More than two thousand Americans, led by about fifty members of the Iraq Veterans against the War, took part in an anti-war protest march in Denver, Colorado. The march was from the Denver Coliseum to the Pepsi Centre, the venue of the Democratic National Convention. The protest march was held after a concert that was attended by an estimated nine thousand people at the Coliseum.

If the video does not load, you can watch it here.

This is what the veterans among the protestors had to say:

“We are the veterans! The Iraq War veterans! The anti-war veterans! We are soldiers! Anti-war soldiers!”

Jan Critchfield, 24, of Seattle said he served in Iraq in 2004, and after returning home, came to believe that the war was an “unlawful, immoral occupation.”

The protestors held placards that read:

“US out of Iraq!”, “Troops out now!” and “No War on Iran!”

Robert Joyet had this to say: “I’m ashamed at the poor turnout here. I’d have hoped more Americans … maybe they’re sidetracked by corporate interests. I worked three times in Afghanistan as an engineer and when I was there security was tentative and that was three years ago. The situation there is getting like it was in Iraq. I think it’s a lost cause and we should just get out. It’s a farce. These politicians go on their “fact finding mission” and don’t talk to anybody about it [the situation]. It’s disgraceful.”

Jean Toth expressed his wish: “I’d love for people to see that not all Americans are all about war.”

Judy Gear hates war: “We’re very against the war and very concerned about the environment and that’s why I’m here to stop all our invasions of various countries.”

Daniel Hernandez was clear about the reason for his participation: “Well I’m just here to show my solidarity with everyone else who opposes the war. I want to show the rest of the world that not all Americans supported our invasion of Iraq.”

Delaine Novak had this to say: “We’re here today because we don’t believe in the occupation of Iraq. We need to pull the troops out and spend the money here at home – this war was just about oil. We need to end this war, we didn’t ask for this.”

War is a filthy, disgusting concept meant for the benefit of a few at the expense of all other Earthlings . . .

Image: www.iranian.com

Three cheers for the truly patriotic American citizens who participated in the anti-war march!!!

The Greek city states were believed to have stopped wars to conduct the ancient Olympic Games. Now, as the 2008 Beijing Olympics gets underway, a new war has started

A map of Georgia showing the breakaway regions of South Ossetia (Yugo-Osetinskaya) and Abkhazia . . .

Image: www.acig.org

South Ossetia and Abkhazia are breakaway republics of Georgia that have had de-facto independence after bloody armed conflicts in the early Nineties. Both are backed by Russia and most of their citizens have Russian passports as South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not recognised internationally.

Georgia’s President – Mikheil Saakashvili, had ordered a military offensive to seize control of the region. Georgian forces took several villages and entered the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, that has reportedly been devastated in the campaign and more than a thousand civilians are feared dead

A Grad multiple rocket launcher being used by the Georgian forces . . .

Image: AFP/Getty Images

In response, Russian tanks, backed by aerial support from fighter jets, rolled into South Ossetia to protect Russian citizens from the Georgian assault. Russian troops were fighting the Georgians on the outskirts of Tskhinvali. The conflict is all set to escalate with Georgia’s other breakaway region, Abkhazia, preparing to open another front in the conflict. The two regions have a mutual defence pact.

(If the video does not load, you can watch it here.)

Thousands of volunteers, mainly from the Russian Republic of North Ossetia-Alania have signed up to fight against the Georgian forces in South Ossetia. North Ossetia and South Ossetia have strong ties. The conflict may escalate into a full-fledged war between Georgia and Russia

Georgia has immediately called back its 2,000 troops stationed in Iraq as a part of the occupation forces. A good move, as Georgian troops (and other occupation forces) have no right to be in Iraq in the first place!

Condoleezza Rice has called for Russian troops to withdraw from South Ossetia and respect Georgia’s territorial integrity. This is outrageous, coming as it does from an administration that has scant respect for international law, human rights and the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries! People who talk of things like “bombing a country back to the Stone Age” and “having all options (read as armed aggression and occupation) on the table” and their allies (read as shameless stooges) around the world would do well to shut up and keep their hands off this conflict!

