goanet-digest Wednesday, May 1 2002 Volume 01 : Number 3912
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In this issue:
Re: [Goanet] Arundhati Roy - Part I, II, III
Re: [Goanet] Arundhati Roy - Part I, II, III
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Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 09:01:31 -0000
From: "gilmen30" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Arundhati Roy - Part I, II, III
- ---- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "Sunila Muzawar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Nice article and thanks for posting it George. It does seem more
balanced ...
Wish she would also break out into such eloquence over the plight of
thousands of Hindus killed in Kashmir every day;
Wish she would reject publicly the Church sponsored terrorism in the
North-East;
Wish she would mention that one of the richest persons of the world
and the
richest Indian is a Muslim;
Wish she had decried the press and people who blamed the Hindus for
church
bombings engineered by the Pakistani ISI;
..................................................................
My, My, My, What a diatribe against all the minorities in this great
country! I certainly dont want to get into a slanging political and
communal match, but of all the convoluted subjects above, I have
picked only 4 for clarification, so can I ask you Sunila to please
elucidate....
1.Thousands of Hindus killed in Kashmir everyday? That would make
20,000 in 20 days? Can you provide Govt.of India figures of
civilians, police and paramilitary forces killed over the past 1 year
in the valley, before you make such sweeping allegations. I am not
asking you for their religion.
2.Church sponsored terrorism in the North East? I have travelled in
all the 7 states and this is the first time in my life I have heard
this term. Please explain the politics in this region and what the
church has to do with it. And whether it is the Baptists, Catholics
or other sects who are involved.
3.Richest men in the world are Muslims? What has this got to do with
Arundhati Roy or the Gujerat problem. Maybe Im just too dumb to
understand.
4. Church bombings engineered by ISI? Another red herring!! The
Govt.(BJP) has learnt its lessons well from old Indira Gandhi! Blame
the foreign hand for all the ills of this country. First it was the
CIA for the first 45 years after independence, now it is the ISI.
regards---Gilbert.
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Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 15:01:24 +0400
From: "Sunila Muzawar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: [Goanet] Arundhati Roy - Part I, II, III
>From: "gilmen30" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: Re: [Goanet] Arundhati Roy - Part I, II, III
>Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 09:01:31 -0000
>
>My, My, My, What a diatribe against all the minorities in this great
>country! I certainly dont want to get into a slanging political and
>communal match, but of all the convoluted subjects above, I have
>picked only 4 for clarification, so can I ask you Sunila to please
>elucidate....
>1.Thousands of Hindus killed in Kashmir everyday? That would make
>20,000 in 20 days? Can you provide Govt.of India figures of
>civilians, police and paramilitary forces killed over the past 1 year
>in the valley, before you make such sweeping allegations. I am not
>asking you for their religion.
I will ignore your "20000 in 20 days" because I am sure you know what I
meant. I am surprised you are even questioning this ? After all even the UN
chief Kofi Anan has spoken against the ethnic cleansing of the Hindus,
Budhists and now Shia Muslims from Kashmir. If you want further figures
check with the Govt. of India. I told you what I believe is true.
>2.Church sponsored terrorism in the North East? I have travelled in
>all the 7 states and this is the first time in my life I have heard
>this term. Please explain the politics in this region and what the
>church has to do with it. And whether it is the Baptists, Catholics
>or other sects who are involved.
No idea which Christian sect is involved...I am not deeply involved in
religious organisations. But again it is funny that you question things
which are common knowledge in India and abroad.
>3.Richest men in the world are Muslims? What has this got to do with
>Arundhati Roy or the Gujerat problem. Maybe Im just too dumb to
>understand.
Incidentally I said "richest man" and not "men" and the person is Azim
Premji, CEO of WIPRO. What has this got to do with Arundhati ? Nothing much
except that when she berates India and Indians for atrocities on minorities
she forgets that there is a majority that is also suffering out there. And
she also conveniently forgets that India is a place where anybody can make
it big i.e. whether you are Muslim, Hindu or Christian or any other is not
the deciding factor.
