Chp 521. Middle East lama thil thleng thlirzauna

Vawiin Eid a ni bawka, heti lam hi kan han ziak ve teh ang. A hmasa berin, vawiin a Mosolman ho eitur sial tak “Haleem” an tih chu tui takin ka ei e. Haleem hi kelsa atanga sawhchiar angreng ve deuh a siam a nia, a tui zia hi chu sawi thiam a har. A chungah hmarcha ro leh bekang han phul leh phei chuan awi awi awi a ni ringawt mai :)

A dawt leh a kan sawi duh chu he article hi Mizo tawnga ka blog vawihnihna chauh a nia, chuvangin ka tawngkam hman leh ziah zawmtur leh zawmlo tur tih vel te hi a diklo nual thei a, chuvangin in hriatthiamna ka rawn ngen lawk e.

Middle East lamah hian tun hma atangin buaina chu a lo chhuak fo tawh a, mahse tunlai bik leh zual hian Egypt a buaina te, Iraq a buaina te, Syria a buaina te, ISIL (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) ho chungchang te leh Israel leh Palestine ho an in tih buai te hi kan lo hmu zing leh zual ta bik a, Mosolman lam ho chanchin hi chuti em em in ka hre ril lo na in Mizo Facebook group hran hran a comment thenkhatte han chhiar hi chuan thil awmzia la hre vaklo hi chu kan la tam angrengin ka hria a, chuvangin ka hriat hriat chu rawn thawh ve kan tum a nge.

Ka sawi tawh angin Mosolman ho topic hi chuti em em in ka hre hnem lova, researcher ka ni lova, Theology lam zir mi pawh ka nilo. Mahse an chanchin hi chu hman atanga news a ka lo chhiar ve thin tawh avangin hriat chu ka nei ve nual a, sawi hmaih emaw hriat dikloh ka neih hlauh chuan min lo correct dawn nia.

A hmasa berin Mosolman ho kan tih te leh keini Kristiante leh Juda hote hi "Abrahamic religion" pawl tiin min ko a, “Abrahama lo pawimawhna sakhua” tihna a ni ber e. Kan Old Testament te leh Juda leh Mosolman ho lehkhabu thianghlim a thu inziakte pawh a in ang nual a ni. Isua Krista erawh keini chuan Pathian Fapa anga kan rin lai in, Judate chuan zawlnei der angin an ngai a, Mosolman hote erawh chuan Isua hi an zawlnei zinga mi angin an ngaih mai bakah nula thianghlim atanga a lo pian leh a rawn la kal leh dawn thu te pawh an ring ve thung a ni. Chuvangin hman a Mizo FB group thenkhata tu emawni rawn post, "Isua Krista chu Mosolman hoten tawngkam bawlhhlawh deuh deuhvin an ko" tih te kha thu diklo hu a ni thei. Mosolman ho hian Isua hi an zah hle a, a hming an sawi rik ringawt pawn a hming tawpah "PBUH" (Peace be upon him) tih a tlangpui chuan an sawi thin a ni.

Tunlai America ramahte stand-up comedian (fiamthu thawhtu) te hian Isua hming hi fiamthu thawh nan te pawh an hmang fova, Kristian “thlir zau” anga an in ngaih vang te pawh a ni mah na, a pawina em em an hrelo. Nimahsela hei hi Mosolman tamtak chuan an ngai theilo hle a, theology lama zir thenkhat sawi danah, "Isua hi chu Kristian ho ai mah in Mosolman ho hian an lo zah zawk a nih hi" tih te pawh hian ngaihtuahna chu a ti kal thui ve hle chuan ka hria.

Tunah Mosolman ho lam i lo thlir ang u. A hmasa berin, Mosolman kan tih hi sakhua pakhat ni mahse keini Kristian ho ang tho hian "kohhran" hran hran a awm ve a ni. Chungte zinga lian ber te pahnih chu Sunni leh Shia ho an ni. Khawvel a Mosolman ho zawng zawng zingah Sunni chu 80% vel an nia, 20% vel chu Shia an nia, a bak tlemte la bang chu Sufism, Ahmadiyya, Ibadi, Mahdavia tih te an ni. India ramah pawh Mosolman tlangpui chu Sunni an ni e.

Keini Kristian te pawh hman a Protestant leh Catholic ho an lo indo thin (The Thirty Years War, The Schmalkaldic War etc) ang tho khan Sunni leh Shia te pawh hman atangin an lo intibuai ve thin tawh a ni. Catholic leh Protestant ho in a pakhat zawk zawk Kristian diktak a nilo an/(kan) lo tih thin ang tho khan Sunni leh Shia te pawn a pakhat zawk Mosolman diktak a nilo an lo in ti ve thin tho a ni. An danglamna ve thung chu tunah chuan Kristian ho tumah kan in tih buai tawh (vak) loh laiin, an ni Sunni leh Shia erawh chu tunthleng hian an la in nel thei chiahlo a ni.

Enge Sunni leh Shia danna chu?

Mosolman te zawlnei zawng zawng zinga lar ber Prophet Muhammad-a chu kan hriat vek ka ring. A ma damlai kha chuan Mosolman ho rinna chu a inang vek a, hetia an inthen hran nachhan chu a boral chiah khan a ni. A ma aiawhtu tur leh Mosolman ho zawng zawng ho tur chuan Muhammad-a thianpa leh advisor ni mek Abu Bakr-a chu an ruat ta a. Heng te hi Sunni an rawn ni ta a, Sunni awmzia chu "An zawlnei dan bawhzawmtu" tihna a ni. Mahse Mosolman thenkhatten an zawlnei ai awhtu tur chu a ma chhungkua zinga mi ni ngei tur an lo ti ve tlat a, an zawlnei Mohammad-a cousin leh makpa ni kawp Ali bin Abu Talib-a chu an ruat ve thung. Hengte hi Shia an in tia, Shia awmzia chu "An zawlnei chhungkhat mi" tihna a ni.

Chuti chuan Sunni leh Shia ho chu an lo kal hrang ta a. A tir chuan an inthen hranna hi "politics" lam ni mahse, a hnu zelah Sunni ho hotute chu Shia ho in an rin miahloh leh Shia ho hotute chu Sunni in an rin miahloh avangin a hnu a an Sakhua chungchang a thu an rel ah te pawh khan an hman dan thenkhatte chu a lo dang chho zel ta a, chuvang chuan "Holy sites" an tih, hmun thianghlimte pawh a hran hran an lo nei ta zel a ni.

Shia ho hi a percentage a en chuan an tam berna ram chu Iran a nia, a dawt leh chu Iraq a ni. Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Yemen, Lebanon leh Kuwait ah te pawh hian Sunni ho nen a tehkhin chuan Shia ho hi an thahnem hle a ni.

Mahse an tam dan zawnga thlir ve thung chuan Iran dawta Shia ho tamna ber ram chu India leh Pakistan an ni ve thung. Kan ram ah hian Mosolman ho zingah Shia percentage chu tlem te nimahse Mosolman maktaduai 177 chuang an awm avangin khami percentage tlemte pawh kha an tam hle a ni.

