Ronn!Blankenship asked: > >I've seen plenty of people, theoretically working for public good, > >subvert laws and institutions of a country. But this is the > first time > >I've ever seen a near complete subversion of a constitution. > Bush & Co > >make the BJP look good, > > > "BJP"?
Bhartiya Janata Party. A political party in India, and one I love to hate. They are the modern version of the Jan Sangh, and actually enjoyed a few years in power. BJP has traditionally been the political party of Brahmins but in mid 80s they hit upon the idea of 'Hindutva', and of a glorious Hindu nation. Since positivity doesn't bring immediate political dividends, they started off with maligning the muslims. They are pretty good at playing the fear card and circulated a lot of nonsense about how Hindus have been oppressed in India for centuries. I used to laugh at their obvious attempts [in my defense, I was in my early twenties back then], but with the destruction of the Babri Masjid, I realised that people actually bought into that nonsense. Once the media attention was focused on them, they scored plenty of points off their political opposition by charging them with 'appeasement of muslims'. BJP's tactics increased their popularity, and finally they were able to form a coalition government in the centre. At that point, their campaign against the minorities started in earnest. Christians and Muslims bore the brunt of it [Staines' murder, and the Gujarat riots were only the most public of their crimes]. However, the pogrom in Gujarat put off plenty of people, and when the BJP called for early elections is 2004, fully expecting to win, they were voted out of power. At least at the national level. A few states are still run by the BJP, and those are the states where anti-conversion laws are being passed. Really nasty people, propagating the most hateful of ideas under the guise of patriotism and national security. Its sister organisations, the RSS and the VHP, are equally bad. Ritu GCU Brief _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