Three Pakistani militants belonging to a pro-Taliban group were killed by their own bomb as they tried to plant an improvised explosive device (IED) in a girls’ school in Pakistan’s scenic Swat Valley, known as “the mini Switzerland of Pakistan”. Read this news article for more information.

Pakistan’s scenic Swat Valley . . .

Image: http://offroadpakistan.com

Maulvi Omar, a spokesman for Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, has warned that there will be suicide bombings across the country if the government does not stop its operations against the militants in the Swat Valley, that was once a popular tourist destination.

Pakistani forces have been fighting pro-Taliban militants in the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan’s North-Western Frontier Province (NWFP) bordering Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has often accused Pakistan of not doing enough to root out militants who operate out of Pakistani territory.

In this case, the IED that the militants were trying to plant in the girls’ school exploded prematurely, killing all three of them. Shame on the mediæval cowards for trying to plant a bomb in a school!

Swapnil Asnodkar (read his profile on Cricinfo), a young, talented and promising cricketer from Porvorim, Goa who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been appointed as the brand ambassador for the National Organisation for Tobacco Eradication (NOTE) to spread the word against smoking!

Swapnil Asnodkar in action . . .

Image: The Hindu (Rajeev Bhatt)

It is great to learn that the 24-year old Swapnil has signed up for NOTE. This is in sharp contrast to a few top actors in one regional film industry (Bollywood) who take huge amounts of money from tobacco companies to promote the habit of smoking among the youth of the country and promote tobacco addiction among youth and children. Shame on people with such vile intentions!

It is heartening to know that there are youth like Swapnil who want to spread the word against smoking. Swapnil symbolises the new Indian youth – very talented, courageous, progressive and unafraid to lash out against anything that they feel is unjust. India is not short of people with backward, regressive mindsets who want to ruin the country by taking it back to the Stone Age. That is why folks like Swapnil come as a breath of fresh air!

Three cheers for Swapnil Asnodkar!!!

France celebrated Bastille Day (Fête Nationale or quatorze juillet) on July 14. It commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, a very important event during the French Revolution.

The fortress-prison Bastille, a symbol of despicable tyranny, was stormed on July 14, 1789 . . .

Image: Wikimedia Commons

I consider the French Revolution to be the greatest Revolution in the history of humankind. It was the Revolution that abolished a filthy oppressive feudal system lorded over by tyrants who were determined to crush the uprising of the oppressed people by any means, including inviting foreign armies to invade France. The tyrants who were a part of the oppressive system and many others were killed at the guillotine. The brutal executions at the guillotine were the saddest part of the French Revolution, but they were to be expected in the 18th century. The French Revolution has inspired many Revolutions around the world where filthy oppressive systems were abolished and scum beings who exploited the oppressed people were overthrown. The French Revolution gave the noble ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity to the world. The French Revolution also played a very important part in establishing the inalienable rights of human beings and citizens – Human Rights in modern parlance. It also laid the foundations for social democracy – the system that has enabled the European countries (and others that are wise enough to adopt a similar system) lead the world in every development parameter.

Représentation de la Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen de 1789 (Representation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen in 1789) . . .

Image:Wikimedia Commons

May the French Revolution continue to inspire Revolutions around the world! Filthy systems and concepts that keep people oppressed deserve to be abolished and evil scum beings who use their power to exploit the oppressed deserve to be overthrown by violent means, if necessary. Long live the noble ideas of the French Revolution! Long live the beautiful concepts of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Human Rights!

Related post:

A Republic is born!

My previous post was about Sam Bahadur’s motorcycle. This one is about his car. This picture was published in an auto magazine which interviewed Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw when he was 90 years young. You can read the full article in this link.

Sam Bahadur with his immaculately maintained Sunbeam Rapier in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu . . .

Image: Hormazd Sorabjee

On a related note, this is one of Chennai’s war memorials – the Victory War Memorial. There is a larger one (the Madras War Cemetery) located in another part of the city. This memorial was originally built to remember those who laid down their lives in the First World War between 1914 – 1918. The Victory War Memorial has the names of all the 1,039 men who died in the First World War inscribed on it. It honours 936 men from the forces of the United Kingdom and 103 from undivided India. Later, minor additions were made to remember those who laid down their lives in the other wars, including the 1971 Indo-Pak War . . .