Keini Mizo ten kan lo hriatthiam theih nan, kan National holiday pakhat Muharram hi kan hre vek a nga. Mosolman ho vangin kan chawl te kan ti liam mai a, kan ngaihtuahzui lem lova. Mahse he holiday hi Sunni leh Shia ho tan awmze hran a nei tlat a ni. Muharram chhunga ni sawmna hi “Ashura” an tia, hei hi Sunni ho chuan hriatrengna ni a tan an hmang. Enge an hriatreng a chu? No-a in lawng atanga ransa zawng zawng khawmuala a hruai leh Mosia in Aigupta ram atanga mipui ho a chhanchhuah chungchang kha a ni (Kan Old Testament chu a in ang nual ka tih tawh kha). "A day of respect and gratitude” ti in Sunni ho in he ni hi an hmang a, chutih lai in Shia ho ve thung chuan he ni hi "A day of mourning and sorrow" a tan an hmang daih bik. Hemi ni hian Shia ho hotu Hussein Ali-a (an zawlnei Muhammad-a tupa) chu Sunni ho hotu pakhat Yazid an a thah ni a nih vang a ni. Chuvangin an tuarpui zia lantir nan Shia thenkhatte phei chu hemi ni hian kawng zawh in an in hlap vak vak a, chemte ten an in zai thin, thisen tamtak a chhuah thlengin. Sunni te erawh chuan hetiang hi an ti ve ngailo.

Nih leh Sunni leh Shia ho hi an awmna zawng zawngah an in ti buai vek a mi?

Ti buai nang. Ram tamtak Mosolman tam na, entirnan Indonesia te, Tajikistan te angah hi chuan Sunni leh Shia angin an inthliar hrang velo tlangpui a, an inanlohna te chu engatanmah an ngailo. An buai berna hmun chu Middle East saw a nia, chu pawh "Salafist Wahhabism" vang a ni. Kum 1730 vel khan Middle East a Sunni Mosolman ho tan "Wahhabism movement" chu a lo piang a, he movement tum ber chu a ai a strict leh khirh leh zual (orthodox, ultraconservative, fundamentalist) a an sakhua siamthat a ni. Mizo te pawn "Gospel revival camp" kan neih ang hi a ni thei ber mai ang chu. Wahhabist ho hi Saudi Arabia, UAE leh Qatar ah an tam ber a, chuan Middle East hmun hran hranah pawh an awm nual bawk a ni (Researcher tamtak chuan Wahhabist ho hi Sunni emaw Shia an nilo an ti veleh tlat bawk: Sunni leh Shia atanga Wahhabi ho danna) Mahse tunah tak chuan Wahhabist ho hi Sunni anga pawm an ni a ni.

Wahhabist ho hi hmana Taliban in Afghanistan a Buddhist milim lar tak tak te an tih chhiat ang khan, hman atangin an sakhua chhunga Mosolman rinna kal dan diklo anga an ngaih te chu an lo ti chhe ve fo tawh thin a ni. Shia hotute thlan (grave/mausoleum) te pawh tamtak an tih chhiat bakah Shia ho hi "Apostate" (ringlo mi, mahni sakhua phatsantu) angin an ngai bawk. Thenkhat sawi dan chuan Wahabism movement atang hian a nia radical terrorist group tamtak, entirnan al-Qaeda, Taliban leh 9/11 a thlawhna hijack tu te kha an rawn chhuah an ti bawk. Tunah lah ISIS ho hi an lo ni leh bawk. Hman ni news lawkah pawh ISIS ho in Iraq a Shia ho mosque (an ni chuan Shia "temple" an ti ngei, Mosolman anga an ngaih loh avangin) tamtak an ti chhe lai thlalak leh video te pawh kan lo hmuh kha.

Heng Shia ho hmun thianghlim te an tih chhiat mai bakah Shia ho an man te tamtak pawh an that (public execution) bawk a nih kha. Chutiang khawpa extreme chu an ni e.

Tunah kan ram lam i lo thlir ve thung ang u.

British in min awp lai kha chuan Indian sub-continent (tuna India, Pakistan leh Bangladesh) a Sunni Mosolman te ve thung tan chuan kum 1860 vel khan "Deobandi movement" a lo thleng a. Deobandi revival movement ah hian Wahhabism influence a awm nual ti in researcher te chuan an ziak a ni. British ho atangin Independence kan neih khan India-Pakistan partition a lo awm a, Pakistan ram a lo pian theihna a tan a nawr nasa em em tu, All-India Muslim League political party hotu Muhammad Ali Jinnah pawh Shia a ni tlat. Mahse Sunni-majority Pakistan-ah Wahhabism influence a rawn awm nasat em avangin mipui ten Jinnah hi Shia a nih an pawm thei lova, Pakistan Supreme Court tak ngial pawn kum 1970 khan, "Jinnah chu Sunni a nilo, Shia a nilo, Mosolman a ni" tih thu a chhuah hial a lo ngai a ni.

Tun thleng hian Pakistan ah Sunni leh Shia ho hi an la intibuai a, an inneih ceremony te leh an mahni Masjid ve ve a an tawngtai lai te pawh an in bomb thu a rawn awm leh thin a ni. An group te pahnih hian hel pawl kan tih ang “militant group” hi an nei ve ve a, entirnan Sunni ho Lashkar-e-Jhangvi leh Shia ho Sipah-e-Muhammad te an ni. Tuna Pakistan chhunga al-Qaeda an la active tih thu kan lo chhiar leh thin te pawh hi Sunni majority ho awmna a ni tlangpui bawk. Pakistan a Sunni ho chu Shia ho nen chauh a nilova an buai, a tir a ka lo ziah lan tawh Mosolman ho Kohhran pakhat “Ahmadiyya” te pawh an ti duhdah hle thin a ni. Kum 1974 khan an National Assembly (Second Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan) in official takin Ahmadiyya Mosolman ho chu Mosolman an niloh thu a lo puang bur tawh bawk! Han tehkhin nan, kan Mizoram sawrkarin Assembly House ah official takin Presbyterian emaw Baptist emaw Salvation ho chu Kristian an ni velo tih resolution a pass ang vel a ni!

India ve thungah chuan Kashmir ah leh Uttar Pradesh ah hian Sunni leh Shia ho intihbuai thu a awm ve zeuh zeuh thin a, mahse kan ram population hi 80% chu Hindu an nih vang pawh a ni maithei, chuti em em in an intibuai ngamlo ti ta i la, ka sawi sual ka ringlo. Kum 1992 a Hindu ruhkawl ho in Babri Masjid an tih chhiat lai a India ram hmun hran hrana Hindu leh Mosolman an intihbuai lai pawh khan Mizoram a Hindu leh Mosolman te chu Mizo tam zawk laka buaina an siam ngamloh avangin kalkawnga an in tawh pawn an in leichhuah khum mai mai an tih ang te pawh kha a ni mahna.

