> > Those were just irritants. To behave stupidly, as our twelve heroes did, > in an international flight, during a particularly tense period, is > simply asking for it. I don't see what being Muslim has to do with it. I > think they could just as easily have been from some other corner of > India. For instance, Lufthansa flights to Chennai sees a lot of this > behaviour. I'm sure flights to Bangalore, Delhi and Bombay also do. I > think it's a sheer coincidence that these 12 happened to be Muslim.
IG, Is that the point, though? I don't approve of their actions in any way and I think they were being damn stupid (although it is as yet unclear exactly what happened on the plane). And yes, they could have been from any place in India - it is probably just coincidence that these 12 were Muslim. But that's precisely the point - my problem is that I think the authorities (both the airline staff and Dutch authorities) massively overreacted - basically because these guys had brown skin. If the plane had had 12 English football hooligans doing exactly the same thing, I'm sure they'd be cautioned, but I very much doubt that they would have turned the plane around with a fighter escort. Badri
