THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
REVIEW & OUTLOOK
Race in India
May 21, 2004
When Sonia Gandhi and Manmoham Singh saw APJ Abdul
Kalam this week for talks on appointing Mr. Singh to
lead the Indian government, there wasn't a Hindu in
sight. It was simply the Italian-born, Christian
leader of the Congress Party that won elections
meeting the Muslim president, and proposing a Sikh as
prime minister.
You may have heard a lot about Hindu extremism and
communal riots in India, and much of it, alas, is
true. Not two years ago, mobs massacred Muslims in the
state of Gujarat after a suspected Muslim attack on a
train carrying Hindus. Most recently, the prospect of
Mrs. Gandhi becoming prime minister made some
politicians from Hindu parties voice the most
abhorrent chauvinism.
All true. But the appointment of Mr. Singh, who would
be India's first Sikh prime minister, and the fact
that three of the highest officials in the land all
hail from minority communities -- one of them
foreign-born -- also show the face of India today.
One aspect that should be celebrated is that these
three personalities have not risen because they belong
to minority communities. India is no stranger to
affirmative action, but Mr. Singh will lead the
government because he is seen as a sure hand.
More important is how India arrived at the happy
situation where the appointment of a Sikh to the
highest office raises nary an eye-brow. After all,
it's only a few weeks before the 20th anniversary on
June 6 of the raid on the Golden Temple in Punjab,
which left 600 dead among soldiers and Sikh
separatists. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Sonia
Gandhi's mother-in-law), who had ordered the raid, was
herself assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards a few
months later. Anti-Sikh riots followed.
But today the word Khalistan, the homeland in Punjab
that separatist Sikhs were fighting for, is but a
faint memory to most people, and the reason is that
India faced the threat with unflinching resolve. Its
police chief in Punjab from 1988 to 1992 was K.P.S.
Gill, who is now known as "supercop" because of the
no-nonsense approach he took to combating terrorism.
"Bullet-for-bullet," he called it.
Human rights organizations hollered, but Mr. Gill-a
towering Sikh himself-got the job done. Since he
stepped down from his post his services and advice
have been sought wherever communal violence has reared
its ugly head throughout South Asia, from Gujarat
itself to Sri Lanka. Sikh separatism hasn't
disappeared, but it's now expressed mostly by
expatriates in Canada and California.
India's record on race and communal relations may not
be perfect, but, as its political constellation would
bear out, it is also not as imperfect as the headlines
sometimes make out. Thanks, in no small part, to
people like Mr. Gill.
- gasper almeida
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