Thil pakhat interesting ka tih em em, newspaper vela kan hmuh vak ngailoh chu tun hnai election a BJP an rawn chak em em a “Muslim vote” an neih chungchang hi a ni. Han thlir zau deuh chuan "vote bank politics" an tih, Congress ho hmanrua pakhat, Mosolman ho in an vote nasat em em nachhan hi, tun election ah kha chuan Mosolman tamtakin development an duh avangin BJP an vote zawk an tia, hei pawh hi a dik thei tho. Mahse article thenkhat ka chhiar ah chuan India rama Mosolman ho BJP vote hi chu a tlangpui chu Shia an ni an rawn ti veleh. Sunni ho chuan Babri Masjid vang te leh Muzzaffarnagar a thil thleng vang te hian BJP chu an duhlo an la ti tlat. Nih pawh a ni maithei, tuna BJP party chhunga Mosolman lar ber leh an party Vice-President ni ngei mek Pu Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi a pawh hi Shia a ni tlat.

Middle East lamah i let leh tawh ang u.

Ti chuan tunah hian ISIS ho chuan Iraq an do nasa mek hle a, Iraq hi Shia majority ram a ni. Sawi tawh angin ISIS ho hi Sunni an ni. USA in Iraq a do hma khan Saddam Hussein a hi Iraq a dictator a nia, a ni hi Sunni a ni. A sual zia te newspaper leh website hran hran ah te pawh kan lo chhiar thin maithei, mahse a tam zawk hi chu "western propaganda" ti ta i la ka sawi sual lovang. WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) pawh tun thleng hian engmah an la hmuhloh hi.

Saddam-a hi sakhaw lama a rinna chu a moderate hle a, mahse Sunni a nih avangin Wahhabist ho (Saudi, UAE, etc) ho hian an tan hle a ni. Kum 1979 khan Iran ah “cultural revolution” lo thlengin Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini chu Iran mipui (Shia) ten zui in Iran a lo lal thin Pahlavi dynasty chu an pawt thla ta a, hetia Iran-a Shia ho an rawn lal ta em em hi Saudi leh hmundanga Sunni (Wahhabist) ho tamna ram te chu an hlauthawng tan hle a ni. Saddam-a leh a officer dangte chu Sunni nimahsela Iraq hi Shia ho tam zawkna ram a nih avangin an ramah pawh buaina a rawn chhuak tan ta a. Iraq leh Iran chuan an “diplomatic ties” ti tawp ve ve in indo tur chuan an in puahchah a, kum 1980 atanga 1988 thleng an indo hial ta a nih kha. Doordarshan news vela an indo thu lo hmu ve phak ka ni ve ngei bawk :)

He Iraq leh Iran indona ah hian Gulf ram te, a bikin Saudi, UAE leh Kuwait te chuan Iraq an tanpui nasa hle a, chuan silai leh hmanrua te chu Soviet Union in a pe bawk a ni. Chu mai bakah America ram leh Europe ram hran hrante pawh in Saddam-a hi sum lamah an lo tanpui ve bawk a ni khatih lai khan. Iran erawh chuan North Korea atangin silai leh hmanrua dang a dawng ve thung. Kum 1980 khan Saddam-an Iran a han do ve ringawt kha chu a ti sual ve hle chu a tih theih ang.

Support tha tak (Gulf ram ho, Soviet Union, USA leh adangte) Saddam’an a neih avang leh Iran ho sipai an tlem hle avangin awlsam deuhva hneh theih a rin kha, kum 2 hnu lekah Iran ho sipai chu a let chuangin an rawn punga, an ram a Iraq in a rawn awp zawng zawng chu a chhuhsak leh vek a, Iraq sipai ho chu tlawmin an ram lamah an tlanchhe leh ta a. Kum 1982 atanga an indo tawp 1988 thleng kha chu Iran lam zawk zamah offensive ah awmin Iraq zu awp tumin an do char char daih a nih kha! Saddam-a buaina em chu Iran sipai mai bakah a ma ram ngei a Shia ho te leh Iraq chhim lama Kurd ho Kurdistan Democratic Party leh Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ten a rual a an beih vang a ni.

Tu te nge Kurd ho chu? Nakin deuhvah Kurd ho lam chu ka rawn sawi ang. An ni hi ka ngaisang angreng khawp mai :) Tunah erawh chuan Kuwait ho lam hi i lo thlir leh phawt ang u.

Sawi tawh angin, Iraq leh Iran indo lai khan Iraq tanpuitu zinga mi ram pakhat chu Kuwait a ni a, kum 1988 a an indo zawh khan Iraq chuan Kuwait atanga pawisa a puk (US dollar vaibelchhetak 17 lai) chu ngaidam turin a dil a. Achhanchu 1988 a Iraq an tlawm hnu khan Iraq dinhmun a chhe hle a, a lo support thin tu te Saudi, UAE tih ten an hlat a, chu mai bakah West lam (America leh UK) atangin sanction a la dawng zui a, a vai in US dollar vaibelchhetak 60 lai ram hran hran atangin a ba a ni.

Kuwait chuan Iraq hnena pawisa a puk tir chu a theihnghilh dawnloh thu a rawn sawi a, chutia Middle East a Sunni leh Shia ram ho an intih buai lai chuan Saddam-a chuan a ma Sunni pui ngei Kuwait ram chu August ni 2, 1990 khan a va do ta thut a ni. Hetia a do nachhan dangte chu Kuwait ah hian oil a tam vang leh Kuwait in Iraq oil thenkhat a ru anga a puh vang te leh hman atanga ramri chungchang a thubuai an lo neih tawh vang te pawh a ni bawk. Ni hnih chhung lekin Iraq chuan Kuwait chu a awp mai a, chumi zawh US ho an rawn in rawlh ve ta a.

Saddam-a do let tur chuan America ram chuan “Coalition Force” a din a, hetah hian ram 34 hial an tel a ni. A langsar zual te chu US, UK, France, Argentina, Australia, Italy tih te ho an nia, chuan Middle East a Saddam-a duhlo em em te, Mosolman ho ram ngei Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Turkey tih te ho an ni bawk (Hriat ve mai mai a tan, he Coalition Force ah hian Pakistan leh Bangladesh te pawh an lo tel ve, hehehe).

Saddam-a hi a huai in a fing khawp mai a, Kuwait a lak hnu hian Saudi Arabia leh Israel chu rocket in a bomb leh ta a ni. Saudi Arabia a do nachhan chu an pawisa a bat chungchang vang te leh Saudi-USA relationship a that vang a ni. Thekhat sawi dan chuan Saddam’an Saudi Arabia a dona chhan leh pakhat chu Iran an rawn inrawlh loh nan an tia, dik pawh a dik thei tho, nichin a Wahhabist tamna ram Saudi Arabia in Shia tamna ram Iran an duhloh thu ka lo ziah tawh kha. Kuwait a Saddam-a buai lai khan Iran in Iraq lo do leh ta thut se chu Saddam-a pawl te chu an che chhe viau ang. Mahse Saddam-a chuan Saudi ho hi Iran in a haw em em tih a hre ran a.

Chuan Israel ram Saddam’an a do ve leh nachhan chu, hman atanga intihbuaina an lo neih tawh mai bakah hetia Middle East ram hran hran ten a mah an hua tih a hriat avang hian an hmelma (common enemy) Israel a do chuan heng ramte hian amah an do let ve a rinloh vang a ni.

