On 07/09/06, Badri Natarajan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Kiran,
>
> Semantics aside, is India Hindu dominated or not? If you hear an announcer
> on
> the BBC saying "Pakistan and India have been to war three times over the
> status of Kashmir, which is the only Muslim majority state in Hindu
> dominated
> India", would say that is a fair description of what you see as the truth?
Just to add to Shiv here - saying "Hindu dominated" is not necessarily the
same as saying "India is a Hindu country". I think, as a factual matter,
that India is indeed Hindu dominated. I do NOT think India is a "Hindu
country", because that implies there is some kind of state preference for
Hinduism, and other religions are (in some way) second class.
I would probably agree that India is, indeed, Hindu-dominated. That is
not necessarily the same as saying that minorities are discriminated
against. However, the sheer numerical superiority of Hindus does
result in perfectly well-intentioned minority-unfriendly attitudes.
That said, I seriously doubt whether mainstream members of any Indian
minority feel like second-class citizens. I guess it's like being
left-handed -- things aren't setup with you in mind -- but nobody
really means anything by it.
-- b
