Khalistan government in exile?

At the time of writing, two Air India flights had to make emergency landings after receiving bomb threats. Of late, emails have been coming out from the US of threats of bomb blasts in Air India flights. Many geopolitical observers propose that these disturbances are closely related to the killing of two Khalistani supporters/militants in Canada recently. It is alleged that their killings were masterminded by Indian intelligence, orders of which were coming directly from the Modi Government and executed by Indian gangs.

For the uninitiated, there is a significant Sikh diaspora in Canada. After the traumatic tearing up of the State of Punjab during Partition in 1947, Indian Punjab became one of the most prosperous States, becoming one of the biggest contributors to the Indian coffers.

Then came Bhindrawale of the Akali Dal Party, who stored arms in the Golden Temple. Operation Blue Star happened then. The 'desecration' of the temple by the Indian Army snowballed into the assassination of Indian PM Ieeriendra Gandhi and the Sikh extremists demanding an independent state for Sikhs, Khalistan. Many of the extremists who went on an armed offensive escaped to Canada when the long arms of Indian Law caught up with them. They clandestinely continued their subversive activities from Canadian shores, adapting nicely to their newfound landscape of liberty, personal freedom and the strength of the Canadian dollar.

Around the same time, Pakistan began exporting its terrorist activities. A weak Indian Punjab would make easy prey for Pakistan to walk over and spread their dominance, or so they thought. They provided easy access to drugs and moral support for separatism.

Over the years, the radical Sikhs in Canada have started playing a pivotal role in Canadian politics. As Justin Treadeau's party lost support, Jasmeet and his National Democratic Party, which has an enormous Sikh following, were to hold Justin's Liberal Party by the jugular. It just may be vote bank politics.

Trouble has been slowly brewing over the years between India and Canada. On the Indian side, Canada was accused of taking sides on Indian domestic issues, like the Farmers' Protest. India looks at the Khalistani movement as a separatist group that Canada seems to protect, accusing it of harbouring terrorists, just like Pakistan. Canada feels it is just doing what a sovereign country would do: protecting its own citizens. So, as it is, both parties are beginning to call back their respective embassies and refuse the issuance of visas.

Interestingly, the threat to blow up Air India flights did happen once before and led to the biggest aviation mishap before the Twin Towers 9/11 disaster. In 1985, on 23rd June, an Air India plane flight #182, christened Kanishka after a great king of the Kushan Dynasty of ancient India, exploded mid-air off the coast of Ireland as it was flying from Toronto to London en route to New Delhi, killing instantaneously 307 passengers and 23 crew members. There were 268 Canadian citizens, mostly of Indian origin, going home for summer vacation, and 24 were Indians. This plane blast was the biggest Canadian aviation disaster. Murphy's Law was in full force here. A Royal Commission, which was convened, determined that a series of errors happened. The government of Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Services (CSIS) all failed to protect their citizens. Even though the authorities were scrutinising the terrorist group Khalsa Babar and police informants had forewarned them of a planned Air India bomb blast, all that for embroiled in bureaucracy. 

Even though there was heightened alert about the possible bombing on an Air India flight, Toronto's baggage X-ray facilities malfunctioned, and the staff bungled up with manual scrutiny for bombs.

In fact, on the faithful day, two unattended baggage with bomb devices were registered to travel (without their passengers who did not board the vessel for obvious reasons) from Vancouver to Toronto on Canadian Pacific Airlines. From Toronto, one baggage was supposed to leave for Narita and finally to India via Air India plane. Because of confusion in correcting for daylight saving measurement, the bomb exploded prematurely in Narita, killing two baggage handlers. The other bomb exploded before reaching London Heathrow, perhaps the intended target because the flight was delayed by an hour. 

There is an eerie coincidence between the 1985 threat of Air India bombing and the loss of sovereignty over what the radicals perceive as the greater Punjab. If, in 1984, the Golden Temple was allegedly trampled, then would they view Haryana's loss to the BJP in the state elections as a further dent to their ambition to realise the dream of Khalistan?

In 1981, Indira Gandhi requested Pierre Trudeau for the extradition of some Khalistani terrorists wanted for crimes in India, which was turned down. Now, in 2024, history seems to be repeating itself. Many Khalistani gangsters are wanted in India, and they find safe haven in Canada.