A tactical tiah tiah khawp mai! Chess game a strategy bawn deuhva khel ang vel a ni.

Nimahsela a lo ring sual hle mai.

US lam te hi an lo fing daih zawk a. Chutia Israel a bomb tak chuan, US (leh Netherlands) te chuan Patriot Missile system chu Israel an pe vat a, Saddam-a missile tamtak lo kap thla turin. He Patriot Missile Defense System hi tun hnai a Israel leh Palestine intihbuaina a Israel ho missile defense system an tih “Iron Dome” in Hamas ho rocket tamtak a kap thla ang em em kha chuan a hlawhtling lova, mahse rocket kah thlak chu a nei ve nual a ni.

Israel ho lah an thinrim tawh hle. Tum khat pawh an commando ho helicopter ah an thu hman vek tawh Saddam-a zu do let turin. Mahse Israel an rawn inrawlh ve vaih chuan Coalition Force a Mosolman ram tamtak tel ve te hian Iraq an do dawnlo tih US chuan a hre ran mai a, vawi tamtak pawh US hotute leh Israel hotute chu phone ah an in bia a, engtin mah ti letlo turin an ngen nasa hle a ni.

Chuti chuan Israel chuan a lo dawh ta zel a, chuvangin Coalition Force chu a keh darh ta lova, USA, UK, Saudi Arabia, France, Egypt, Syria, Qatar leh Coalition Force member dangte tangkhawm chuan Saddam-a chu an do let ta a, kan lo hriat thenkhatte Operation Desert Storm, Operation Granby, Operation Friction leh Opération Daguet vang te chuan Iraq chu March ni 3, 1991 khan a tlawm leh ta a ni.

Gulf War a zawh khan Middle East ah relationship tamtak a inthlak ta a. Jordan ram chuan Coalition Force an zawm loh avangin Saudi te leh ram dangte nen an in hmu thiamlo hle a ni. Jordan ramah hian Palestinian ho hi 60% vel an nia, Kuwait ah an ram mi tamtak hnathawk in an awm a, hengte hi Kuwait a Arab hoten an lo tiduhdah hle thin a, chuvangin Saddam an Kuwait a va awp kha chu an lo lawm hle a ni. Chuvangin Jordan Lal chuan Saddam chu a do ve ngamlo ta a ni, a ma mite ngaihdan a nih dawnloh avangin. Chutiang bawkin Saddam’an Israel a do avangin Palestine rama Palestinian leh PLO ho an hlim hle a, chuvangin Saddam-a hi Mosolman ram dangten an lo do let hi an ngaihdan a nilo hle bawk a ni.

Kan hriat theuh angin March ni 20, 2003 khan US chuan Iraq WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) a nei anga a puh avangin a zu do leh ta a, helam hi chu sawi hnem lo mai i la. December ni 15, 2011 thleng khan an awp a ni. Ti chuan US sipai ho an chhuah atanga Iraq a thil thleng i lo thlir leh ang u.

Hun rei tak Saddam-a leh a ma Ba’ath Party ten Iraq a ro an lo rel hnu chuan tuna Iraq-a official tak a roreltu ni mekte chu Shia ho an ni ta a, a hma zawnga Saddam-a lal lai a Sunni ho in Shia majority an tihduhdah kha inthlakin tunah chuan Shia ho in Sunni ho lakah phuba an rawn la ve ti ta i la, a dik ve tho ang. Chuvangin Sunni hel pawl hran hranin tuna Iraq sawrkar chu an rawn do ta a, chung zinga tunlai a sawi hlawh ber chu ISIS ho hi an ni.

Chungte chu tu te nge an nih?

ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) emaw ISIL (The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) te hi, tunah chuan IS (The Islamic State) tih tawp in an in ko tawh a, an ni hi Wahhabist Sunni ruhkawl ho an nia, he group hi a rawn pian tirh khan an hotupa Abu Musab al-Zarqawi chuan Osama bin Laden leh al-Qaeda a ngaisang hle a ni. Mahse hun a kal zel a, an hotute chu thihna avangin an inthlak zel a, an group hming te leh an “ideology” te pawh a in thlak fova, tunah tak hi chuan an hotu ber chu Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi ni in hman ni lawk pawh khan “Caliphate”a rawn puan ve rup kha. Caliphate awmzia chu Mosolman ho ram tihna a nia, hemi ram a Lal (Caliph) hi khawvel a Mosolman ho zawng zawngte hotu tur tihna a ni.

IS ho chet dan te hi a extreme hle avangin al-Qaeda ho tak ngial pawn em em a tiin an inzawmna an ti tawp a, tunah te chuan an in bei hial a ni e. Kan naupan lai a fiamthu, “Pa pakhat pawh kha a sual lutuk a, Setana tak ngial pawn em em a a ti” tih te pawh kha min hriatchhuah tir :)

IS tih tawpa an in koh hma khan ISIS/ISIL an in tihna chhan chu he group hian a rualin Iraq leh Syria a roreltute a do ve ve vang a ni. Sawi tawh angin, tuna Iraq a rorel mek te chu Shia an ni tawh a, chutiang bawkin Syria a rorel mek te, al-Assad te chhungkua hi Alawi an ni bawk a ni. Alawi ho chu Shia atanga kohhran pem hrang leh an ni. Alawi ho chu mithenkhatin Sufism/mysticism an tih ang hi an nia, mahse Shia ho nen thurin inang an nei hnem hle a ni. Sunni ruhkawl ho chuan Shia ho an huat ai hian Alawi ho hi an haw leh zual bawk a, chuvangin Iran chuan Alawi ho hi Shia angah pawh lo ngai chiahlo mahse Sunni ho ai chuan an inan zawk avangin Syria ram chu Iran in a support nasa hle a ni.

IS hovin “Caliphate” tih a an rawn puang kha chu news lamahte pawh a lang nasa hle a, a hnuai a map te hi a ni e an ram anga an puan chu.

Hemi an rawn puan tum khan kan ram India a news leh discussion forum/comment section te leh Mizo FB group hran hrana rawn comment tu te an rawn hlauthawng nual a, kha kha chu tlem in a nuihzathlak deuh. Middle East a thil awmzia tlema hriat deuh chuan he “Caliphate” hi thil nuihzathlak bak a nilo. India ram 80% Hindu awmna te hian he thil hi an thlen tir dawnlo hrim hrim. Thenawm Nepal, Hindu ho Kingdom an tih ah pawh a thleng theilo. Spain ah pawh a thleng thei nang. China ah phei te chuan tun a Mosolman ho “ramzan” neih zawh chiah chu an ram a Mosolmon hote chu an “fast” ve a phallo a rawn tih bur kha. China a Uighur Mosolman ho chu an dinhmun a hrehawm hle a, chutiang bawkin kan thenawm Burma ah lah Rohingya Mosolman hote chu Burma Buddhist hoten an do nasa hle bawk a ni.

Hetiang ram hla deuh deuh pawh en a ngailo. An awmna ram ringawt va thlir pawn, hetia “Caliphate” an rawn puang chiah chu Middle East ram hran hrante leh Sunni ho hotute tak ngial pawn an pawm theihloh thu an ziak, in duh chuan hetah te, hetah te, hetah te, hetah te leh hetah te hian in lo chhiar ve dawn nia.

