Tuesday, September 16, 2008

The Delhi Blasts - On Treating the Disease

I know a group of people whose refrain after each series of bomb blasts is “Narendra Modi - that’s what the country needs”.

I strongly disagree with them. The effectiveness of every action should be judged by its long term results. Did the state engineered post- Godhra riots rid Gujarat of terror attacks? Most certainly not. In fact Gujarat, unfortunately, seems to figure on the hit list of terrorists, if one is to go by the turn of events since Godhra.

There was a time when I seriously thought that if BJP could discard communal politics, it would be a welcome change from the Congress which has grown into an effete political force on account of compulsions of coalition politics and appeasement policies. But after the communal riots in Orissa and now Karnataka (BJP ruled states), BJP at the centre is an absolute no no. The BJP ruled states believe in denying space to non majority groups. That denial, it appears, is to be achieved by elimination in installments. Hardly an ideal situation in a pluralistic democracy like India. One does not cease to be an Indian simply because she/he is a Christian or Muslim.

I suppose, in this context, it is necessary to talk about the code of conduct of minorities in a secular political set up. If conversion by allurements by Christian missionaries is practiced, it should be stopped. Gurumurthy recently wrote a piece in The New Indian Express on the Orissa riots, laying all the blame at the door of Christian missionaries who converted the Panas(an SC community) and turned them against the Kandas ( a Scheduled Tribe community) who did not get converted to Christianity. Now, how much of truth there is in this claim is a matter of dispute, for, Gurumurthy has a remarkable capacity of twisting facts and figures out of shape to rationalize his Hindutva agenda (http://pareltank.blogspot.com/2006/12/gurumurthyism.html) . But if we are to give credence to the proverbial wisdom that there is no smoke without fire, this matter needs to be investigated. If there is some truth in what Gurumurthy says – that conversion is setting tribes against each other – the issue needs to be taken seriously and addressed. And addressed by Christian groups who must take a decision not to indulge in unethical conversions by dangling attractive compensations for conversion. So also the Muslim community. The leaders should do some serious thinking on how Islam could be fitted harmoniously into the Indian cultural setting. But, most importantly, the minority groups should not indulge in anything that offends the sensibilities of the majority group. I think the former owes that much to the latter who have been infinitely tolerant of differences. The Minority Rights should not to exercised in any way that is detrimental to the peace and harmony of a secular society

I look back with nostalgia at the days when one did not have to be apologetic about belonging to a minority religion. I’m not talking of some remote past but a past in Kerala, very much present in my memory. On several occasions, I have been embarrassed by my friends whom I knew as my classmates in the seventies, telling me that I survive in India with no rights denied cause of the goodness of Hindus. I do not question this but there was a time when we took each other for granted, never saw ourselves as Hindus or Christians or Muslims but as friends and Indians.

Is it possible to recapture those days? A disease can be rooted out and cured only if the diagnosis is proper. It is imperative that representatives from all creeds in India sit together, admit mistakes, make earnest promises to change and take a solemn oath that “we are Indians first”.

Or India will be broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls.

8 comments:

  1. Its some times too easy to project dark side of the moon. Modi despite his cruelty and tirade appears as a good administrator. What triggered him most was the stench of burnt flesh from bodies of devotees being pulled out of the burning train. Any sensitive person would have said 'enough is enough'. Probably , with their machinations the jehadis had thought that they can perpetrate as much misery on Indians as possible. Its said , There is no harmony without fear. Modi for the first time in recent times gave a spectacle of Hindu aggression. He has put the record straight. The earth has two poles and lack of any one leads to imbalance. after every terrorist attack there needs to be a similar backlash . The magnanimity of such back lash needs to be such that generations of those sitting on threshold of terrorism should shudder to even think of it.
    As Allauddin used to keep measuring scales on all cross roads to remind dishonest traders that what ever they weigh less will be the amount of flesh which will be sheered of your body.
    We need to discover a terrorist equivalence of this .

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  2. Meanwhile, attacks on Christians and Churches continue unabated. It’s time to think who is our REAL enemy? If the Bajrang Dal activists really think they’re heroic enough, why don’t they go attack these terrorists? Man to man. One to one…

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  3. Hi Anon -
    you say " Its said , There is no harmony without fear"
    So is there any harmony with fear??..can you give some examples.. other than those of subjugations and dictatorships..

    "after every terrorist attack there needs to be a similar backlash"

    Going by your theory, there would be a terrorist backlash for the backlash..simply because any kind of backlash is terrorizing in nature..and then a backlash for the backlash for the ...you get the point right??
    Can you give an example of any war that has been won? Any war that has brought peace?
    My idea of terrorist equivalence is for people like us to not take sides... to judge events and situations with an unbiased mind without letting emotion play havoc with our minds..

