Skeptic
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I have been on this forum for a while, since I am not a defence expert, I try to learn more and write less. Most of my posts are on political and social aspect rather than on defence, and while going through these sections, I have come to realize the high degree of polarization on social and political issues among Indian and Pakistani posters. Most criticized (and correctly too) are the secular credentials of India. From the territory under British rule, India has emerged as the only constitutionally secular country which has a majority of Hindu Populations, and Hindus, we are taught are the most tolerant and naturally secular people.
All seems so good on paper, infact too good to be true. Constitutionally every segment has their respective rights and entitled to similar benefits, but it’s the ground reality that bites. I am a patriotic Indian, and I feel it is my duty to accept the realities of our society. We are told by Pakistani members about no. of Muslims in Army, about No. of Muslim Prime Ministers etc. To counter this Indians post some survey showing improvement in the Living standards of muslim, Azim Premzi, Kalam, any number of bollywood personalities etc. Statistics I believe are not the right tool to measure the degree of secularism. As it is wisely said Statistics are like mini skirts, they reveal more than they conceal, but they conceal the most important parts. I am more concerned about the increasing number of Muslim migration to Muslim dominated neighborhood than decreasing number of Muslims in Army.
I would dare any red blooded Indian to put a hand on his heart and say that in India Muslims have the same social and economical position as Hindus or Sikhs. They do not. Blunt and harsh as it may be, but that is the truth. And the real danger to secularism is not from a small 5-8% segment of right wing Hindu extremists but from another maybe 30-40% who are constantly skeptical about fellow Indian's intentions because of his/her religion. They will hail Azharuddin when he produces consecutive centuries, but won't take a second to term him as a traitor when he fails against Pakistan.
To me the epitome of lowering of secular standards recently is not Gujrat. Gujrat is the end product of a process. The process started when we suddenly stopped seeing signs of "Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai apas main sab bhai bhai" behind every truck, auto and tea stalls. It stated getting replaced by "Hindustan main rehna hai to Vande Matram Kehna Hoga". We stopped showing Titles of the movie in Urdu. We started calling Ghazal as Gajal. Urdu was marginalized. Mughlai Dishes in Menu card turned into Punjabi. These things added up. Some started asking for proof of patriotism in Muslims as if by some divine grace they have the authority to provide another Indian a right to living in his own country. Every time a doubt is raised over patriotism of a Muslim, the secular belief takes a blow. I agree completely with Jaswant Singh when he says: At times Muslims are treated as Aliens. Yes Babri Masjid, Blue Star and Gujrat are such blots on Indian history that can never be wiped out and realization that the perpetrators of such ghastly acts are still roaming free on street makes me hang my head in shame.
Another issue I have is with poster comparing treatment of minorities in India with Minorities in Pakistan. This is completely unjustified as Pakistan is a declared Islamic Republic and India is constitutionally secular.
On the other hand - Is it all as evil as few Pakistani posters make it sound? Is their any state sponsored religious cleansing happening? Are Muslims treated as second rate citizens and deprived of opportunity? Are they bound to live in ghettos and not allowed residence in posh localities? Are they economically worse than Dalits? Are Hindus a sworn enemy of Muslims? Answer is an Emphatic - NO.
Approach of Hindus towards Muslims may be skeptical but is not generally hostile. Most of the Violence and crimes in Riots are not acts of extremely religious Hindus but of opportunist criminals who would have taken advantage of the situation regardless of victim’s religious background. Our justice system is more to blame for not punishing these criminals than our social fabric. Lack of Muslims in Public services is because of reliance on Madarsa system rather than regular school. Economic backwardness is more because of the geographic distribution of Muslim population than religious bias.
The reality is somewhere between the two extremes painted by Indian and Pakistani posters. It is secular and communal at the same time. To my mind, the defining image of India is the crowd, and a crowd is by its very nature superabundant, heterogeneous, many things at once.
All seems so good on paper, infact too good to be true. Constitutionally every segment has their respective rights and entitled to similar benefits, but it’s the ground reality that bites. I am a patriotic Indian, and I feel it is my duty to accept the realities of our society. We are told by Pakistani members about no. of Muslims in Army, about No. of Muslim Prime Ministers etc. To counter this Indians post some survey showing improvement in the Living standards of muslim, Azim Premzi, Kalam, any number of bollywood personalities etc. Statistics I believe are not the right tool to measure the degree of secularism. As it is wisely said Statistics are like mini skirts, they reveal more than they conceal, but they conceal the most important parts. I am more concerned about the increasing number of Muslim migration to Muslim dominated neighborhood than decreasing number of Muslims in Army.
I would dare any red blooded Indian to put a hand on his heart and say that in India Muslims have the same social and economical position as Hindus or Sikhs. They do not. Blunt and harsh as it may be, but that is the truth. And the real danger to secularism is not from a small 5-8% segment of right wing Hindu extremists but from another maybe 30-40% who are constantly skeptical about fellow Indian's intentions because of his/her religion. They will hail Azharuddin when he produces consecutive centuries, but won't take a second to term him as a traitor when he fails against Pakistan.
To me the epitome of lowering of secular standards recently is not Gujrat. Gujrat is the end product of a process. The process started when we suddenly stopped seeing signs of "Hindu Muslim Sikh Isai apas main sab bhai bhai" behind every truck, auto and tea stalls. It stated getting replaced by "Hindustan main rehna hai to Vande Matram Kehna Hoga". We stopped showing Titles of the movie in Urdu. We started calling Ghazal as Gajal. Urdu was marginalized. Mughlai Dishes in Menu card turned into Punjabi. These things added up. Some started asking for proof of patriotism in Muslims as if by some divine grace they have the authority to provide another Indian a right to living in his own country. Every time a doubt is raised over patriotism of a Muslim, the secular belief takes a blow. I agree completely with Jaswant Singh when he says: At times Muslims are treated as Aliens. Yes Babri Masjid, Blue Star and Gujrat are such blots on Indian history that can never be wiped out and realization that the perpetrators of such ghastly acts are still roaming free on street makes me hang my head in shame.
Another issue I have is with poster comparing treatment of minorities in India with Minorities in Pakistan. This is completely unjustified as Pakistan is a declared Islamic Republic and India is constitutionally secular.
On the other hand - Is it all as evil as few Pakistani posters make it sound? Is their any state sponsored religious cleansing happening? Are Muslims treated as second rate citizens and deprived of opportunity? Are they bound to live in ghettos and not allowed residence in posh localities? Are they economically worse than Dalits? Are Hindus a sworn enemy of Muslims? Answer is an Emphatic - NO.
Approach of Hindus towards Muslims may be skeptical but is not generally hostile. Most of the Violence and crimes in Riots are not acts of extremely religious Hindus but of opportunist criminals who would have taken advantage of the situation regardless of victim’s religious background. Our justice system is more to blame for not punishing these criminals than our social fabric. Lack of Muslims in Public services is because of reliance on Madarsa system rather than regular school. Economic backwardness is more because of the geographic distribution of Muslim population than religious bias.
The reality is somewhere between the two extremes painted by Indian and Pakistani posters. It is secular and communal at the same time. To my mind, the defining image of India is the crowd, and a crowd is by its very nature superabundant, heterogeneous, many things at once.
