Eugene writes:
>On another note, the Orissa problem has been very problematic. I have met
>>Gladys Steines, the widow of the slain Graham Staines, a couple of times >in
>Toronto. During these talks she, who also lost two minor sons, >explained to
>me in great details the problems facing Christians in Orissa.
>For the one Dara Singh that killed Graham, there are hundreds more waiting >to
>do the same. It is such poorly-managed states that the Bajrang Dal and >the
>VHP flourish.
>It is also to the credit of Christians missionaries that they have been >able
>to withstand the fires of hatred by the Hindu zealots who belong to >these
>radical outits such as BD and VHP.
>Manmohan Singh cannot jump into the fray and gets himself burnt. The
>>government is on a weak wicket and just managed to survive the thrust vote
>>in the parliament over the nuclear deal with USA.
>Commnentators have said that the backdoor dealings that resulted in saving
>>the government has made Manmohan Singh turn into a "politician" from a
>>"technocrat." Political wisdom dictates that the ruling government take
>>calculated steps in such delicate matters as communal firestorms.
How strong a wicket was Indira in 1971 ?
I believe that the best way to deal with communal firestorms is a no nonsense
attitude. That is what after all a leader is about.
Let us not confuse the Indo-US nucler deal with the communal situation.
Bottom line, if you are a real leader, you go to the people with the issues.
Manmohan was never a leader, so he can't. That is the reality
of the situation.
>Manmohan's strenght lies in having taken India to economic heights.
Give me a break. Liberalization was almost forced on India.
Secondly, inflation is very high in India right now.
>I agree that as a leader of the nation, Indians may look at him to be the
>>saviour of those at the receiving end of the communal forces. He cannot be
>>expect to jump into the fray at the slightest incident of communal >violence.
>The state machinery must first do all it can to put out the >fires before the
>centre can take the matter in their hands.
Right from not giving enough protection to the swami even though he was
threatened and had filed an FIR, to not having a police force when a 700 strong
mob was returning from the funeral, the state machinery has been
completely useless.
>In a country like India, these sort of incidents will continue when we >have
>fundamentalist outfits.
I disagree.
regards,
Samir
>Banning such outfits would be a wise thing,
>but it carries heavy political weight. The Congress could end up losing >many
>Hindu voters who may not like such groups but would still have some >religious
>affinity to the Hindu ideology.
>Just a few quick thoughts. Pray that Orissa will see the end of religions.
>>fanaticism. When I say pray, I have not include Selma ;-)
>eugene