Chumi mai bakah Iran in an Commando, khawvel a Special Force a bawn pawl an tih Quds Force chu Iraq sawrkar tanpui turin a thawn nghal a nih kha. Iran hian hetiang hi a thleng tir dawnlo reng reng, chu bakah Iraq leh Syria a Sunni nilo Mosolman pawl dangte pawn an pawm dawnlo. Sunni ho zingah ngei pawh a tir a ka sawi tawh ang khan al-Qaeda ho nen pawh IS ho hi an indo mek a, chu bakah Kurd ho hian an pawm dawnlo bawk. Theih tawpin Kurd ho hian IS te hi an do let dawn tih hi chu hriat tur.

Awle, a tawp nan Kurd ho lam i lo thlir ve ang u.

Kurd ho hi a hmasa berin Arab an nilo a ni. Middle East a Indo-European ethnic group pakhat ve mai, tuna mahni ram (official taka) neilo an ni a ni. An tawng te pawh hi Arabic ai mah in Persian nen a inang zawk a, an vai in Kurd ho hi maktaduai 30 vel an ni a ni. An tam berna ram te chu Iraq, Iran, Syria leh Turkey te ni in, an awmkhawmna lai ram hi “Kurdistan” (Kurd ho ram) an tia, he hmun hian tuna ka rawn sawi lan tawh te Iraq, Iran, Syria leh Turkey a hmun tamtak a huam a ni. Chuvang pawh chuan chung ram te nen chuan tun thlengin an la inti buai fo a ni. Kan ram nen a ka tehkhin theih dan ber chu tuna “Nagalim” (Greater Nagaland) kan tih ang vel hi a ni an dinhmun chu.

Kurdistan hi official takin ram anga pawm a nilo na a, mahse an mahni area chhungah te chuan ram pangngai ang thlapin democratically elected parliament te pawh an nei a ni. Chu mai bakah Iraq chhunga Iraqi Kurdistan area hi chu official taka Iraq chhunga region pakhat angin tun Iraq sawrkar mek hi chuan a pawm a, an area chhunga thil thleng leh rolrel danah te pawh a inrawlh lo a ni.

A tir a ka lo ziah tawh, “Kurd ho hi chu ka ngaisang angreng viau” ka tihna chhan chu Kurd ho hian “hnam feeling” an nei nasa hle a, Kurd ho hi a tlangpui chu Sunni Mosolman ni mahsela Shia Mosolman, Alevi Mosolman, Kristian, Yazidis sakhua, Zoroastrian hote mai bakah Juda hote tak ngial pawh Kurd zingah hian an awm nual a ni. An vai hian tlangnel taka khawsa dun an nia, Middle East a hmundang angin an inti buai ve ngai miahlo a ni.

Kurd ho zinga Sunni Mosolman hotu pakhat Sheikh Mohammed Mashouq al-Khaznawi-a pawh Syria sipai ten an thah hma khan, huaisen takin, “A hmasa berin Kurd ka nia, chumi zawh Mosolman ka ni chauh” a tih ngei kha. Hetiang rilru pu hi Middle East ah chuan an tlem hle a, an sakhuana hi dah hmasa phawt an ni tlangpui a ni. Hei vang pawh hian a nia Kurd Sunni Mosolman te chuan nasa takin IS (Sunni ruhkawl) ho chu an do let. Kurd ho an awm chhung chuan IS ho hi an rawn lal dawnlo reng reng tih hriat a pawimawh. Sakhua a inthliar hranna hian Kurd ho hi a tih buai veloh avang hian hneh mai mai theih an nilo.

Kurd ho dangdai lehna pakhat chu an thenawmte zawng zawngin Israel an huat laiin an ni chuan Israel an tan hle a ni. Chutiang bawkin Israel hian Kurd ho ram “Kurdistan” an tih chu official taka lo recognize turin ram hran hran a nawr nasa hle bawk a ni.

Ka article hi a sei dawn em avangin a dang chu sawi ta lo mai i la, entirnan tunah te hian Israel chuan Gaza a Palestine ho Hamas vangin a do nasa mek hle a, hetah te hian khawvel pumpui chuan kawng zawh ten an protest a, mahse engatinge Middle East a Mosolman ram te sawn chuti em em in an sawisel ve loh? Engvangin nge an ngawih? Chhiar chhiar chuan chhan tamtak a awm a, entirnan Israel ho hmelma pakhat hel pawl kan hriat lar em em Hezbollah te pawh tun hnai ah chauh natinge Israel in Gaza do tawp turin an rawn tih ve chauh? Achhanchu hel pawl ni ve ve leh Israel hmelma ni ve ve mahse Hamas leh Hezbollah ho hi an in ngeih hleinem. A hmasa berin Hamas ho hi Palestinian Sunni Mosolman an nia, Hezbollah ho hi chu Lebanon Shia Mosolman an ni. Chu bakah Syria a buaina ah Hezbollah ho hian al-Assad a te an tan lai in Hamas chuan lehlam (Free Syrian Army leh Islamic Front ho) a lo tan daih a ni.

Chutiang a buai nuai chu a ni e saw lai hmun pumpui saw. Khaikhawm nan heti hian kan ti teh ang. A tlangpui in Sunni leh Shia ho an in hua. Iran leh Shia hel pawl Hezbollah ten Syria a al-Assad a te an tan lai in Hamas leh Saudi a Sunni Wahhabist ho chuan lehlam an tan. Egypt ah lah General Sisi a Muslim Brotherhood te nen an indo lai in Gulf ram te chuan amah an tan leh si. Shia hmunpui Iran in Israel a huat vanga Hamas a tan lai in Shia hel pawl dangten Hamas an tan lo. Egypt a General Sisi a do mek tu Muslim Brotherhood te US in a tan lai in Muslim Brotherhood te pawl Hamas chuan US a haw leh lawi si. Chutih lai in Kurd ho hi Sunni sawrkar tam takin an tan laiin an ni hian Israel an tan leh bawk si. al-Qaeda hian tuna Iraq a Shia ho sawrkar a do mek lai hian Iraq do ve mek tu IS te nen an indo leh bawk si. Saudi leh Gulf State te lah an pawl tamtak support mek te chu US nen in do lai in an ni chu US te nen an in tan leh bawk si. Buai tak a ni, buai tak...

A tawp tak tak nan, he link te hi in lo en ve dawn nia, heng buaina tlangpui in hriatthiam duh chuan.  Chuan heta map 40 te pawh hi an tangkai ve reuh lutuk. Washington Post a relationship diagram an rawn ziah pawh hian a sawi hnem hle a ni:

Chhiar tui u aw. Helai thleng thleng in lo chhiar chuan ka lawm hle e. Cheers. Thuthlengs.

Chp 520. The “hypocrisy” of supporting Total Prohibition

So recently, our Mizoram government made a landmark ruling – A bill called “Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Bill, 2014” was passed in the Assembly House, bringing an end to the 17 years old MLTP (Mizoram Liquor Total Prohibition) Act. In layman’s term, it means one can/may soon buy alcohol in Mizoram legally.

