?

    Peace with Pakistan cannot be bought with any amount of aid to Pakistan. Not is their goodwill on sale. Trillions of candles lit at the Wagah Border won’t change the Jihadi mindset of the Pakistani population, nor will it solve the Kashmiri Problem.

    Atanu is smack right on the point. Responding to Desi Pundit’s call for Quake Relief, I posted a advisory asking for more scrutiny and caution in donating to Pakistan.
    http://jagan.biz/modules/news/article.php?storyid=114

    News keep pouring in that UNESCO has re-donated its funds to a LeT organisation for relief distribution. Truly disturbing.

    Delhi Bomb Blasts have been forgotten in the festival frenzy, the Guardian of UK lets out a satisfied smile as India ducks and does not say a word, but moves on with opening up of the border to facilitate easier Jihadi movement and the world is fine once again…

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  • http://spaces.msn.com/members/gopalms/ SloganMurugan

    Our Indian politicians are just helping the Pak military goons make quick bucks.

    The Indian politician will be repaid with interest. Some days from now they will join hands and stage a mock war like the one we saw in Kargil.

    I wonder what they have planned for us next!

  • raj mehta

    Totally agree with you mate….$25 million is not a joke for a country like India. Reminds me of Gandhiji going on a fast unto death to force the newly independent Indian nation into giving away 1/3rd of its treasury to Pakistan at a time India and Pakistan were actively involved in a war over Kashmir. Guess the Mahatma would be proud of this latest gesture.

  • http://sanjitkrish.blogspot.com/ Sanjit
  • http://valluvar.blogspot.com Shiv

    For an economist your picture of economic aid is rather warped. Or is this deliberate, so that you can have a nice rant ? Either way truth is that the aid forces the recipient to buy products of that value from national suppliers. Its not a transfer of funds into the account of the LeT! Aid is a leveraged tool to open markets. This aid is a blow to pakistan, which as you know is a failed state. Ultimately there will be no pakistan. I was predicting this in about 10 years, but the earthquake has probably hastened the inevitable. The NWFP and related areas will probably go with Afghanistan (ethnic ties) sind and punjab (the important bits) will stagger around for a while try independence and finally probably enter some kind of federal arrangement with India (like the EU). The term “soft power” is what this is aid is all about. India already projects tremendous soft power in the region. Though banned Indian movies are very popular in Pakistan and beyond. The image of a caring neighbour (untrue ofcourse but useful) gets mindshare. The tragic part is that this aid probably be a small stepping stone in the destruction of the 2 nation theory and deprive you of a nice juicy rantable :)

  • Anirudh Pathak

    GIMME SOME GYAN…

    Going through the posts here gives me the impression that most of us here have a decent enough handle on the India-pakistan issue to make confident statements. I cannot make such a claim.

    However, growing up in a ‘forces’ family and having a proud heritage of freedom fighters and forces personnel all around me, my basic instinct makes me agree with Atanu and the others here.

    Personally I feel that anyone who comments in favor of Pakistan turning a new leaf and forgetting their anti-india campaign even for a couple of days just has to live in India for 3-4 years to change their opinion – permanently.

    In a country where a maulana can declare that the earthquake happened because of too much vulgarity on television and get people to publicly burn their television sets to prevent such tragedies in the future … how hard could it be to convince anyone that India is the perpetrator of all evil in Pakistan and to gather an army of believing idiots to wage terror on India.

    Tell me if i’m wrong, but my naive understanding tells me that the basic measure of your success in Pakistani politics is your anti-India quotient.

    rgds

    -A

  • Rupinder

    Atanu:

    I appreciate your apprehension on the terror threat to India, but I cannot agree with you simply because I feel as a responsible democracy and a neighbor India should do her bit to help out the poor guys who suffered in the quake. I understand your point on not providing aid to Pak, but it is not that Pak will be able to manage itself without aid. When the tsunami struck India we refused monetary aid because we felt we could handle it, which we did. I beleive we should be proud of the fact that despite being a Third World country we are still able to provide aid to our neighbors and even USA for that matter. Also, if we did not give the aid we would fall in the eyes of the Kashmiris. At the end of the day, the quake did not target an Indian or a Paki – It targeted human lives regardless of where they belonged to. My attitude is, we did what was right and we should think positively about it. If something good comes out of it, all the better. If something untoward happens, I suppose we should be forgiving. It is hard I know, but remember – it takes more guts to offer the other cheek for the greater cause. A strong and a vibrant Pak is in the best interests of India.

    I know you will treat this as BS and I respect your cynicism. But hatred never solves any problems.

  • tanveer

    Atanu: You are a Phd in economics, I am sure you know enough how the world works. There isnt always a meaningful reasoning to everything more so in the world of politics. BY your logic since India itself spends so much on nuclear weapons it has no right to recieve any kind of aid. And since the US spends more on military than the rest of the world put together it has no right to talk of peace. Yet it also funds the UN and then bypasses it when it suits her. No country that spends on military should have recieved any aid during the devestating tsunami. But thats not the way the world works. As for your comments on muslim invaders you should remember “An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind” Also, if we are so concerned about our past we should shut down the british high commission . At least till the british arrived india was still the richest country. Just by changing the name of the missile doesnt change its character. Be it Prithvi or ghauri they’ll still kill an equal number of people.

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  • tanveer

    On your calling the world stupid: I few months ago I myself has my msn id as “99% of the world is stupid” This was right after seeing hotel Rawanda and generally questioning the sanity of people. Also, I think the 2 kinds of economic systems we have in place capitalism and socialism both are built on the core idea that most people are stupid and they both suggest ways of keeping these masses in control, be it through direct legistlation as in case of socialism or control through money.

  • http://mindtree.blogspot.com Sudhakar Kasturi

    Atanu,
    I fully agree with your views on the genorisity of Indian aid to Pakistan. I wonder how many Pakistanis would have said “Thank you my brother”. History has always shown the animosity that Pakistan had towards India 1947,1971, Kargil… How many young Indian soldiers and civilians have died in Kashmir -in Indian soil -by the handwork of terrorists of Pak? Will a fellow Pakistani come forward and openly say” Yes. What we have committed is a holocaust. We are sorry”? Twenty five Millions.. enough to clean the slums of Mumbai and give them proper shelters. Enough to give many villages in NE sustainable electricity generation. Who cares? The goody goody attitude is going to cost dearly for us.

  • http://sudhathoughts.blogspot.com Sudhakar Kasturi

    Hi,
    Sorry, I have wrongly published my blog id in the earlier response. Correct one is as given in this.
    sorry folks.

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