The Gettysburg Address by Abe Lincoln and a small problem

Background of Gettysburg

From July 1–3, 1863, 172,000 American soldiers clashed in the Battle of Gettysburg, in what would prove to be a turning point of the Civil War.The battlefield was left with the bodies of more than 7,500 soldiers and 5,000 horses of the Army of the Potomac and the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia, and the stench of rotting bodies in the humid July air was overpowering. The people of Gettysburg decided to honor the dead and give them a decent burial and arranged for land, buried them all and called upon the President of United States. The speech he delivered on that day(less than 3 minutes) is the foundation of America today and there is the problem

The Gettysburg Address

This is the speech. I really admire this guy. What powerful words.

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation, so conceived, and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met here on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But in a larger sense we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled, here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they have, thus far, so nobly carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

The Problem

This speech is the taught widely across the U.S and it is inscribed in a memorial in Washington. The problem is that nobody knows if Lincoln spoke these exact words as there are 5 different manuscripts of this speech and some of them are drastically different. So there is a good chance that the foundation which US has built itself upon might be words that were never spoken and not exactly as Lincoln intended it to be and like the famous "American Dream" , the foundation might also be built upon a bit of dreams. But hell, dreams are good and the words above are some of the most powerful that I have ever seen and I respect that country for bringing out stalwarts like Lincoln

Know your Enemies

There are good chance that you and I might get bombed off when doing an overnight train journey, a bus journey or even in a shopping mall. Yes, I am talking about the ever persistent threat of a terror attack.

If it’s some consolation, the whole world is now under the threat of terrorism. So, the fact that when we hear about terrorism, we have an unknown face of a masked man or a psychopath like Kasab is not enough. Let’s know our enemies. At least, I would like to know who the guy is who is going to harm me. Always hated surprises anyway.

Here goes:-

Al Qaida: - The original bad guys. Believe it or not, they are not much of a threat to India. Their focus is on the war with the west. Of course that doesn’t make them less dangerous for us.

Pakistani Taliban: - The aim of the Pakistani Taliban is apparently to overthrow the democracy in Pakistan and replace it with an Islamic republic like the one in Afghanistan. I know, it’s scary. Again they have other things of importance now. So India is not their immediate priority.

Jaish-e-Mohamed :-

India specific organization. Their aim – separate Kashmir from India

A relatively not so well know outfit

The leaders are of course from the Kathmandu hijack. Yes, we had them and then we let them out to wreak havoc.

Responsible for the attack on our parliament in 2001.

This is interesting: - The leader Maulana Masood Azhar was born in England and studied for a year in London School of Economics for a year

Lashkar-e-Toiba(Army of the Good) :-

Well known to all of us

Stated aim according to Wikipedia is to introduce an islamic state in South Asia and liberate the Indians in India.

They are supported by the Pakistan Army which makes them very potent against India.

Attacks against India

1. 2003 : 24 Kashmiri pundits gunned down on the night of March 23, 2003.
2. 2005: During Diwali, Lashkar-e-Taiba bombed crowded festive Delhi markets killing 60 civilians and maiming 527.
3. 2006: Lashkar-e-Taiba was involved in serial blasts in Varanasi in the state of Uttar Pradesh. 37 people died and 89 were seriously injured.
4. 34 Hindus were killed in Kashmir on April 30, 2006.
5. 2006 : he investigation launched by Indian forces and US officials have pointed to the involvement of Lashkar-e-Taiba in Mumbai serial blasts on 11 July 2006. The Mumbai serial blasts on 11 July claimed 211 lives and maimed about 407 people and seriously injured another 768.^[
6. 2008 : Mumbai

Indian Mujahideen :-

This is sad. These are our own people. The people whom we need to fear the most

Shadow amalgam of the SIMI and Lashkar-e-Toiba according to Wikipedia

Though IM recruits tend to be lower- and middle-class Muslims that are disaffected by Hindu nationalism, as well as those offended by Western values and polytheism, IM also claims leaders and cadres from professional backgrounds, especially from the IT sector. – From National Bureau of Asian Research

SIMI/IM has long-standing ties to global Islamist organizations, including Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihad-Islami (HUJI), and mafia as well as Pakistani intelligence agencies and other criminal and militant organizations beyond India. – From National Bureau of Asian Research

Major known attacks

2007 : UP Serial Blasts

2008 : Jaipur Bombings

2008 : Bangalore Serial Blasts

26 July 2008 : Ahmedabad Serial Blasts

13 Sep 2008 : Delhi Serial Blasts

2010 : Pune

What can we do about all this ? Other than being responsible citizens, I have no idea. Maybe participating more as active citizens and raising our voice against injustice anywhere. But for ordinary people like me that is just impossible and unthinkable.

In the film 'Wednesday', There is a dialogue like this 'We are Mumbiakars .. sometimes we get stuck in rain and sometimes in bombs'

Yes 'We are Indians .. Sometimes we do get stuck in bombs and gun fires ' Imagine if all these attacks happened in U.S or any other countries.

** Software Engineer Dude .. Most of the data here is copy paste from wikipedia .. :-) :-)