This bill was quite controversial, with the Mizoram Synod, the governing body of the Presbyterian Churches in Mizoram, being one of the loudest adversaries of this watershed bill. The moment the bill was passed, my Facebook timeline exploded. Many rejoiced. Others lamented.


[Pic source: father_sphinx @ WhatsApp]

Now people who know me on the outside, like people whom I’m friends with on Facebook but who don’t know me personally, may know that I am indeed not a teetotaler. I like to take the occasional swig from a bottle of Old Monk now and then just to relax or calm down after a hard day’s work. Such people may assume that I am actually happy with this latest ruling.

I mean, put me in a photo line-up with a bunch of other people and ask a question: “Do you think he supports Prohibition or not?”



I’m sure most people would reply: “No he drinks, hence he is against prohibition. He belongs to our Chief Minister Pu Alco-Hawla’s fan club”.

My Facebook albums too are no stranger to photos occasionally featuring alcohol. I do this, not to show-off or promote alcohol, but to remember the good times and memorable incidents that went along with it.

Post by Kima De Mizohican.

Post by Kima De Mizohican.

But those who do know me really well, like close friends that I’ve spent a lot of time with, or the few people who have read some of my old blog posts, will know for a fact that I am actually a staunch supporter of Total Prohibition in Mizoram!

Yes I support the MLTP Act.

Now how HYPOCRITICAL of me to support Prohibition when I myself am a drinker who goes home to Mizoram only twice or thrice a year, you may ask. Yes I can feel all those judgmental eyes staring at me...

I may sound like that Facebook friend of yours, you know, the one who lives a wild life partying, cheating, bitching about others, posting raunchy selfies... and yet posts only Bible verses on Sundays. I’m sure most of us have such a friend in our FB friend list. As for me, if being a drinker and supporting Total Prohibition is hypocrisy, then I plead guilty to being a hypocrite. But first, please do listen to my side of the story.

First of all, everything is not always black and white. It’s not always a matter of being in or out. There is usually a large grey area between any two extremities. Yes the reason why our Church supports prohibition and the reason why I support prohibition may be a bit different, but we’re two sides of the same coin actually. Alcohol lowers inhibitions and at the end of the day, we both do not want to live in a society riddled with sin and anti-social elements.

Many of you may not remember how life used to be before the Prohibition days. I clearly remember. Alcohol was legally available then, but for those who lived near places that sell/serve alcohol, life was a mess. And in my case, I live RIGHT opposite one of the most iconic and infamous taverns in Aizawl - Sertawk Bar.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not bitching about them, they are my neighbors and I grew up with their kids and to this day we are great friends. But yes, because one could drink or purchase alcohol at that place, life was difficult for us.

Every day, scores of drunken men, complete strangers, would knock on our door, asking us for money because they ran out of cash. And you know how difficult it is to reason with drunks. A lot of them were even rude and demanded money, banging on our door as if it was their given right. There would be a couple of drunk people fighting almost every night outside our gate, making it unsafe and difficult for us to sleep, and in the mornings, there would occasionally be one or two guys passed-out right on our doorstep!

Those incidents traumatized me as a kid. Took me a long time to overcome my fear of drunken men. Calling the cops back then was hardly helpful - it was ok for a day or two, and then on the third day the fighting and knocking would start all over again. And sometimes it was even the cops themselves who came to our door asking for a little “show”.

The reason why we were hounded relentlessly was because back then, we were one of the few families in our neighborhood living in a concrete building. Many people were living in an “Assam type house” back then and so every drunk fucktard assumed we were ultra-rich and hence entitled to sponsor their drinks. That did not justify why they made life difficult for us. And that was probably one of the reasons why my parents sent me and my three elder sisters to boarding schools outside Mizoram since a tender age in the late 80’s.

Then came the Prohibition in 1997 and life suddenly was so beautiful and peaceful for us! No more hassles, no more fights and street brawls, no more extortion, no more living in fear. It was once again safe to venture out after dark.

People who do not live near bars and liquor stores will not have the ability to comprehend how life is like for those living near such places. It is so easy to disregard it and say, “What’s the big deal, what’s the problem?” when you yourself aren’t living in the center of the problem.

Likewise, now that the new Bill had been passed, various locality YMA had passed a diktat that despite the latest amendment to the MLTP Act, they would not allow anybody from their respective locality to sell alcohol. And immediately, online forums were abuzz with many people criticizing the YMA decision.

Remember the SRS? I used to be a vehement critic of the way they would mindlessly thrash people. It was a victory for human rights when the SRS was finally disbanded in 2008 due to mounting public pressure. Some of my anti-SRS articles were published in the editorial section of Newslink, an English language newspaper in Mizoram back in 2007, creating a couple of really awkward moments for me since I personally knew a few SRS members and a lot of my friends knew who the person “H” I was talking about in the article was.

But this time I actually understand why some YMA groups do not want licensed alcohol shops in their localities. At the end of the day, nobody wants troublemakers disturbing their locality. There is a total failure in Law & Order in Mizoram when it comes to dealing with drunk miscreants. The people have lost faith in the police. That was the very reason why such frustrations gave birth to vigilantism, like the SRS. Now, even though the SRS is no more, we still find many YMA volunteers on “duty” late in the night at various localities in Aizawl. One thing I have found out is that those YMA volunteers aren’t actually against alcohol per se.

Our car once broke down while returning from a late night “party” at World Bank road, and it stopped right next to a freaking YMA duty booth (of an undisclosed locality). Though my friend who was driving the car wasn’t drinking, I on the other hand was like, oh shit, I am sooo smelling of booze. And then around 5-6 of the YMA volunteers approached our car and I politely explained our situation and they actually helped us fix the car. One of them was a car mechanic and fiddled with the engine while others shined torches, and later they even pushed our car to give us a running start. While they were fixing the car, I chatted with the “leader” of that group and he chuckled at me because he said he could “smell that I had a great time”. I just grinned back at him. It was then that he explained they weren’t against people drinking in general. They were just there to prevent drunken group of people misbehaving or creating loud noises or recklessly driving two wheelers under the influence or fighting with other group of drunken friends.

That is why regarding this amendment to the MLTP Act, many people are skeptical. Unless Law & Order drastically improve, many of us fear the streets will be reduced to lawlessness. I seriously hate the fact that many of us Mizos tend to fight or get violent once we’re drunk. I mean, what is the deal with THAT? I have had my fair share of drinking sessions in “dry state” Mizoram (described as the wettest dry state by our former Governor) whenever I go home, and I just can’t help but admit that most of those events ended up in a brawl. Most of us are hot-blooded and quick to get into fights once inebriated, probably because of our tribal-warrior ancestry or deep rooted insecurity. Once drunk, emotions are elevated and most of us feel we have to prove our alpha masculinity and fuel our egoistical hubris by getting into a fight. And we tend to assume that is normal. It is not!

