You - and
@padamchen - both make this standard assumption that loyalty to the concept of India or Indianness contradicts the interests of enabling the Muslim descendants of the erstwhile rulers of Mughal India. Indian Muslims today would be perfectly loyal to India if their interests were not damaged by hindutva and allowed to be damaged by the inaction of "moderates" whom I wax lyrical over constantly on these pages. You're discussing the psyche of Indian Muslims here and are placing blame on those who dare to stand up for them, instead of asking why they're abandoning hindutva India in the first place. My point is, if not Pakistanis, then someone else would extend a hand. Ask yourself, if Pakistan didn't exist but India maintained an identical degree of religious and social discord, would Indian Muslims not seek relief elsewhere? That Pakistan is a reasonably assertive, vocal and stubborn nation is actually India's problem.
You could not be more mistaken - more sadly mistaken. The British are in the habit of saying with a condescending smirk that Indians (and Pakistanis) almost get it right. That is the fallacy into which you have fallen.
@padamchen and I differ on this matter. For starters, clubbing us together shows how very poorly you have understood two disparate, sometimes even opposing points of view. I cannot speak - ought not to speak - for
@padamchen, and what I have to say, therefore, defines my position alone.
My position is very simple and requires no PhD to understand, only an open mind and a refusal to follow the herd and bleat out the party line.
It is that we are perfectly entitled, all communities in the country of India, to live as equals in India, perhaps losing out over a period of time some of our regressive personal laws and the legal disabilities of individuals due to a failure of policy on the part of the government. It is that our constitutional positions have been eroded by radical Hindus, who believe neither in the rule of law, nor in moving the entire country along on any path. It is therefore the duty of all liberal citizens to oppose this monstrosity before all Indian society is consumed in these violent disagreements.
We should look for support from whomsoever offers it. However, in seeking support, we need to check the motives of our supporters. That brings us to the reason for your post, and the reasons for sadly dismissing it as mistaken at the core.
We were supported in a really cynical way by those who sought to make the basis of their support a shared religion. However, this support, this basis was paper-thin; the moment this was challenged, it was thrown away and the true motives came out: it was then apparent, in the words of the challenged person himself, that the support offered was purely a tactical gesture, and that underlying all the talk of religious unity was a deep and abiding contempt of the Muslim Indian, for daring to be Indian as well as Muslim. That was the rankest hypocrisy, and it was classed as such. Your mistake was to assume that I was warning them against any external support;I was warning them, but it was against the false and spurious support intended to use them as agents to demolish any corporate spirit among Indians, with no interest in anything further.
At the same time, people generally aren't as stupid as one may think. People are and should remain pragmatic. Indian muslims are well aware that Pakistan's interests are to thwart hindutva completely otherwise the legacy of Islamic India is under threat of destruction across south Asia. Again, you're talking about psyche. Therefore, it is straightforward that Indian Muslims would only appreciate what Pakistan is trying to tell them and the world if India pushes them to that point. I'm not going to sprawl a list of events that I think exemplify the devolved status that Indian muslims now occupy in hindutva run India, as I'm sure everyone is tired of my lists, but unless hindutva is rolled back and undone, Indian Muslims - who are target no. 1 - will find ways to resist.
What was there in the second part of your post that you thought antithetical to my position? I would be interested to know.
