SwamyG wrote:Ravi & Shyam: Kindly resist the urge to call fellow Andhrites, Indians or BRFites as having or using Paki or Chini logic etc.
It's good advice to keep a civil and respectful tone.
However, if someone sees a particular agitation or social movement as having the same or similar characteristics that underlay the Pakistan movement, then there is an obligation to note the similarity. On BRF such thinking or mindset ("we decided that we are oppressed by xyz, therefore we will make rivers of xyz blood flow, and build a xyz-rein paradise on earth") is recognized as being the social process that culminated in Pakistan.
The Pakistanis, before they became Pakistani citizens, with the mindset that this entailed, were Indians. They represented a Nazi mentality--believed that they could build a Hindu-rein country, the same way Nazis believed in building a Judenrein nation of "pure" volk. Anyone who knows even a little of the history of Hyderabad (that includes practically everyone on BRF I assume) knows that under the Nizam, the mentality that culminated in the advent of Pakistan reigned freely and became absolutely virulent in the 1947-49 period.
Anyone who is not blinded by religious blinkers (i.e., wrongly concluding from the the experience of Pakistan's infliction on India that the underlying mentality is the exclusive property of Muslims) can see that this kind of mentality is very much present in present-day Indians, long after those ex-Indians left to become Pakistanis. We as Indians made no conscious effort (beyond repeating lot of sentimental platitudes time & again) to eliminate or mitigate this underlying meme from our collective DNA. Any slight disturbance, which normal civilized societies resolve by lawful and peaceful means, brings out this tendency, and breaks out in violence against the "other". We have seen this in so-called border or river disputes between states, and in recent behavior of the Thackeray goons in Mumbai.
The current agitation about Telangana raises disturbing echoes of this same mentality that has been so detrimental to India. There is a narrative that is exclusively victimhood-based, with no hint of any individual responsibility or self-examination, and accompanying it is the constant refrain of violence and "rivers of blood." The worst and most pernicious kind of behavior is justified, because, after all, we were victims, and therefore have the right to misbehave. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to simply repeat useless platitudes about the joys of staying together, instead of taking a firm stance against a narrative that emphasizes self-pity, victimhood and justification of harm to the "other".
I believe that a pretty good case can be made on both sides for both keeping AP united as well as for splitting it up. That can be discussed in a rational way. But when detrimental and dangerous traits, of which we have previous experience, are exhibited, we in BRF have to confront them honestly.
[edited to remove offensive terms]
) where do they stand the chance of ever winning again. They already got screwed for Rs. 5 crores in the last election when PRP performance was miserable.
) and board the IT jet.