But then again, maybe that will change in the future too. As one of my friends said, there was a time when mobile phones with camera feature suddenly flooded our Mizo society and there were a lot of “leaked” photos of women in compromising positions and sex video scandals with their partners. Did people blame mobile phones for that and tried to ban it? No. Our society wised up and people are now more careful and cautious. Maybe that would be the case for those who drink as well.

But can the police really guarantee there will not be any public disturbances? Looking up on what the “Mizoram Liquor (Prohibition and Control) Bill, 2014” is stating, at least it is reassuring to read that – “Under the new law, those who would create nuisance after drinking would be severely punished and could be imprisoned up to two years, while drunken driving could invite the same punishment.” The bigger question is, how effective will this law be? Especially to those neighborhood selling alcohol in the future?

You may be thinking I’m being extremely selfish because the reason why I support Prohibition is only because my family happens to live near a tavern in Aizawl. But you’ll have to put yourself in different shoes to understand the sentiments of others. It’s like the case of a discotheque - Everybody loves to go to one, but nobody wants to live right next to it. People want to enjoy and make noise and have fun late in the night, but when the same people are trying to sleep and they are disturbed by noises made by others, they would be the first ones to complain. In a way, we are all selfish.

And if you think this issue is something that is prevalent only in small cities like Aizawl, then you are mistaken.

Over here in Mumbai, I live in one of the more upmarket localities called Bandra. Bandra was once the hub of late night parties where people could pub-hop and drink till they drop. Not anymore. A lot of renowned pubs like Zenzi, Poison, Banana Bar, Temptation, etc had all been closed down or relocated because numerous Bandra Housing societies had complained to the Home Minister R.R. Patil about the noise and ruckus created by late-night revelers.

Why are “such people” from Bandra Housing societies being such kill-joys? Why aren’t they letting us have fun? Because of the basic reason that you can’t disturb others and yodel all night at their expense. Nobody wants to hear that!

Yes, everybody has the right to live freely. But your freedom ends at the boundary where it violates another person’s freedom. It is not about curbing one’s freedom to enjoy, as long as you don’t disturb others around you. If you’re entertaining people and serving alcohol, then it should also be your responsibility to make sure they do not harass others nearby.

Here in Bandra, I live in Union Park, right opposite three extremely popular pubs - Big Nasty, Olive Bar & Kitchen, and Out of the Blue. Every night, at closing time when all the tipplers come outside, there is always a huge crowd around our apartment, but you should see how efficient the staff handles the situation. Valets and bouncers move around everywhere, organizing the crowd, and within minutes, the street is perfectly clear and peaceful. The management staff of these three establishments invested a lot in additional manpower to control their customers and they made sure none of them caused any inconveniences to the residents.

Likewise, in Mizoram if the police are going to be more active and efficient in the way they handle lawbreakers (late night drunken street fights, intoxicated men shouting “Tu nge min cho?” and challenging random strangers for a fight etc) INCLUDING domestic abuses that may increase due to availability of alcohol, if all that is going to be handled with an iron fist (though not like how the SRS used to handle things of course) then I will welcome this change. But until then, I remain a skeptic.

Last but not the least, I may be a hypocrite, but I do not have an icy heart. Just because I support prohibition (because of the above mentioned reason) doesn’t mean I don’t want people to have access to good booze. I have a lot of friends in Mizoram and it breaks my heart to see them drinking that so called bootlegged McDowells Rum, the one that is packaged in a plastic bottle and smuggled from Assam/Shillong. THAT is not rum. As a regular rum drinker outside Mizoram, when I drank my first sip of that McDowells rum in Mizoram, I literally choked. It IS NOT freaking rum. It is 50% rum mixed with some 50% chemical shit. That is freaking injurious to health, but sadly, my friends in Mizoram were so used to the taste that they didn’t know the difference. Since bootlegged alcohol are hard to smuggle in, people “increase the quantity” by using a syringe to extract some of the content and then adding chemicals to replace that amount, so that they can make twice the money. I mean, what kinda diabolic thought must one have to poison people just to make a few extra bucks? That is another group of assholes I really hope our police goes after once this new law comes into place.

Until then, guess all I can say is cheers for now, cautiously...

Chp 519. World Cup 2014 aftermath

It is so hard to believe it’s not even been a week since Germany won the World Cup! That was this week’s Monday early morning. Today is only just Friday! The past four days/nights since the Finals, I went home from office twice at 3 in the morning, once at 5 in the morning, and another time at 7 AM (this morning). That’s how busy we’ve been!

[Taking selfies with time “proof” from mobile phones to remember the moment, lolz]

Seriously, when there is a really important deadline coming up and we overwork our asses out, suddenly, everything else seems so... lengthy and disorienting, as we end up losing track of time.

I really feel as if it had been at least two weeks since that awesome World Cup Finals. Maybe it has a lot to do with other events happening the past 1-2 weeks - Israel intensifying its Gaza operations, the signing of Alexis Sanchez and Mathieu Debuchy to Arsenal, the taking down of flight MH17 in Ukraine, Mizoram Assembly making a landmark ruling regarding the Total Prohibition Act, making an important decision whether to renew our apartment rental agreement for another year or not, ISIS turmoil in Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Middle East uprising, keeping a track on the Union Budget 2014, getting hooked on the ongoing 24 (Live Another Day) TV series even though I promised myself I would wait till the end of the season so I could watch all the episodes in one go, and so on... Add all that to our recent hectic office schedule and suddenly the World Cup Final felt like it happened some time ago. Theory of Relativity, I guess.

Anyway, yes, regarding the Finals, I’m sure most of you must have seen that match. The match broke all previous Facebook and Twitter records of being the most talked about topic online. It also became the most watched sporting event on television globally. Such was the phenomenon.

I know, many people supporting Germany were disappointed there wasn’t a repeat of the Brazil match scoreline. In fact Argentina came close to clinching the cup a couple of times. But good ol Götze scored a beauty in the second half of Extra Time, making Germany the first European team to win in the Americas.

By then, all of us were like, Thank God it didn’t go to penalties. Winning a World Cup on penalty doesn’t really have that much... zing to the whole affair of watching a match between two different countries. So a big congratulations to Germany. Yay Arsenal! :D :P

And with the end of the World Cup, it is time to stop cheering for the Germans and start acting like one. The Germans are one of the most hard-working people in Europe, rebuilding an entire nation from rubble after WWII to become a super power again. Known for phrases such as German Engineering, German Expertise, German Precision, they are a symbol of hard work and perseverance worthy of our admiration. That was probably why I was inspired and had the strength and energy to work so late in office for the past four nights right after watching them with the Cup :)

So why are we working so hard?

All will be revealed next week when we launch our latest Android game. It is going to revolutionalize the way people play a certain category of game, as we take full advantage of the “Mobile First” technological advantage that mobile games have.

So hopefully, from next week onwards I’ll have a lot more free time to relax. And maybe this upcoming game could be THE game-changer for our company. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Cheers.

Chp 518. World Cup 2014: Finals

So just like the last World Cup where the team I was madly rooting for made it to the Finals, this World Cup too, the team I’ve been cheering for made it to the Finals! Yippeeeee!

