The New York Slimes, don’t you know… It’s almost not worth reading except to find out who the lefties hate. They’re usually so obvious it hurts.
David Block [email protected] > On Oct 3, 2015, at 12:13 AM, BILROJ via Centroids: The Center of the Radical > Centrist Community <[email protected]> wrote: > > > RE: the following essay in the NY Times > > > Very worthwhile article -both for what it says and what it assumes > and does not say because doing so is incomprehensible to the author. > > My comment are decidedly not a defense of BJP fanatics, of whom > there are far too many whatever their numbers may be. The party may be > more-or-less "moderate" in terms of civic/civil issues but it attracts > more than its share of off-the-deep-end types, some of whom are > criminals toward anyone who isn't Hindu. I do not think that this > can be denied no matter how defensive some Hindus are > on the subject. This kind of thing exists and results in > local persecution in various places in India. > > This said, India's "liberals" are as hopelessly tone deaf as are > 'liberals' in the United States. They assume that the liberal -actually > Leftist- mindset is normative in the sense that nothing else can > possibly be normal or legitimate. Hence, for example, the common > practice in the press or TV news whereby a group of protestors > are described a "conservatives" or Rightists, but when dissidents > are Left-wingers they are never characterized as Leftists or liberals > because, you see, while their grievances may be over the top > they are nonetheless "normal" -precisely because they are the > kind of people who vote for the Democratic Party. > > Tea Party people are Right-wingers, Occupy Wall Street people > are "the unemployed" or "student activists" or some such locution. > But they are assumed to be normal even if they are anarchists > who like to destroy property or black hoodlums or male-bashing > feminists who are bull dykes. And of course, if one Tea Party looney > carries a gun as a statement about the 2nd Amendment then, for > many on the Left, all Tea Party people, including little kids and > grannies, are gunslingers who would gladly shoot you on sight > if they thought they could get away with it. All the while as > mass riots by African-Americans which may destroy millions > of dollars of real estate and may end up with dozens or even > hundreds injured, and maybe people killed, are justified. > > In the case of the article, maybe you might notice how Hinduism > is repeatedly characterized, as "idol worship." > > Can you guess that the author is one of three things, > Muslim > Christian > secular Atheist / "liberal" ? > > There are any number of criticisms to make of Hinduism as even some Hindus > agree. However, who calls Hindus "idol worshippers" in this day and age? > And the NY Times published this smear as if it was unexceptionable? > WTH? But, then, the Times is in the habit of smearing the American > Right with other primitive epithets and maybe the thing to say is > "what do you really expect from the Times?" > > Objective reporting? LOL, ROTFUL, my sides are splitting......... > > > "Liberals" forced acceptance of a mental illness -homosexuality- > down the throats of hundreds of millions of Hindus, who objected > vociferously to no avail. These same so-called "liberals" have acquiesced > in the murders of large numbers of Hindus, doing little or nothing even > when such massacres become world news as at Mumbai > not that long ago. Actual conscientious Hindus object to > such crap and demand justice and respect for their values. > The "liberals" refuse any such thing on principle. > > And now the BJP is in power. You can almost say: > "what do you really expect?" > > > Billy > > > ------------------------------------- > > > > NY Times > > India’s Attack on Free Speech > > By SONIA FALEIROOCT. 2, 2015 > > > London — IN today’s India > <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/india/index.html?inline=nyt-geo>, > secular liberals face a challenge: how to stay alive. > > > In August, 77-year-old scholar M. M. Kalburgi, an outspoken critic of Hindu > idol worship, was gunned down > <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/world/asia/indian-scholar-who-criticized-worship-of-idols-is-killed.html?smid=tw-share> > on his own doorstep. In February, the communist leader Govind Pansare was > killed > <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/world/asia/india-gunman-shoots-veteran-communist-leader.html> > near Mumbai. And in 2013, the activist Narendra Dabholkar was murdered > <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/world/asia/battling-superstition-indian-paid-with-his-life.html> > for campaigning against religious superstitions. > > > These killings should be seen as the canary in the coal mine: Secular voices > are being censored and others will follow. > > > > While there have always been episodic attacks on free speech in India, this > time feels different. The harassment is front-page news, but the government > refuses to acknowledge it. Indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence is > being interpreted by many people as tacit approval, given that the attacks > have gained momentum since he took office in 2014 and are linked to Hindutva > groups whose far-right ideology he shares. > > > Earlier this month, a leader of the Sri Ram Sene, a Hindu extremist group > with a history of violence including raiding pubs > <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/09/world/asia/09india.html>and beating women > they find inside, ratcheted up the tensions. He warned > <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/will-cut-off-tongues-of-writers-for-insulting-hindu-gods-sri-rama-sene/1/479760.html> > that writers who insulted Hindu gods were in danger of having their tongues > sliced off. For those who don’t support the ultimate goal of these extremists > — a Hindu nation — Mr. Modi’s silence is ominous. > > > This is a turning point for India, a country that has taken pride in being a > liberal democracy and that often adopts a high-minded tone when neighbors > fall short of the same standards. > > > > When the liberal Pakistani politician Salman Taseer was assassinated in 2011, > the Indian journalist M. J. Akbar, now the national spokesman > <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/BJP-appoints-M-J-Akbar-as-national-spokesperson/articleshow/32676676.cms> > for the Bharatiya Janata Party, or B.J.P., chided > <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mj-akbar-book-launch-tinderbox-past-and-future-of-pakistan/1/126263.html>, > “If