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Before and After...

Dear Zoe (2022)
Director: Gren Wells

Just the other day, my wife wanted to get some prayer stuff to commemorate Vinayar Sathurthi, a day dedicated to Lord Ganesha, the elephantine one and remover of all obstacles. I was shocked by seeing so many people buying things like there is no tomorrow. The streets around Little India were swarming with activities. The traffic was at a standstill with people double parking. The footpaths were blocked by shopkeepers stocking their premises with goods, overflowing to the streets. The loudspeakers were up blaring devotional songs in keeping with the spirit of festivities. The shop owners are sure they are going for a kill this time around because they know the masses have been suckered into believing that God needs these condiments and that it is the worshippers' divine duty to fulfil His needs. Their desire to outdo their neighbour is good for the National economy.

I do not remember Vinayakar Sathurthi creating such a rave when I was a kid. It used to be a non-event in most households. Nobody wished each other Sathurthi salutations or publicised the day. It was something personal confined to the four walls and entrance to the abode. Now, even those non-celebrants who quite nonchalantly label them as heathens and devil worshipers go out of their way to wish Sathurthi wishes. Is that a recognition or respect? 

All that changed, in my guess, after 9/11. When the world was sliced into two halves - 'those with us and those against us - essentially demarcated by the desert religion, people started wearing their religiosity on their sleeves. It was a survival strategy to delineate themselves from perceived suicide bombers. Through their algorithms, social media further helped create exclusive zones where birds began cherrypicking their own kind till the last barb of the feather.

The world we live in is the sum of all these. Just like how a single eruption of Mount Tempora in 1815 transformed the summer of 1816 to cause crop failure, famine and poverty, the 9/11 episode changed how people looked at each other forever. On the cultural front, however, the Lost Summer bred the horror genre Frankenstein and later Dracula. 

The film is centred around the 9/11 incident. Drawn by the hullabaloo of jet planes crashing into the Twin Towers, the protagonist could not take her eyes off the TV. That single action changed her life and her family's forever. Her younger sister was playing in the yard, and she was supposed to keep an eye on her. Amid that mayhem, the sister was run over by a passing vehicle. She died. 

This sort of coming-of-age movie describes how the 16-year-old protagonist comes to terms with tragedy. Her strained relationship with her mother and her stepfather adds to her misery. She moves in with her estranged father, who leads a too-laid-back life in the not-so-affluent part of Chicago. Love blossoms with a neighbour who is not a parent's idea of a son-in-law. 

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Follow the prescribed story?

Mauritanian (2021)
Directed by: Kevin MacDonald

20 years after the attack on the New York Twin Tower, the world is still at a loss of what actually happened on that historical day or the days leading to the event dubbed as the single most significant attack on American soil. People directly or indirectly will probably never have an appropriate closure to all their questions.

The world is given hopscotch information on what is known, what the intelligentsia believes happened and what they want us to think. Along with all is a narrative that the world should follow. Anyone deviating from the said account is deemed a conspiracy theorist.

The same thing is happening with a particular virus that is traced from the labs of Wuhan. With so many conflicting views, the Joe Public is left perplexed between needing to don a mask or not, vaccinate or not, and even trying alternative remedies. But no! The average Joe cannot form an opinion but instead simply obey the directives meted by the authorities, who themselves are clueless and are guided by self-serving politicians and businessmen. The powers-that-be have decided that citizens must be monitored digitally, and non-vaccination meant the loss of certain privileges. 

I heard about Nancy Hollander through the 'Advocates The Podcast', a podcast sponsored by Taylor's University in Malaysia. After interviewing many top guns in the legal profession from the world over, the interviewers spoke to this New Mexico lawyer. My curiosity piqued to find out more about her. My research revealed that she is a rabble-rouser, involved in cases defending Guantánamo Bay detainees and a military whistleblower, Chelsea Manning, who leaked classified information to Wikileaks. Yes, she received her law degree from the same place as Saul Goodman! I also found out that a film had been made on her endeavour to free a Guantánamo inmate, and Jodie Foster was cast to play her. And here it is.