The only difference is, unlike the last World Cup final, this time, my team is going to win the cup. Ohhh Yeahhhhh…

What makes this World Cup final awesome is that it is a repeat of the 1990 World Cup, where Argentina and West Germany met in the finals. It was a match featuring legends such as Maradona, Klinsmann and Lothar Matthäus. 

It was the first World Cup I remember watching on TV, even though people who owned TVs in Mizoram back then weren't that many... and I can’t recollect which channel - was it Doordarshan or Bangladesh channel or one of those “khawchhak” South East Asian channels that we could get by simply adjusting our TV antennae, a task that could be performed only by a “highly specialized” antenna twister, a stud who was admired by all the damsels around him [Do read later: History of Studs in Mizo Society from 80’s onwards]

West Germany went on to beat Argentina in the 1990 finals. The two teams had also met earlier in the 1986 Finals too, where Argentina won. The reason why I remember the 1990 World Cup so well is because my all-time favorite World Cup anthem TO THIS DAY is from that Italia '90 World Cup. Ladies and Gentlemen, for nostalgia and old time’s sake, I give you – “To Be Number One by Giorgio Moroder Project. [embedding had been disabled :( or you can watch the live performance below from another source]

This is a song that most Mizos remember till today, a song that has inspired people across different sports. There’s a rumor that the reason why they included the lyrics “Playing hard, but always playing fair” in the chorus was because of Maradona’s infamous “Hand of God” in the previous 1986 World Cup, lolz.

Seriously, this is the bestest World Cup anthem ever. Screw those waka waka and ole ola nonsense by Pitbull and Co. That is why I will be playing this song nonstop before the Finals tonight. Wooohoooo comonnn Germanyyyyy!!!! Comonnn Arsenal :D

So, for the last match of this World Cup 2014, who are you supporting?

It is going to be an awesome match, with the brilliant Germans admired for their display of team-work so far, and with Messi vowing to avenge the 1990 Finals defeat. But I don’t think that will be possible because back in 1990, Argentina was playing only against West Germany. This time they will be playing against West + East + North + South Germany. Bwahaha lame joke is lame! :P

And if you’re an Argentina fan, get ready to play that song “Don’t cry for me Argentina” once the match is over. Bwahahaha…

But seriously, Argentina is going to give it their all, so one can’t really say who’s going to win. First of all, it is almost like a home match for the Brazilian neighbors. Secondly, apart from trying to avenge their 1990 Finals defeat, most of the players in the current squad want to avenge their embarrassing 4-0 defeat to the Germans in the previous World Cup. So yeah, this is one pumped up Finals.

Cheers! I mean… Prost!

:)

Chp 517. World Cup: Semi Finals match-up

And so it has come down to this - Germany versus Brazil and Argentina versus Netherlands, “A dream semi finals” as quoted by many, while others coined it “The Great South American – European Clash”.

All four teams that I predicted would make it to the Semis in my previous post, did make it through. Does that make me some kinda football pundit? Nah, just plain lucky.

Here are the two upcoming matches for the next two days - who are you rooting for?

As for me, like I mentioned at the very beginning of this World Cup, I’m rooting for Germany all the way baby. Here’s to their victory tonight. Achtung Achtung!!!! Vorwärts!!! Kein Mensch - Kein Tier – Panzergrenadier! Du haaaaaassst!!!  :P

And of course as promised, I’ll be cheering for any team that plays against the team Van Per $hit plays for, so it’s gonna be Vamos Vamos Argentina for me tomorrow night.

Chp 515. World Cup: Quarter Finals match-up

So here are the upcoming Quarter Finals matches of the FIFA World Cup 2014, starting tonight -

Match #1. Tonigh 9:30 PM – France versus Germany

Match #2. Saturday 1:30 AM – Brazil versus Colombia

Match #3. Saturday 9:30 PM – Belgium versus Argentina

Match #4. Sunday 1:30 AM – Costa Rica versus Netherlands

By Sunday morning we’ll know who the Semi-Finalists are. And hopefully, I can watch all four quarter final matches this time.

Being stuck at work, like I said in my previous post, I haven’t seen most of the matches so far. In fact, just day before yesterday our team stayed over for the night in office, and went home only last night around 11 PM - So that’s like 38 hours of work. We had a similar 36+ hours grind in office just last week too! Hopefully, today we’ll be able to release a new build of a *top secret* game project we’ve been working on, and release a beta test version before the Germany - France match kicks off tonight. Keeping my fingers crossed.

All four Quarterfinal matches are going to be pretty intense and exciting, and the entertainment will be a well deserved one for me having slogged my ass off the past few weeks (that is, if and only if we’re able to meet our deadline today. Otherwise it could even mean missing today’s two matches and even working over the weekend as well! Such is the life of a Start-Up company…)

Regarding the upcoming four matches, since the team I’m cheering for this World Cup is Germany, I’ll obviously be cheering for Colombia, Costa Rica and Belgium during their respective matches, so bring it on, all ye Brazil, Argentina and Netherlands fans! :D

And in other non-football sports-related news, millions of Indians were pissed off because when Maria Sharapova was recently asked if she knew who Sachin Tendulkar was, she said no. And thousands of hardcore Tendulkar fans took to Twitter, Facebook and various news article comment sections, abusing not just Sharapova but her mom, her dad etc. calling her a bitch, a whore, a bimbo, a prostitute … just because she fucking didn’t know somebody. I’ve never been more embarrassed to be an Indian right then. And as #whoismariasharapova trended worldwide on Twitter, with every new insult and misogynistic tweet thrown at her, I cringed more and more in my seat. This myopic outlook we have, where we think the world universe revolves around our country, definitely needs to be changed.

Just because cricket is extremely popular here doesn’t mean it is everywhere else. I have met my fair share of disillusioned and cricket crazy fans who consider the Cricket World Cup to be the one true World Cup, because they feel football is an unpopular game that not many people or countries play or watch!

And trying to justify all the abuses and outbursts by bringing out comparisons of the number of Facebook fans and Twitter followers both icons have is utterly lame. Of course Tendulkar will have more fans, but we forget the fact that a vast majority of those are Indians, and that India has 10 times the population of Russia.

Sure, in India, Sachin is considered as God, and millions of people worship him. I for one have a deep respect for him even though cricket is not my favorite sport. But that doesn’t mean one can cyber-bully somebody who probably has never seen a cricket match in her life. How many of us truly know the legends of other sporting events like Ice Hockey, Rugby, Baseball etc. I mean, are we even expected to know such legends? No. At best, maybe one can smirk at her for not knowing the icon of a game watched by a nation of billion, but cyber-bullying her, spamming her and verbally abusing her sexually and racially is taking it too far. And I’m sure a lot of these butthurt fans, angry because a foreigner doesn’t know who Tendulkar is, will not even know any of our own players in the Hockey or Football national teams. Or the names of all the States and Capitals of our country. Or the names of the Chief Ministers or Vice President of India. That is the sad situation we’re in today. But reading various comment sections across different media publishing this news, at least it feels good to know there are quite a number of people criticizing our criticism of Sharapova.  I raise my glass to such people.

So that was it. That incident came and went. Now it is time to focus back to football. Until tonight’s matches, cheerios everyone…