>4. Church bombings engineered by ISI? Another red herring!! The
>Govt.(BJP) has learnt its lessons well from old Indira Gandhi! Blame
>the foreign hand for all the ills of this country. First it was the
>CIA for the first 45 years after independence, now it is the ISI.
>regards---Gilbert.
This is a cut and dried case. The bombers were from some Muslim school think
tank and admitted the four (I think that was the number) church bombings as
being master minded by the ISI. I must say Gilbert that your general
knowledge on current affairs could do with some polishing. But I don't blame
you. You probably don't know much about this case because it did not make
the headlines although the church bombings did. After all speculation on
Hindus bombing churches make more sensational news than if they are ISI
sponsored.
Now, you said my message was a diatribe on minorities. I don't think so. My
diatribe was against treating some people different from others. It's almost
like in communism "all people are equal but some people are more equal than
others". I truly believe that if everyone is treated equally the dividing
lines between communities will fade away. That is one of the reasons why
there is so much communal harmony in Goa. We all have a common law and most
of us are treated on par with each other.
Also I had a wishlist of 21 items for Arundhati to notice. Of course, I
could come up with quite a few more if I really give it some thought. But
then most of us would.
You have singled out 4 items for clarification. I don't think the first one
that is the killing of Hindus in Kashmir is a diatribe against minorities.
After all the Hindus are the minorities in Kashmir. Besides I don't believe
that Indian Muslims are killing these Hindus so how can my statement be
construed as against minorities? The third one about the richest Indian is
also not a diatribe against the minority. It is to show appreciation for my
country where no matter who you are, you are generally free to progress. And
that is true of all fields of life in India.
Remember the number one scientist of India, Abdul Kalaam Azad is a Muslim;
until recent a Muslim Moh'd Azaruddhin was captain of the no. 1 sport in
India; the no.1 film stars of India are Muslims namely Shah Rukh Khan and
Aamir Khan; the no.1 music composer of India is a Muslim called A.R.Rehman;
the no.1 Badminton player of India was "Syed Modi" whose murder we still
mourn; the current President of India is Christian; the Leader of the
Opposition is a Christian. I am proud of my country and proud that people
from all walks of life can progress with scant regard to their caste,
religion, and origin and that is what I would like highlighted sometime at
least instead of the usual nasty stuff that people like to write.
Besides the two mentioned above, I can show you 14 items on my wish list
which I would not consider in the "diatribe against minorities" basket. If
anything some would regard them as a diatribe against the majority. The 14
items are :
1. Wish she would also work towards ending the caste wars in UP and Bihar;
2. Wish she would urge the legislators to remove the perpetuation of the
British divide and rule policy by implementing an uniform civil code;
3. Wish she would insist on the removal of special status for the state of
Kashmir;
4. Wish she would highlight how India is the only country in the world that
provides a subsidy for Haj pilgrims - something which is considered
unislamic by Saudi Arabia - somethings which Saudi Arabi has urged India to
remove but which the Vajpayee govt. did not and instead raised the subsidy;
5. Wish she would be an activist for the 0.8 million Kashmiri Pandits
displaced and living in pitiable conditions for the last ten years;
6. Wish she would go deeper into the reasons why Adivasis and Dalits who are
certainly not the VHP/Bajrang Dal supporters took part in large numbers in
the Gujarat riots;
7. Wish she would work towards removing the slur of harijan from the face of
Indians;
8. Wish she would focus on the development of the economy in order to
eliminate polticians using communal vote bank politics;
9. Wish she would berate the media for the half truths and the untruths that
they print at crucial times e.g. Vajpayees's speech in Goa;
10. Wish she would question the integrity and responsibility of the media in
fanning the communal riot flames with biased reporting;
11. Wish she had examined the role of the Congress and others in the mass
killings of the Sikhs after Indira Gandhi's assasination;
12. Wish she had got more upset about the normal Muslim community and
especally women being so backward;
13. Wish she had shed a tear for the little (harijan) child that was beaten
to death because she was so immersed in play that she forgot to bow to the
local
Thakur;
14. Wish she had written such eloquence when Godhra happened and before the
revenge riots followed;
So that shows that 2 + 14 = 16 items out of 21 were not a "diatribe against
the minorities". Now let me tell you which items I feel can fit into the
"diatribe against the minorities" basket :
1.Wish she would reject publicly the Church sponsored terrorism in the
North-East;
2. Wish she would denounce the Imam of Jama Masjid for giving a sort of call
for civil war to distintegrate the nation;
3. Wish she had decried the press and people who blamed the Hindus for
church bombings engineered by the Pakistani ISI;
4. Wish she would get angry about the links SIMI had with Al Qaeeda and
denounce them totally;
I have no problem with my conscience in mentioning the four above. I truly
believe that we should get rid of such evils.