In the frenzy to put a name to the mastermind who orchestrated the 9/11 attack, a Mauritanian national, Mohamedou Ould Slahi, was incarcerated without a charge for 14 years. Thanks to the passing of the Freedom of Information Act, Hollander, as his defence counsel, was able to scrutinise the day-to-day abuses inflicted upon Slahi. Slahi was able to describe the sexual molestations, the threats to his mother, the waterboarding torture, etcetera in letters which later became the first book (Guantánamo Diary) by a Guantánamo prisoner.

The movie shows what an independent judiciary system can do to open the maggots festering in a system that is supposed to take care of its citizens. In the name of national security and the need to keep information away from the prying eyes of the enemy of the state, injustice is justified. An emotional movie with a stellar performance by its main characters. Benedict Cumberbatch appeared as the conscientious Prosecutor, and Tahar Rahim (seen as Sobhraj before) plays Slahi. 4/5.

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It is an algorithm?

Nostradamus, a French physician who lived in the mid 16th century, was actively involved in treating plague victims when he was summoned back home when his wife and two sons were also down with the plague. His creditability as a doctor was shaken when they died of their affliction. 

Nostradamus never completed his medical studies as he was penalised for having embroiled in making herbal potions (apothecary); a trade deemed unprofessional.

After the death of his family, he delved deep into astrology and study of the occult. In 1555, he published an almanac which is said to predict events 2000 years into the future. So as not to create problems with the Roman Catholic Church, as it would be viewed as heresy, he allegedly wrote his prophecies in cryptic quatrains using a combination of various languages.

He gained a following amongst the royalty as he foresaw many future events. Even in modern times, his enthusiasts claim that he had successfully predicted the emergence of a leader like Hitler, the American civil war, the assassination of JFK, the 9/11 attack and even the Wuhan virus.

Two steel birds will fall from the sky on the Metropolis.
The sky will burn at forty-five degrees latitude.
Fire approaches the great new city.
Immediately a huge, scattered flame leaps up.
Within months, rivers will flow with blood.
The undead will roam the earth for little time.

The thing about history is that it tends to repeat itself. The predictions that Nostradamus describe events in relation to position and alignments of celestial bodies. Added with the cryptic messages, these can be interpreted in whatever we seem fit - earthquakes, floods, invasions, murders, drought, wars, plagues.

Looking at the message 'predicting' the spread of the Wuhan virus, the quatrain can refer to many episodes of plagues that originated from China all through the centuries via the Silk Road.

The verse linked to the 9/11 Twin Tower attack could also be in reference to the numerous volcanic eruptions recorded in history, like the devasting eruption of Mount Tempura in 1815 which left ashes in the atmosphere for months. Rains were crimson-hued staining river red. It caused 1816 to have no summer and the genesis of a new genre - 'horror fiction'. Mary Shelley wrote 'Frankenstein' and the story of the undead still roam our silver screens.

Is it not funny that all the predictions are kind of afterthoughts? Where were these people when everyone was having a good time living like there was no tomorrow and partying like it is 1999 planning their next holiday destination before the emergence of this pandemic? Only the wise know that happy hours do not last forever.

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He who has the gold, makes the rules!

Feathered Cocaine: The Story of Money, Terrorism and Falconry (2010)

Is not interesting that fifteen years after the apprehension and killing of Osama bin Laden, this documentary is making its round. Perhaps, it is the flavour of the month as the US Elections are just around the corner. Probably because Joe Biden is associated with the old administration, it is a subtle reminder of the evil deeds of the past Government.

Watching this Tribeca Film Festival screened a documentary about falconry, it gave a kind of a deja vu feeling. It reminded me of the many so-called altruistic non-governmental organisation working on humanitarian cause getting a free pass into third world countries and starting to dictate how the host country should be run. Think Red Cross and the Bolshevik Revolution, think IMF and the 1997 economic crisis, think missionaries and the Nicaragua Contra rebels.

Here, in 2010 documentary, Alan Howell Parrot tells the story of his life. Becoming obsessed with falcons, at the age of 18 years, he bought himself a one-way ticket to Teheran. He left his serene life in the lush of Maine, New England to train professionally in falconry in the naked deserts of Iran. Here, he got a revelation of sorts. He realised the high status that falcons commanded in this region. A visit to the Golden Sikh Temple and the last Sikh Guru's, Guru Govind Singh's fascination with falcon made him assume a Sikh identity in appearance and way of living. Historically falcons played essential roles in international diplomacies. Even in Europe, falcons were gifted between kingdom to sweeten business transactions and shipping passage.

