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Saying it with white
Arjun Seluja, is a fashion designer who divides his time between Delhi and New York. He was dismayed to find a building with flags in all its windows. "In Chelsea, Rehan, in Chelsea."

In a gay bar, also in Chelsea, a white man stepped on his toe to make a point. "In a gay bar, Rehan!"

Arjun is also horrified by what he saw happen to the New York fashion week after September 11. All of haute couture worked to change their lines. They chose to work exclusively in white. 

I walked into a magazine office in midtown the other day and noticed the secretary was frantically searching on the Internet. She told me she was looking for bin Laden's zodiac sign. 

These are strange signs of the coming of a strange prophet. 

A prince, a prophet
Of Bush and Osama who do you think is the prophet? Both are talking about the war between good and evil. Both claim God is on their side. Bush talks from the capital of the empire, the Rome of our time, and Osama is a man living in the middle of the desert. A prince who has given up on the princely life and lives in the poorest country in the world. He also speaks poetically. 

The US should vacate the Arabian peninsula, the life of a Palestinian should be as peaceful as that of an American (at the risk of sounding redundant this means that we are all equal) and that the US must stop supporting the client states of Arabia and Egypt. A perfect rhyme. 

A racial profiling of Osama would be the same as many a Judaeo Christian prophet, who is in the service of a wrathful god. I think if Osama didn't look so damn Middle Eastern, had the blonde hair and blue eyes of a Christmas pageant Jesus, Bush might dream about negotiation. 

God knows there are few creative ideas in the Muslim world. No new ideas about democracy, no new news on despotism and no revolution in gender relations. The last time the Iranians had a new idea was when they threw out the West. That was almost 25 years ago. Now bin Laden has a new idea: throw the political west out of the Middle East. This is an idea in a land parched for one. It has the poetry of justice. This is why every western reporter is hearing this from the mouth of his or her Egyptian, Arabian and, even, Pakistani interviewee.

Storm clouds of change
My father and I had the ritual of going to the same prayer ground for the Id ki namaaz in Karachi. We were always late, so when I was four, he would pick me up chuckling "mulla bol para" and start running. The other thing I remember from then, and is true to this day, is how in the prayer there was talk of the freedom of the Palestinians and Kashmiris. 

I remember the names of these causes when I didn't know what they stood for. My father introduced me to the Israeli conflict. He took the side of the Israelis. Against the unending retrogressiveness of the Arabian Peninsula he was also for the Israelis for their back to the wall, preemptive, survival against all odds. 

I think he recognised the kinship as his family had escaped the teeth of the Delhi riots and had clawed their way out of Jacob Lines, a notorious refugee colony of Karachi. As for Kashmir, I got sick of it having realised that everything in Pakistan is mortgaged to it. 

It is very discomforting to recognise in the video messages of Osama his determination to change the status quo because, well, it's been so for too long.




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<TD class=CHEAD width="60%"><U>Osama - the high priest!</U></TD><!--<td class="CHEAD" rowspan=3><img src="../images/general/homebanner.gif"></td>--></TR>
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<TD vAlign=top width="60%"><FONT color=#808080 face=arial size=2>&nbsp;By: <I>Rehan Ansari</I></FONT><BR></TD></TR>
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<DIV align=justify>&nbsp;October 11,2001</DIV></FONT></TD></TR>
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<P>Before the fortress like walls of a monastery in Manhattan, a Rastafarian was chanting O-sama, O-sama... Only the two desis in the lineup of tourists laughed at the sight.<BR><BR>The Cloisters is an unused monastery on the northern tip of Manhattan, around 200th street. It is open to the public as a park and a museum. It seems a brainchild of an American capitalist from the pages of P G Wodehouse. Buy a British castle and have it transported brick by brick to New York. It is most authentic, and together with the herb gardens, gives the feeling of Europe and old civilisation. From the heights of the monastery you can see the Hudson valley and in the other direction New York. </P>
<P>From the shadows of the monastery I can hear the chants of Osama.</P>
<P><STRONG>Saying it with white</STRONG><BR>Arjun Seluja, is a fashion designer who divides his time between Delhi and New York. He was dismayed to find a building with flags in all its windows.&nbsp;"In Chelsea, Rehan, in Chelsea."</P>
<P>In a gay bar, also in Chelsea, a white man stepped on his toe to make a point. "In a gay bar, Rehan!"<BR><BR>Arjun is also horrified by what he saw happen to the New York fashion week after September 11. All of haute couture worked to change their lines. They chose to work exclusively in white. </P>
<P>I walked into a magazine office in midtown the other day and noticed the secretary was frantically searching on the Internet. She told me she was looking for bin Laden's zodiac sign. </P>
<P>These are strange signs of the coming of a strange prophet. </P>
<P><STRONG>A prince, a prophet<BR></STRONG>Of Bush and Osama who do you think is the prophet? Both are talking about the war between good and evil. Both claim God is on their side. Bush talks from the capital of the empire, the Rome of our time, and Osama is a man living in the middle of the desert. A prince who has given up on the princely life and lives in the poorest country in the world. He also speaks poetically. </P>
<P>The US should vacate the Arabian peninsula, the life of a Palestinian should be as peaceful as that of an American (at the risk of sounding redundant this means that we are all equal) and that the US must stop supporting the client states of Arabia and Egypt. A perfect rhyme. </P>
<P>A racial profiling of Osama would be the same as many a Judaeo Christian prophet, who is in the service of a wrathful god. I think if Osama didn't look so damn Middle Eastern, had the blonde hair and blue eyes of a Christmas pageant Jesus, Bush might dream about negotiation. </P>
<P>God knows there are few creative ideas in the Muslim world. No new ideas about democracy, no new news on despotism and no revolution in gender relations. The last time the Iranians had a new idea was when they threw out the West. That was almost 25 years ago. Now bin Laden has a new idea: throw the political west out of the Middle East. This is an idea in a land parched for one. It has the poetry of justice. This is why every western reporter is hearing this from the mouth of his or her Egyptian, Arabian and, even, Pakistani interviewee.</P>
<P><STRONG>Storm clouds of change<BR></STRONG>My father and I had the ritual of going to the same prayer ground for the Id ki namaaz in Karachi. We were always late, so when I was four, he would pick me up chuckling "mulla bol para" and start running. The other thing I remember from then, and is true to this day, is how in the prayer there was talk of the freedom of the Palestinians and Kashmiris. </P>
<P>I remember the names of these causes when I didn't know what they stood for. My father introduced me to the Israeli conflict. He took the side of the Israelis. Against the unending retrogressiveness of the Arabian Peninsula he was also for the Israelis for their back to the wall, preemptive, survival against all odds. </P>
<P>I think he recognised the kinship as his family had escaped the teeth of the Delhi riots and had clawed their way out of&nbsp;Jacob Lines, a notorious refugee colony of Karachi. As for Kashmir, I got sick of it having realised that everything in Pakistan is mortgaged to it. </P>
<P>It is very discomforting to recognise in the video messages of Osama his determination to change the status quo because, well, it's been so for too long.</P></DIV></FONT></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><BR clear=all>
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