Zahra comments : The essence of the article has some merit. Violence cannot be justified with violence. In a so-called civilized country, you cannot be going into mob attacks and burning people alive. These are certainly practices of maniacs. But something that I am unable to understand, is the fact that how come the minority in a big hindu dominated country can go and get involved into these militant or terroristic type of activities? Why would the minority "Muslims" in this case go for such reckless move? Why? Unless they are provoked, ridiculed or whatever??? But, is there a solid answer to that "Why?" My emphasis is on "solid" only. Anything less than that is unacceptable! By asking this question, I am not justifying that the Muslims were right to attack. But there is a difference between defense vs. attack. Ironically, mobs are not cultured enough to be able to distinguish the difference.
The documentary that was recently shown on PBS, Soul of India, exposed the fundamentalists in hinduism. Also, many hindus did not want that movie to be broadcasted to the world as it would show the atrocities that took place in Gujrat. It would show the extremely ugly picture that was pretty self evident from the Soul of India.
Everything said, there are some factors to be kept in mind. India is a very big country with a large number of states and with each state having its own language and culture. Also, it hosts different religions aside from different cultures. Diversity has its own blessings and merit. But diversity thrives in civilized world. In an uncivilized world, diversity can be killing. Unfortunately, with all the history and progress in art, culture, literature, language, engineering, technology, sciences, and other major fields, there has not been much emphasis given to social reforms at a high level. I am not very well versed in Indian environment as well as its nuances, but I do follow the progress their lower class has made. That's the only thing that I find highly commendable as well as appreciable in the social reforms vertical. Bangladesh has certain models as well, but as a layman I find a drive in the lower class to rise and make a change in their life. In a country that has suffered due to caste system and many silly traditions, the struggle and effort of the lower class to gain visibility and voice must be highly commended.
Sohail comments : you got a beautifull face & physice,i appreciate here your bewitching eastern look .i have absolutely no doubt that u wrote this article with full sencerity ,a thing which deserves respect but at the same time i feel sincerely that u r too innocent and too illetrate about the sequences of happening things to talk about things like that.your thinking is too subjective to look at things like it impartially. i dun have enough time right now and this is quite lenghty discussion.my suggestion for u is that u shoud not indulge urself in this type of thinking and enjoy ur life untill u have or have a deep than deeper and deeper than the deepest insight of the matter
ur well wisher shubh chintak Sohail
Sunanda Vashisht comments : Dear Zahara Thanks for reading the article and thanks for responding. I agree with a lot of things that you say. I agree that minorities have traditionally felt insecure in any society. This is true for all communities. However i think Muslims have been given a lot of privileges which they rightly deserve(as Indian citizens) in secular India. I haven't seen discrimination against Muslims in any area. That is why Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam is the President of this country and all Hindus and Muslims feel proud of his credentials. There are lots of such cases where Muslims are the Vice-chancellors of Universities, They have acquired respectble positions in corporate world, they are at high ranks in civil services etc. And all of them, please bear in mind, have deserved every bit of their success. I think Muslims would be far happier in secular India if it would not be for the instigation by their leaders at the behest of our neighbour. I haven't heard about any minority success story in Pakistan. Muslims and Hindus have traditionally lived together happily in India but the venom of communalism has been spread by some nefarious elements. This has given rise to both Hindu and Muslim fundamentalism. I repeat very emphatically that Fundamentalism whether it is Hindu or Muslim is a stigma on Indian society. Thanks once again for responding to the article.I will appreciate follow up comments.
sohail, i don't think i should be even responding to your post because i do not appreciate the tone of the post. I would be very happy if you were to offer any constructive criticism rather than giving me your insightful suggestions. thanks sunanda
When one interacts on a forum, there is a different flavor to a conversation that comes forth. I realize that no two people think 100% alike. Similarly, no two people will have the same experiences. I have known of and have met quite a few Indian Muslims over the course of my professional career, travels, seminars and symposiums. I had little familiarity with Gujrat till I ran into a colleague whose house was burnt in the mad carnage and his family escaped just by a few minutes.
Your saying that Muslims have acquired high positions in India and so forth is not way off, but that's only a certain fraction of them. Also, that's only a certain class. Abdul Kalam was just recently appointed as a President and he has not been there for ages. Give it sometime :)
Personally hailing from Lahore, I have had a lot of friends whose parents migrated from India. I have not heard from a single family that they would have loved to stay in India and would have had equal rights. They have all done pretty well in their respective careers in Pakistan and have contributed immensely to the country. I hate to say that but India, alongwith other South Asian countries, has yet to acquire a civil social structure. There is a lot of baggage from the old cultural traditions that is embedded in the social system.
Something that I really have little tolerance for, is the generalization that Pakistan does not respect minorities or Pakistan is into terrorism. Whenever I hear such flippant remarks from any Indian, I choose not to engage in a conversation with such mentally below average beings. The right statement is, that there is an element in Pakistan which belongs to extremists, who have been killing their own people right and left. But those extremists do not represent Pakistanis all over the world. It's the same that the fundamentalist or fanatic hindus who were engaged in the despicable practice of burning the muslim families alive did not represent all the hindus on the face of earth. I know of many hindus who were extremely disgusted to hear what happened. They truly felt bad. It's also the same when I hear christians being attacked by these demented lashkars in Pakistan. I feel terrible. I am born and bred in catholic schools. I have immense love and respect for my teachers, who were 99% christians and a few parsis. Still in Pakistan, the oldest schools are run by nuns and other missionaries and have a great standard.
Also, just like you are against the nefarious elements in India, I also detest the mad lashkars who have been bringing shame to Pakistan's name due to their intolerance towards others. So, please correct yourself when you say the neighbor country...say the extremist elements in the neighbor country. Do not make the same statement again. Just like your country has very little control over existing maniacs, ours experiences the same problem. It needs to be resolved. It cannot be cured by giving them one dose of Tylenol or Aspirin.
