Shiv ji is again bringing IMs into the TSP thread. But this is a very valid analysis. My only point of difference is that fairness and accountability is necessary but not sufficient. It is also necessary to clinically examine, in the open sunlight, the ideological roots of radical behavior. Here is a recent Mumbai High Court Judgment:shiv wrote:Quote from the article reformattedPrem wrote:Let Jinnah lead us once again
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news- ... once-againThe idea of Pakistan has put pressure on the people (and leaders) of India in the following ways:What every Pakistani needs to imbibe are three simple facts.
- One, that this country was created so that the Muslims of the subcontinent could live their lives in an independent homeland with prosperity, dignity and freedom.
- Second that the catalyst behind this demand was the realisation that Muslims and Hindus were two separate nations and that the former would be doomed, as a minority, to a life of subjugation and exploitation by the latter, if a separate state for them was not created.
- Third, that non-Muslims, who chose to live in this new state, would enjoy complete security, total freedom of worship and equal rights.
1) It has allowed Pakistan to foment discontent among Muslims in India on the excuse that they are being discriminated against.
This has created a class of Indians (Hindus) who will attempt appeasement even when there is no injustice being done for fear of disturbances and a reputation of bigotry. It has created a class of Muslims who walk around with a grievance on their shoulders.
2) It has allowed Hindus to take the following attitude towards Muslims "If you don't like it here - you have your Pakistan to go to"
This attitude actually opens the door for discrimination.
Discrimination due to reason 2 feeds the class of people described in 1. The overly defensive Hindus of group 1 are called "pseudosecular" and those in group 2 are "Hindu fundamentalist"
This has led to political polarization in India and has allowed Pakistan's actions to interfere with Indian affairs, Indian politics and Indian viewpoints in ways that we Indians must learn to recognize. Apart from dealing with Pakistan, we need to deal with the effects of the idea of Pakistan on our own attitudes which is actually the biggest leverage Pakistan has on India.
One very important mechanism is in my view, to deal with Indian Muslims as separate from Pakistanis (who are Muslim of course). While treatment of Indian Muslims must be fair, they must also be held accountable to India. And we need to constantly reassess ourselves to ask if our treatment of Muslims and our calls for their accountability is not being colored or clouded by the Pakistan connection.
Free to criticize religions but not with hate: Court
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 418062.cms
Swati Deshpande, TNN, 7 January 2010, 01:11am IST
MUMBAI: In a significant ruling, a three-judge bench of the Bombay high court on Wednesday held that in India, criticism of any religion -- be it Islam, Hinduism, Christianity or any other -- is permissible under the fundamental right to freedom of speech and that a book cannot be banned on those grounds alone.
It would be best if this is an internal debate within the IM community. But we allow people like Taslima Nasreen to be hounded, thereby doing a grave disservice to the process of understanding.