    Its a very tough task.. And the reason why India continue to be plagued by terrorist attacks and backlashes as you put it.. One community or the other is always hurt and the fundamentalist factions in these communities brainwash the people in their community that "eye for an eye" is the best polciy..

    When has revenge brought peace??

    You might disagree saying that it's easy to say this sitting in the comfort of my ac room..
    But again it is innocent people who lose lives in these terrorist attacks and backlashes..Not you and me.. And so just like it's easy for me to preach non violence and prudence, it's easy for you to call for backlashes and "fitting replies"...

    But the difference in results, if our ideologies were to be implemented perfectly, is what separates my way of thinking from yours..

    And when you think of it, these attacks and backlashes are the ideas of a few men who want to satisfy their severely retarded communal mindsets and egos.. they polarize and brainwash peace loving people like us into believing that all the problems that exist in our country are because of one community or the other.. The problem is these people..
    Does any religion preach non violence? Any God ask his people to give "fitting replies"..
    Or any religion order its caretakers to punish their fellow beings for their sins and mistakes?
    Judgement and punishment are the rights of God and not men.. It's people who want to play God (read "who want power") who call for terrorist activities and backlashes..
    Not God..

    I completely agree with the author when she says "But, most importantly, the minority groups should not indulge in anything that offends the sensibilities of the majority group. I think the former owes that much to the latter who have been infinitely tolerant of differences. The Minority Rights should not to exercised in any way that is detrimental to the peace and harmony of a secular society"..

    The minorities should be thankful for the kind of rights that they exercise in this great country.. And Hindu's should understand that just because a group of fundamentalists of a certain community have gone rogue doesn't mean that every innocent soul belonging to that religion should be branded as terrorists or treated with hate..


    Fighting terror with terror will never yield any positive result.. Period.

    But I also wonder... would it ever be possible for humans to break out of the mental barriers of religion, colour, caste and sex??

    We identify ourselves within groups.. Groups give us identities.. Can we remove ourselves from these limitations forced on us since birth?
    Will we be able to judge without bias and hatred when our loved ones are attacked? When we are the victims?
    Is it possible for prudence to prevail?
    Or is it just a utopian dream?
    My two paisa..

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  4. @ anonymous
    an eye for an eye makes the world go blind - and groping in darkness is not anyone's idea of harmony.
    besides, as The layman pointed out, in the attacks and the backlash, it's always the innocents who die

    @ deepak
    if people who react like you can be proactive, a lot can be achieved - in our own spheres of activity.
    'But I also wonder... would it ever be possible for humans to break out of the mental barriers of religion, colour, caste and sex??

    We identify ourselves within groups.. Groups give us identities.. Can we remove ourselves from these limitations forced on us since birth'
    true,our identities are wound up in the groups to which we belong-but didnt we , as a nation, rise above narrow identities and unite as Indians under gandhi?

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  5. “………. friends and Indians.”


    Alas! We are fast loosing this identity and being cocooned into different religious pigeonholes. The situation is grave and dangerous.

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  6. If the SICKular Congress government acted-earlier upon all these NewAge and other such missonaries who indulge in "Rice Christians"( it has a wiki entry too!!), would we see a Swami hacked to death by miscreants?? or the carnage that happened?? Absolutely no?? who to blame??

    There is always a Cause and effect theory in a society.

    Dear Blog author, you have are absolutely right <<"But, most importantly, the minority groups should not indulge in anything that offends the sensibilities of the majority group".>>

    But sadly, our government in the name of vote bank offers only problems no solution(s)!!!.

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  7. Hi,

    Its refreshing to read the piece you wrote. simple, balanced and bang on target. Life is not always black and white, but it has many shades. Though, I may not agree on your take about BJP(there are certain reasons for that) but I agree on most of the points. I think in present scenario, we need people like you from every community(its fateful that we have to divide people in different communities, but that is how world looks at someone in present scenario) and do something and get back to the old days where an Indian was an Indian, nothing else. Should love to debate on this sometimes if you have time. Let me know. I think you can see my email, so would love if you could reply me. My blog will be up in few days, till then I am available on chat, if you want. I am from gujarat and I was there in 2001. Though, I never did anything and I strongly denounce all that happened. But you cannot keep on revenging the criminal acts. There should be a stop somewhere.

    Would love to debate.

    Cheers till then...!!!

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  8. @ mystic warrior
    yes. i'm game for a debate-but let's see it does not get acrimonious.
    let's debate in the blogshere irself.
    yes. there definitely should be an end to aveging crminal acts. i fullt agree with u-no, not fully-we should not think of avenging at all.
    there is good news in today's local paper. religious leader of catholic and hindu groups in kerala had a 1st phase talks on sorting out communal issues.took decisions on sensitive issues.

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