He returned to Cornell to study and returned halfway through his studies to the Middle East to legally catch, breed and sell wild Icelandic Falcons (Jer Falcons) to the filthy wealthy Arabs at up to $1 million per bird. Parrot (ironic) found himself mixing with the who's who of the upper echelon of the ruling class of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran as well as the infamous fugitive, Osama Bin Laden. The falcons were such priceless commodities, even more, valuable than cocaine. There was a massive demand in the black-market, but surprisingly most Governments are relaxed about curbing this illegal trade. In fact, many countries turn a blind eye to it as it is done in high places. 

Alan Parrot @ Hari Har Singh Khalsa

Many makeshift camps are built in the middle of nowhere in the desert terrains of Afghanistan and Pakistan called Falcon Hunting Camps. Here, Islamic radicals like Al-Qaida meet Arab royalties, and many deals are made. Obscene amounts of cash are given by the opulent royalties to the terrorist group as zakat as an atonement. Osama is known to have presented exquisite purebred falcons as gifts to the members of the Arab royalties. The 9-11 attack was allegedly agreed upon in one of these camps.

At the heights of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, he was a guest of the Iran government. Parrot and US intelligence were aware of his whereabouts. Despite repeated contact with the US authorities, the message somehow got lost in a bureaucratic maze. Or did it?

Parrot and his agents believe that there is a general malaise to stop this type of clandestine dealings. The black market of falcons has led to corruption against military leaders, political murder, and international terrorism. What is stopping them is money.  There is an apparent shady connection between this falcon trade and royal dynasties, the CIA and KGB, the oil industry, American government, and Al-Qaeda. Even the enforcement officials have to line their pockets during the short tenure of their earning life. 

" Ultimately, the message that Feathered Cocaine wants to deliver to its audience is not strictly about falcon smuggling or the uncovering of evil plots conceived for ideological reasons. It is by far more pessimistic than that. Feathered Cocaine is one of many untimely records of corruption and greed. Untimely, but at the same time well-rooted in our turbulent globalized age. Power is one and the same anywhere, and terrorism is not but an excuse and a disguise to put the public opinion under pressure. All mechanisms are in favor of the profit of few. Escalation of terror is not going to stop, because involved interests are increasing their magnitude every day. Evidence of this trend is what happened in recent times, with tragedies whose connotations are still unknown to common people; facts like 9/11 are bound to happen again and again, because nobody among those holding power — not only the governments, but the lobbies and the organizations connecting them all — is at this point different in pursuing his main interests. And of course, this interest can be summed up with one name only: Money."

https://icelandchronicles.com/2011/01/feathered-cocaine-review/

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It is war, but where is the enemy?

The Looming Tower (2018)


Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' suggests the best way to win a war against your enemy is when they (the enemy) do not realise that they are not at war. "Know your enemy know your environment" he added. Despite this knowledge, the mighty Ming Dynasty fell to the lowly Manchus.

Twenty years ago, two then Colonels in the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Qiao Lang and Wang Xiansui published a book named 'Unrestricted Warfare'. Here these two officers outlined ways to overcome a mighty force like the USA. It seems that the CIA also got hold of this book and was reading material for their trainees. In a gist, it proposes trapping the country into indebtedness, economically and militarily. Cost of waging a traditional war may prove too costly, money-wise, and annihilation of the planet as we know it. 

Probably the other enemies of the USA have also got hold this knowledge. With the widespread of information on the net, nothing is sacrosanct anymore. After all the meddling of the Americans to almost every country in the world, in the name of keeping world peace, upholding liberty and freedom, the victims are biting back. 


The miniseries narrate the countdown to the biggest assault on the American soil after Pearl Harbour. Garbled up intelligence, concealing of information between CIA and FBI and fight for supremacy amongst civil servants all led to the tragedy. It is a moving account of the lives and tribulations of many real people who worked in these agencies. A good watch. 

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