Middle East vandalism is destroying centuries

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, for example, shows no regard for either Christian or Islamic heritage.Since violence erupted across Egypt over the ousting of President Mohamed Morsi, looting and destruction of historical relics have been commonplace. In the city of Minya more than 1,000 artifacts were stolen from the Malawi Museum, including a priceless 3,500 year old statue, pottery and coins.

Similar destruction has also been taking place elsewhere. After Islamists moved into Northern Mali, the great cultural city of Timbuktu was seized by an Islamic faction called the Ansar Dine. Referring to the ongoing demolition of property in Timbuktu, an Ansar Dine spokesman said, “The destruction is a divine order. It’s our Prophet who said that each time that someone builds something on top of a grave, it needs to be pulled back to the ground.”

Such events are not without precedent in Egypt. The Ancient Library of Alexandria which contained irreplaceable scrolls and manuscripts dating as far back as 300 BC. was forever lost in a devastating fire. Even today the library is regarded as a symbol of “knowledge and culture destroyed.”

Though four theories exist about the cause of the library fire, most Western scholars do not believe the blaze was the result of the Muslim invasion and conquest of Egypt in 641. Early Muslim writers, third party merchant account, claim the conflagration was ordered by Caliph Umar.

As Robert Spencer notes in his book Not Peace but a Sword, when Umar was asked why the library should be burned, he replied, “If the books in it agree with the Qur’an, they are superfluous. If they disagree with the Qur’an, they are heretical. Only one book was needed.”Even if the theory about the Alexandria library is not true, there are other examples that of similar destruction. Less than two years ago, nearly 200,000 books were destroyed in the Egyptian Scientific Institute in Cairo.

Religious icons, statues, paintings and the like are regarded as apostasy by Islamic purists. That is why representations and cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad are so inflammatory to the true believers.Mosques in Saudi Arabia are completely devoid of any ornamentation for that reason.After Mohamed Morsi became president of Egypt in the summer of 2012,  some followers called for the destruction of the Great Pyramids. The idea had been proposed in the past, but the lack of technology served as a preventative.

The most popular story about the Sphinx at Giza losing its nose is that it happened during the Napoleonic Wars. Other sources attribute the de-nosing to an incident in the 14th century when local peasants were found making offerings at the base of the Sphinx with the hope that Nile floods would improve their harvest. When a Sufi Muslim learned of the offerings, he became so angry that he destroyed the nose.

As so frequently happens in the chasm between Islam and the West, such concepts are completely alien to our way of thinking. Why would Muslims want to destroy Islamic culture?Much of the reason relates to ancient tribal traditions of the desert which are still very much in evidence in the Middle East today. Because of that tribal heritage, Islamists have no true national identity. They only relate the “culture” of Islam which is contained within the pages of the Koran. Nothing more is necessary.

Robert Spencer explains, “You can pretty much correlate in Islamic history the strength and aggression and rise of the great Islamic empires of the past with the size of the Jewish and Christian communities that were subjugated within those empires and were paying for that imperial expansion. When those communities were exhausted economically, then the Islamic empires went into decline. This is an absolute correlation.”One need only look at Detroit and it neighbors here in the United States for validation. Once the fourth largest city in the country, it has become so heavily influenced by Muslims that some have nicknamed it “Dearbornistan.”

As long as Islam remains a one way street, there can be no compromise with the West. As Spencer points out, “In Islam, any moral law can be set aside for the good of the Muslims. This is Islam’s only functional moral absolute.”Flipkart recently raised $200 million from existing investors, making it the single largest round of funding in the Indian ecommerce market. The Bangalore-based company is on a growth track without worrying about profits for a next few years. It is bracing itself for challenges arising from its transition to being a market place from being just a book e-tailer.

Sachin Bansal, founder and CEO, speaks to Business Line on its evolution, expansion and innovations that could be a game changer for any e-commerce company. Edited excerpts:You have been talking about changing your business model. What does that mean for the third party payment gateway? Has the process started? Of late, there have been several consumer complaints on non-delivery, delayed delivery and cancellation as well. Is this due to the transition? How are you tackling the issue?

Every time we make changes, there are challenges. We are facing some problems as we overlooked a few things. Service is in our blood and we are very proud of it. Recently, I would admit that there were a few problems and we are agonised due to this. But we will bounce back. It is a temporary mess on the supply chain side. We are working towards fixing the problems in a few weeks time.

The last round of funding will be used in setting up a good supply chain and logistics infrastructure. It will also help filter out good sellers from bad sellers. Also invest in creating a process that will manage the same and also develop talent.Does moving to a market place mean more profits? Is the company nearing the breakeven point?

In India e-commerce has happened, but it is still far behind the developed countries. Currently, it is at $1 billion and is expected to reach $76 billion by 2020. Our funding proves that investors are now willing to put their money in this growth story. The focus at this point in time is to get more customers to shop online and make it a regular activity. Right now, it is about achievements and not thinking about profits for the next few years.

We keep looking at opportunities. We are interested in two types of companies – a company which is doing something we haven’t or can not do; second, companies with technical expertise that can help us scale up. We are in talks with 20 companies at the moment.You have discontinued selling consumer durables, any specific reason?

We will be soon coming back with consumer durables. We are building a different supply chain for shipping large and bulky items, this will also include furniture.We will soon have furniture as a category. We are shipping electronics items to only 50 cities as of now. With the new supply chain, we will be able to serve to each and every customer having a broadband connection.There have been rumours of several e-commerce firms trying to get into pharmacy. Any plans on that front?
No, we have not considered it as a category.Amazon has entered the Indian market and many others are planning to enter. Besides, several offline players are also betting big on e-commerce. Does this bother you?We were very sure that as soon as the market starts getting bigger, several players, including the brick and mortar players, will be making plans. This means that the market is on an upswing and we are well prepared for that. Competition is expected and our strategy will be to maintain our leadership position.

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