(The second photograph was taken by me and is copylefted. You are welcome to use it.)

Related post:

The Motorcycle Diaries (Part 3) – Sam Bahadur’s motorcycle

Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, popularly known as Sam Bahadur, was the first person to hold the highest rank of Field Marshal of the Indian Army. He served in the army for four decades and took part in five wars, including the Second World War. He led India to a decisive victory in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw – A soldier’s Field Marshal . . .

Image: www.tribuneindia.com

Sam Bahadur was a lover of motorcycles and cars. There is a very interesting anecdote about his James motorcycle.

This is a 1946 James 122ML – Sam Bahadur must have owned a similar motorcycle…

Image: www.motorbike-search-engine.co.uk

Post edited to add: This superbly maintained 1946 James 122ML belongs to Ron. Thanks for sharing her photo, my friend!

Specifications of the 1946 James 122ML:

Engine – Villiers 9D 122cc, two-stroke single cylinder
Gears – 3 speed hand shift on tank
Power – 3 1/2 hp
Weight – 150 lb (68 kg)
Top Speed – 40 mph (64 kmph)
Note: This model is shod with original 1945 Dunlop Universal tyres

I quote a part of an article written by an old friend of Sam Bahadur, Ardeshir Cowasjee, taken from the website of the Pakistani newspaper Dawn. You can read the full article here.

Another good friend of Manekshaw from this side of the border was our Rangila Raja Gen Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan. At the time of partition Major Manekshaw and Major Yahya Khan were together on the staff of Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck. Sam owned a red James motorcycle which Yahya had always had an eye on. He offered to buy it, and did, for the princely sum of Rs.1,000 which he promised to send over from Pakistan. Yahya, being Yahya, let it lapse. After the 1971 victory, Sam was heard to quip, “Yahya never paid me the Rs.1,000 for my motorbike, but now he has paid with half his country.”

Contrary to what most of the Indian media have been reporting, Yahya did offer to repay the debt:

When I (Ardeshir Cowasjee) met the Field Marshal I told him that Yahya had never forgotten the debt, but had never got round to it. I offered to pay back the Rs.1,000 with interest, on his behalf. No, no, said the Field Marshal, Yahya was a good man and a good soldier, we served together. There was not one mean or corrupt bone in his body. Your politicians are as bad as ours. Yahya was condemned without being heard. After he was put under house arrest at the end of December 1971, up to his death in 1980, he clamoured unceasingly for an open trial. Why was he condemned unheard?

Sam was buried quietly in his home in Tamil Nadu, a modest affair rather than the grand funeral he should have had in the capital, Delhi. The Prime Minister, the Army, Navy and Air Force chiefs all stayed away from the Field Marshal’s funeral. Many were angered by this lack of respect shown to the nation’s brave soldier and one website is devoted to the comments of Indian citizens on the reaction of their politicians: http://churumuri.wordpress.com/2008/06/28/if-you-have-to-die-can-you-please-do-so-in-delhi.As the editor writes, “The death of the only Indian to be appointed Field Marshal when in active service has been remarkable for the warmth of the ordinary men and women who queued up to say ‘thank you’ . . . It was also remarkable for the complete lack of grace and gratitude, civility and courtesy, decency and decorum on the part of the bold-faced names rapaciously grazing the lawns of power in Delhi and elsewhere, for the brain behind India’s only decisive military victory.”And a sentence which would have made Sam Bahadur chuckle: As he [Manekshaw] rightly surmised once: ‘I wonder whether those of our political masters who have been put in charge of the defence of the country can distinguish a mortar from a motor, a gun from a howitzer, a guerrilla from a gorilla – although a great many of them in the past have resembled the latter’.

Field Marshal Manekshaw died of complications from pneumonia at the Military Hospital in Wellington, Tamil Nadu on 0030 hours, June 27, 2008 at the age of 94.

He was laid to rest in Udhagamandalam, Tamil Nadu, with military honours, adjacent to his wife’s grave. He is survived by his two daughters and three grandchildren.

Reportedly, his last words were “I’m okay!”

You may have left us, Sam Bahadur, but the people of India and Bangladesh will never forget you!

Related posts:

The Motorcycle Diaries (Part 1)
A green ride on the Greenfly!