Hemant Lakhani, a British Asian who’s spent decades in London’s clothing industry, was put on trial in New Jersey today for trying to sell anti-aircraft missiles to terrorists. Here’s the twist: unbeknownst to him, his supplier was from Russian law enforcement, his buyer was an FBI agent, and the only missile he actually got his hands on was a dummy. He’s arguing entrapment:

[I]n London’s West End rag trade, people, who have known him for over 35 years, describe him as more a Del boy, a character in the BBC’s popular comedy serial Only Fools and Horses. Del Boy in the serial tries out all sorts of get-rich-quick schemes, risking brushes with law, but invariably fails. Lakhani is truly the same character, say a large number of people here. “He is truly a complete loser.”

Lakhani tried to duck responsibility:

Mr Lakhani claims he was entrapped by the US agent, who kept offering more money whenever he failed to find any missiles. “He’d say I’ve got $20m (£10.6m), I’ve got $10m, I’ve got so many million. All these temptations and temptations.”

But he completely incriminated himself with his anti-U.S. statements:

“He spent more than a year and a half trying to smuggle 200 missiles into the United States, all the time issuing advice on how to shoot planes out of the sky to shake the US economy.”… Lakhani, a Hindu, had allegedly told the agent: “You must target 10 to 15 different airports at the same time,” and added: “If Allah blesses us we can finish this.” He also offered a “dirty” bomb for £1.6 million.

The odd thing about this case is that Lakhani is a 69-year-old, long-married Hindu with no prior terrorist ties. That suggests a mercenary motive more than an ideological one. The central question is, was he a Walter Mitty, or was he for real?

The last few days I have read a string of articles that reiterate in my mind the close connection between sex and disaster. I remember reading a book once in my 20th Century American Wars class in college, which talked about the relationship between sex and the brutal savagery of war. For some reason in the midst of an inhuman situation, a significant portion of the population becomes aroused and often times crosses the line into sexual deviancy. If anyone can point me to a specific study I’d appreciate it but in my view there is already anecdotal evidence in the wake of the Tsunami disaster. From the AP (thanks for the tip Julie T):

A teenager who escaped death but was left orphaned and homeless by the Asian tsunami met yet one more agony: gang rape, one of several cases of child abuse being investigated in the disaster zone, an official said.

Of all the human tragedies emerging from the worst natural disaster in decades, sexual abuse of vulnerable children in refugee camps must be among the most shocking.

… But psychological and behavioral problems are certain to become more important as the authorities gain control over the life-threatening issues.

De Silva said his governmental agency already is investigating several complaints of sexual abuse in centers housing tens of thousands of survivors.

So far, the cases of suspected abuse have been isolated. But officials are concerned that the trauma of the catastrophe, coupled with the close quarters in the refugee centers, could spawn many more cases.

“In the aftermath of displacement and shock you do see an increase of abuse and violence against women and children,” said Ted Chaiban, head of the U.N. children’s agency in Colombo.

With the huge number of orphans, the worst elements of society are out and practicing their trade:

Text messages offering to sell hundreds of Indonesian orphans into sexual slavery are fueling fears that pedophile rings are prowling the tsunami-ravaged region.

“Three hundred orphans aged 3-10 years from Aceh for adoption,” read the message that appeared yesterday on the cell phone of a UNICEF worker in nearby Malaysia.

“All paperwork will be taken care of. No fee. Please state age and sex of child required.”

Continue reading →

An OpEd in the Boston Globe tackles an issue which is part of the reason we put so much energy into Sepia Mutiny – Boston.com / News / Boston Globe / Living / Arts / Deliver us from faraway evil

Human apathy toward mass deprivation is legendary. Aid organizations know this. For decades, the relief organization Save the Children has urged first-world donors to underwrite the well-being of a specific child somewhere in the Third World. Why? Because no one cares about saving children in the abstract. But people do care about saving Marzina, an 8-year-old from Bangladesh, who is currently seeking a sponsor. The media likewise know that gargantuan disaster stories have to be correctly packaged to capture readers’ attention. There is an old, politically incorrect saying in newsrooms: How do you change a front-page story about massive flood devastation into a 50-word news brief buried inside the paper? Just add two words: ”In India.”

Sad but True.

Back in the early 90s, a round of cyclones / floods in Bangladesh killed almost 140k folks — a comparable number to the Tsunami’s toll (for now). This situation was possibly more acute because all the carnage was concentrated in a single, dirt-poor nation with 140M people and few resort beaches. Needless to say, that story appeared & disappeared from our headlines pretty darn quickly.

Still, I don’t fault the newspaper editors of the world too much – it’s human nature for Americans to care more about Americans & Swedes about Swedes (be they on Phuket resorts or down a well in Midland, Texas). My takeaway is that it’s an important reaffirmation of the importance of micro-media outfits like Sepia Mutiny, desi blogs, and vast collaboration media like the Internet.

Remember my previous posts (here and here and here) on the drive to get the first (and up until recently, the only) Indian American Congressman onto a stamp? Well our boy has met with some resistance and the IACFPA reports that the stamp proposal has been defeated:

The U.S. CitizensÂ’ Stamp Advisory Committee was recently reported to have rejected the proposal to issue a stamp commemorating Dalip Singh Saund, the first Asian to be elected to Congress in 1956. But Indian Americans and various legislative bodies have not given up the effort to garner recognition for the late Congressman.

Okay so what’s the next step? How to recover from this devastating news? What’s plan B? Continue reading →

We’re all aware that the Tsunami has meant tragedy for millions. I know people who can’t bear to watch another news report, because they know it will merit a saltwater response. This post is for them (and you).

From Rediff.com:

A 18-month-old Kazakh baby, apparently unharmed, has been found in Thailand’s Khao Lak tourist resort in southern Phang-nga province which has been devastated by the killer Tsunami last Sunday.

The baby, who was discovered floating on a mattress in the sea by an Indian national a few days ago, was handed over to the Kazakh ambassador on Saturday.

It was not until Saturday that officials were alerted to the miraculous discovery of the young survivor by the Indian national, who had been caring for the baby for the past few days, sources said.

Almost reminds me of the story of Moses, another miracle baby, although one from an ancient time. I hope they find more odds-defying survivors daily.

Rediff.com is reporting that Ella Gabriella, the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, plans to marry her Indian boyfriend Aatish Taseer. Ella, 23, the 30th in line to the throne, was studying Spanish and English literature at Brown University, when she met 24-year-old Aatish, a Mumbai-born Sikh, who occasionally dresses up as Captain Condom to promote the importance of safe sex. Taseer’s marriage to Lady Gabriella, both of whom are aspiring journalists, will certainly help to put to rest accusations of racism that have dogged her mother since she allegedly told a table of black diners in a Manhattan restaurant to “go back to the colonies” after they ignored her request to quiet down.

Maybe Taseer can do something to get all those items taken by the Brits from India returned. (The Padshahnama, The Kohinoor Diamond etc.))

There’s finally some good news about the desi diet to balance out all the heart disease. A compound in the haldi (turmeric) used in desi cooking may help prevent Alzheimer’s (via Boing Boing):

The new UCLA-Veterans Affairs study involving genetically altered mice suggests that curcumin, the yellow pigment in curry spice, inhibits the accumulation of destructive beta amyloids in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and also breaks up existing plaques. The research team also determined curcumin is more effective in inhibiting formation of the protein fragments than many other drugs being tested as Alzheimer’s treatments.

The rate of Alzheimer’s in India is 4x lower than in the U.S.

Here’s a copy of the full research paper.