Date: Tue, 16 Dec 2008 13:30:36 +0530 From: "Marshall Mendonza" <[email protected]>
Excerpt: For more than a decade, India's domestic politics have taken on courtesy of Messrs Advani, Thackeray and others a decidedly Hindu nationalist tone, one that is often anti-Muslim. Mario observes: This article is even more absurd than the ones by Arundhati Roy and the one in Time Magazine by Jyoti Thottam. Surely even Marshall knows that for the better part of the last decade Messrs. Advani and Thackeray have not set the tone in India's domestic politics, and have been unable to get their parties elected because of their Hindu-extremism. In fact, the Congress has gone out of its way to express concern for Muslism, often inappropriately. For example, no senior Indian government official attended the first anniversary memorial services for the victims of the Mumbai train bombings on the absurd grounds that it may hurt Muslim sentiments. This was pure bunk because Indian Muslims, who were among the victims, can differentiate between themselves and the terrorists better than anyone else. Excerpt: This kind of politics and its accompanying rhetoric and media-play, together with events like the Gujarat riots, have angered Islamists internationally and appear to be creating a siege mentality among Muslims in India. Mario responds: More bunk. There is no siege mentality among Indian Muslims, who always have the option of moving to Pakistan or Bangladesh. Excerpt: India's Muslim population has not benefited from the country's economic boom, lagging behind in almost all areas. These shortfalls also contribute to the Muslim community's perception of itself as the target of discrimination" * Mario responds: Even more bunk. Indian Muslims are far better off than Muslims in any so-called Muslim country, which is why they stay in India, have rejected Al Qaeda and most are Indian patriots.