Salman Taseer had been an Indian Muslim, he would still have been > alive.” In the run-up to the 2014 general elections in Bangladesh, India > expressed concern over the future of the country’s democratic institutions. > > We should be worrying instead about what’s happening in India, and recognize > that it could go the way of the very neighbors it criticizes. As Nikhil > Wagle, a prominent liberal journalist based in Mumbai, told me, “Without > secularism, India is a Hindu Pakistan.” > > The murders in India share striking similarities with the killings of four > Bangladeshi bloggers this year > <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/world/asia/another-secular-blogger-in-bangladesh-is-killed.html>. > But while there was a global outcry over what happened in Bangladesh, India > is hiding behind its patina of legitimacy granted by being the world’s > largest democracy. > > > > Like the murdered bloggers, the Indian victims held liberal views but were > not famous or powerful. Mr. Kalburgi had publicly expressed skepticism toward > idol worship in Hinduism, but he didn’t pose a threat to anyone. > > While the authorities are pursuing the culprits on a case-by-case basis, the > overarching attack on free speech has not been addressed. The threats and > killings have created an atmosphere of self-censorship and fear. > > > Some of the killers are still on the loose, and while in one hand they wield > a gun, in the other they wave a list. On Sept. 20, Mr. Wagle, the journalist, > learned from a source that intercepted phone calls had revealed that members > of yet another right-wing Hindu group, Sanatan Sanstha, had marked him as > their next victim. The extremists who celebrated the August murder of Mr. > Kalburgi were more direct: They used Twitter to warn K. S. Bhagwan, a retired > university professor who is critical of the Hindu caste system, that he would > be next. > > The goal of transforming India from a secular state to a Hindu nation, which > seems to be behind the murders, is abetted not just by the silence of > politicians, but also by the Hindu nationalist policies of the ruling B.J.P. > Over the past few months, the government has purged secular voices > <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2015/aug/13/india-stormy-revival-nalanda-university/> > from high-profile institutions including the National Book Trust and the > independent board of Nalanda University. The government is not replacing > mediocre individuals: The chancellor of Nalanda was the Nobel laureate > Amartya Sen. It is replacing luminaries with people whose greatest > qualification is faith in Hindutva ideology. The new appointees are rejecting > scientific thought in favor of religious ideas that have no place in secular > institutions. > > > One of the government’s chief targets is the legacy of India’s first prime > minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who laid the foundation for a secular nation. > Last month, having nudged out the director of the Nehru Museum and Library in > New Delhi, the government announced plans to rename the museum and change its > focus > <http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/09/16/440522611/in-india-a-battle-brews-over-a-museum-honoring-a-revered-leader> > to highlight the achievements of Mr. Modi. This is akin to repurposing the > Washington Monument as an Obama museum. > > In addition to erasing the contributions of long-dead liberals, B.J.P. > leaders are busy promoting violent Hindu nationalists. Sakshi Maharaj, a > B.J.P. member of Parliament, described > <http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/gandhi-killer-nathuram-godse-nationalist-bjp-mp-sakshi-maharaj-assassin-parliament-rajya-sabha/1/406344.html> > Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, as a “patriot.” > Although Mr. Maharaj later retracted his statement, his opinion is shared by > many of his party colleagues. Gandhi’s assassin was a former member of the > Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an armed Hindu group, with which Mr. Modi has > been associated since he was 8 years old. > > > . > THE B.J.P.’s efforts to reshape institutions that embody secular values — > values they dismiss as “Western” — was certainly anticipated. It came as no > surprise when the culture and tourism minister, Mahesh Sharma, recently > promised > <http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150908/jsp/frontpage/story_41407.jsp#.Vg2V2RNVhBc> > to “cleanse every area of public discourse that had been westernized.” Mr. > Sharma is well aware of the connotations of the word he used. > > It’s also not surprising that Hindu fundamentalists would feel empowered in > the shadow of a Hindu nationalist government. Still, few expected that > freedom of speech would become a contestable commodity and that some who > exercised it would lose their lives. > > The realization has made for decisions that were once unthinkable. > > Last December, the acclaimed author Perumal Murugan informed the police that > he’d received threats from Hindu groups angered by a novel he wrote in 2010. > Extremists staged burnings of his book and demanded a public apology from > him. The police suggested he go into exile. Realizing he was on his own, in > January Mr. Murugan announced the withdrawal > <http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/forced-to-withdraw-novel-tamil-author-announces-his-death/> > of his entire literary canon. On Facebook, he swore > <http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/perumal-murugan-gives-up-writing/article6784745.ece?ref=relatedNews> > to give up writing, in essence apologizing for his life’s work out of fear > for his family’s safety. > > It’s hard to accept what is happening in India. It is easier to ignore or > dismiss the attacks and the threats as a liberal persecution complex or a > phase that will last only as long as the B.J.P. is in power. But the country > is undergoing a tectonic shift that will have long-term repercussions. > > The attacks in India should not be seen as a problem limited to secular > writers or liberal thinkers. They should be recognized as an attack on the > heart of what constitutes a democracy — and that concerns everyone who values > the idea of India as it was conceived and as it is beloved, rather than an > India imagined through the eyes of religious zealots. Indians must protest > these attacks and demand accountability from people in power. We must call > for all voices to be protected, before we lose our own. > > > > > > > > > > > 10/2/2015 8:22:25 P.M. 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