It's not about Osama; it's about Obama

After a decade of drama, the world’s most wanted man ever- Osama bin Laden- was ‘officially’ pronounced dead- officially, because we have heard unconfirmed reports of his death before. Over all these years, I have never believed the reports/rumors about his death- for three main reasons:

1. I never believed he exists- especially after the Indian (bollywood) flick, Tere Bin Laden. But that’s just me.

2. If at all he existed, he must have been very, very popular with the masses. How else was it possible for a man, who was being chased by modern foreign armies and all of whose colleagues were tracked down, to remain in hiding for 11 years?

3. Now let’s just assume that he was a real person and was very popular with the people and could hide successfully. I remember the day they got Saddam Hussein. He was subjected to public shame and embarrassment and hanged in front of the whole world. His execution was publicized tremendously and well-documented by international media. So, naturally my eyes were fixed on the day America gets Osama- they would arrest him alive, take him to Guantanamo, torture him, maybe put him to trial and give him the most innovative death sentence ever- in front of all those who lost their loved ones in the 9/11 attacks.

But, as it turns out, things didn’t happen that way. They had to bomb the whole of Afghanistan (when, in the first place, it was a matter of common-sense that he can’t be hiding in Afghanistan itself) before they could even get close to finding him. Thousands of civilians were killed in the bombings while the whole world watched, with coffee mugs in their hands and eyes on their TV sets. The bombings were, of course, justified in the wake of 9/11 attacks.

The Al-Qaeda had taken responsibility for the massacre in which millions of Americans lost their loved-ones and the whole of Afghanistan and the Arab world paid the price for it. If we dismiss the conspiracy theories and believe that Al-Qaeda actually carried out these sophisticated attacks, then they sure as hell weren’t demanding anything like jobs, democracy, etc. They were out avenging some injustice. I’m not saying that it was justified, but they must be out against something or the other (which could be the injustices against Palestinians). This was ruthlessly labeled Islamic terrorism and Muslims all over the world suffered as a result of the Islamophobic wave that followed.

I know of American Muslims who are very patriotic to their country and are very moderate. But there’s no reason why they can’t turn into radicals on being subjected to such stereotyping. Adding the word “Islamic” was an attempt to make the world believe that one has to be a Muslim by faith in order to qualify as a terrorist. During this stereotyping exercise, there is one thing that the world missed- it takes violence to qualify as a terrorist and not a turban. You can be in tuxedos and limos and still be a terrorist.

What followed was a decade of unending bombings (which are here to stay). America vowed to avenge the 9/11 incident. For eleven years and counting, thousands of civilians were killed in these drone attacks, military offensives, etc. – all in search of one person- Osama bin Laden! What is it that makes these attacks any different from the attacks launched to avenge any other injustice? Why don’t they fit into our definition of terrorism?

I don’t know whether I should be sad or happy about Osama’s death. To me, sitting in a faraway land, it honestly doesn’t matter much. If I look casually, it is yet another isolated incident for me. President Obama has said that the world is a “better place” now. But it doesn’t make any difference in my life. I’m more worried about the larger implications of this episode.

As I write this, there are reports coming in about Al-Qaeda’s vow to avenge Osama’s death. So, basically, America has just managed to increase the diameter of the vicious circle of revenge and Zardari has made it to the top of their hit-list. That is because of Pakistan’s alleged role in the incident. Common sense says that it is not possible for the Pak govt. to be unaware of this covert operation (just as 9/11 wasn’t possible without some high-profile internal involvement). That could be totally true. But then, there’s so much of disorder and chaos within Pakistan that it is hard to say which side they were on. It is almost in a state of anarchy. And with all the American aid that they receive, I don’t think they had much of a choice.

Coming back to the larger implications of this episode, there are some very worrying trends:

- The operation was a secret. Not even all people in the U.S. government knew about it- let alone the Pak govt. This happens in the most modern and successful democracy of our times and especially when the head of that democracy has already been felicitated for his efforts towards world peace before he could even make any! And at an unmistakably right time- ahead of the presidential elections scheduled for 2012. So, what is it- a private killing spree?

- Osama could have been easily arrested- given the low-profile he had been maintaining in his lonely mansion. I doubt that there were any arms under his possession. I further doubt that a radical, fundamentalist Muslim used his wife as a human-shield. But he was shot dead.

- After all this happened, my prediction about America executing him publicly was proved wrong. The next thing I deemed natural was to have his deformed, disfigured, bruised body displayed publicly as a sign of victory, and maybe even preserved as a memoir of American glory and a reminiscent of the war on terror. That did not happen!

- Instead, as we all know, they conducted some DNA tests which matched “exactly” with those of his relatives (please don’t ask me ‘when’ and ‘how’ of this!). Then, they cremated him according to Muslim laws and buried(tied a weight to his body, hoping it'll reach the sea-bed) him in a sea at a location that no one knows of! WOW! Does that sound unfair to anyone else? Does it scare anyone but me? Has anyone wondered what it means for us? The world, especially Pakistan, has a right to know who was killed. It is not just an injustice to the Pakistani population alone but also to the millions of Americans who have a right to know where their tax-money is being spent and why they should vote for Obama in the next election. Because if there’s a conspiracy behind this, it will be a huge mockery on the sentiments of all those who lost their loved-ones in the 9/11 attacks. If this is vote-bank politics, it is ugly.

- This attack is an early indicator of a possible American regime all over the world, especially South Asia and the Middle-East. While we in India are cheering happily at America’s victory over terror, America is slowly taking control of South-Asia. If Pakistan was an ally to this, then India really has reasons to worry. Now, Pakistan government has come out in condemnation of the covert operation but it doesn’t matter anymore.

These are really worrying trends. And, if they continue in the same way, then the American government’s policy of external aggression might change the world map yet again and push the world into slavery for centuries.