Since you are a Christian you focussed on the two Church related ones and
then denounced my entire wish list as a diatribe on minorities. This is
exactly what I have been trying to point out in my last few messages.... the
fact that we only focus on our own communities or issues that affect us
only. The whole of India has been burning for the last so many years. But
nobody cares. And suddenly there is pandemonium when Gujarat goes up in
flames or when a few sporadic incidents affecting Christians occur. Why ?
Does that mean only minorities are ill treated in India ? Of course not !
Every community is suffering in it's own way ! And until we address the
problem as a whole as human beings in general and not compartmentalise
ourselves into Hindus, Muslims, Christians, low caste, high caste, majority,
minority, etc. the politicians will continue to divide and rule via vote
bank politics.
Why did Gujarat go up in flames ? Do you think only Godhra triggered it ? Of
course not ! It has been building up for sometime and the build up is
connived and plotted by politicians. It is because people allow themselves
to be divided into various communal and casteist lines that politicians
create riot. Get out of this mould of thinking, view India as a whole, think
towards improving each and every person's life in India no matter who they
are, focus on improving the economy and becoming rich and we will see a new
India emerge. That is what I would like to happen. Not focus on petty things
that divide rather than bind.
Further for your information, I have more friends from the minorities (i.e.
Muslim, Christian and Sikh) rather than the majority (i.e. Hindus)... not
deliberately ...just happens to be. And my close relatives (part of my
family) are Muslim/Christian. And I never missed Dec 3, St.Francis Xavier's
feast at Old Goa while in Goa, and I never missed lighting candles at our
street cross before every examination and I still light them everytime I
visit Goa. And I love to go to Churches because I find them very tranquil
and serene. And I love Jesus and celebrate Christmas with as much pomp as
Idd and Diwali. My house has a Christmas tree all lit up and decorated by my
son and myself at Christmas and we buy the presents for everyone and the
whole works. I am not against minorities at all. I live and breathe the same
air as them. We all do. But I do think that we need to broaden our vision.
Let's all do it and we will see the difference when the communal and caste
lines fade. And my beloved country will be richer in many ways. Jai Hind !
Cheers,
Sunila
P.S. A.Veronica has been constantly appealing to the Church to intervene in
Goan politics. Fortunately there is no "Church" counterpart among Hindus.
Unfortunately though, the VHP has been trying to establish themselves as
that counterpart. Now ask yourselves how you would feel if a Hindu member of
this forum actually appealed to the VHP to intervene directly in Goan
politics. Would you not have attacked that person and eaten him up for
dinner ? ;-) Yet, nobody said a word to A.Veronica. Maybe because many of us
don't bother to read his no paragragh diatribes. But then I saw one comment
on his message and it had no mention of a denoucement on the "Church" should
intervene appeal. Why do we apply different yardsticks ? Should we not stop
that?
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End of goanet-digest V1 #3912
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