Gujarat has mixed feelings about war By Sukrat Desai, Indo-Asian News Service
Ahmedabad, June 10 (IANS) For nearly three months, Gujarat endured sectarian violence that numbed India for its scale and brutality. But some people here are still all for a war between India and Pakistan. But not everyone agrees because they fear it will only cause more deaths and destruction. Dilip Trivedi, state general secretary of the rightwing Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), prefers a military showdown with Pakistan, heedless of the possibility of a nuclear holocaust and the devastating effect on the economy. "It's time we stopped the drama of friendship and fought it out," Trivedi told IANS, wielding Hindu mythology as a weapon. "We Hindus are not frightened of death. According to our theory of reincarnation, a Hindu never dies. His soul is simply transferred from one body to another." Kaushik Mehta, the VHP's spokesman in the state, is also not averse to war. "India should have waged war against Pakistan on December 13 when Pakistan-sponsored terrorists attacked the Indian Parliament," he said. The reference was to a terror strike that left nine people dead in the Indian capital before security forcers shot dead all five gunmen who New Delhi said were Pakistanis. Rightwing groups such as the VHP and Bajrang Dal allied to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have been blamed for the sectarian violence that plunged Gujarat into madness starting on February 27. The violence has left around 950 people dead. Most victims have been Muslims. Tens of thousands of Muslims also lost their homes and took shelter in hurriedly set up relief camps all over the state. The VHP's comments came even as tensions were slowly beginning to abate between India and Pakistan, which have deployed a million troops along their long border sparking fears of a war between them. But the VHP's founder member in Gujarat, K.K. Shastri, strongly opposed war. "As an individual, I strongly stand against war," he said. "The people of Gujarat have not realised the grave dangers of war. Both India and Pakistan have nuclear warheads. It would not be like the Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet Union. "While these two former enemies are geographically distant, India and Pakistan share a border. If war erupts, it is bound to cause widespread destruction." More people echoed the anti-war sentiment. Girish Patel, a lawyer and chairman of Lok Adhikar Sangh, a human rights organization, reiterated that war would mean death and destruction in both the countries. Patel accused the BJP of whipping up war hysteria to deflect people's attention from its "all-round failure" and the sectarian violence in the state. "The BJP has a multi-pronged agenda to create a Hindu nation. The war hysteria is part of it," Patel said. Inamul Iraki, one of the organisers of a relief camp for Muslim victims at Dariakhan Ghummat, wondered if the state was equipped to face a war. "Gujaratis have not experienced the terror of war," he said. "A single bomb explosion can send chills down their spine." --Indo-Asian News Service =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
