After the terror attacks in Mumbai on 26th November 2008, the Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of South Asia's most active terrorist organization headquartered in Lahore, has constantly been in the news. The title, which in both Urdu and Arabic mean Army of The Good/Army Of The Pure, is a dreaded name. A few months ago, I noticed a green bus on Tulsi Pipe Road in the heart of Mumbai with the image of a tiger and the words, Laskhar-e-Shivoba. Loosely translated, the words mean The Army of Shiva. The use of Urdu words with the name of a Hindu God is enigmatic. The association of the name with LeT, suggests a Hindu terrorist group united to fight Islamic terrorism. Green is rarely used in Hinduism, and is the the color of Islam. Therefore the use of green as opposed to safffron, the colour of Hinduism, for the bus, is also puzzling.The symbol of the tiger is also so the symbol of one Maharashtra's major right wing political parties - The Shiv Sena. Laskhar-e-Shivoba seems to be an Urdu translation of The Shiv Sena, and this organization could be the Gujrati wing of the Shiv Sena.
A blog, http://csimumbai.wordpress.com/2008/11/09/lashkar-e-shivoba/, notes that Lashkar-e-Shivoba means Army Of Shivaji. Shivaji was the famous 17th century Maratha king and warrior, who prevented the Mughals from conquering what we today call the state of Maharasthra, by using guerrilla warfare techniques.
1 comment:
Hi, Akash!
Your post reminds me of an old fable - the Keet Bhramar Gyaan from the Upanishads - which talks about a certain species of Bhramar, bees, which reproduce in a very unusual way. They carry a keet, a worm, into their hive. They keep on stinging it viciously at odd intervals. The keet can't hide, can't save itself - it doesn't even know when the next sting will come. All it can think of is the bhramar. And gradually, it turns into a bhramar itself.
Warm regards,
Raju
Urf/ Alias/ Aka :-) Rajashree
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