Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
On Sun, Apr 26, 2009 at 5:35 AM, ss wrote: > May I put it to you that when a Christian or Muslim finds his name absent it > is "minority discrimination". When a Hindu finds his name absent - it is > Indian inefficiency and corruption. The point is that a few years ago the response to a missing name on the electoral roll from a middle class Syrian Christian Mallu would have been "Man, these guys are incompetent." Today its "The Sangh Parivar is out to get me." It doesn't matter if it's true or not -- the point is that the political climate has become so polarised that a community that mostly ignores politics (even in Kerala!) is developing collective paranoia. And *that* is what is worrying me as I said in my original post. > Without saying that there is no discrimination, I must point out that the > tactic used by Christianity and Islam, throughout history is to continuouly > allege discrimination and play victim. By design Chriatianity and Islam are > always under attack as evidenced by the ever present stories of > discsimination. > > To me this might be another case of crying "wolf" as usual. Hm ... do you really believe this or are you just trolling as usual? If the former, that's an interesting data point in itself. Combined with some other, equally prejudiced comments on this list earlier supports the view that Indian polity is increasing driven by a "us and them" mindset. By the way, I'm not sure if you care but your blanket condemnation of Islam and Christianity left a rather icky taste in my mouth. -- b
[silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
[attention conservation notice: this is a meetup thread. You may want to delete now if this doesn't interest you.] Silklister Amit Varma is touring [1] in support of his new book, and will be in Bangalore to do an event in Crossword on May 16, which conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, somewhere in the vicinity? We all get to gawk at one of India's most powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Suggestions for place to gather? Udhay [1] http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/preparing-for-takeoff/ [2] http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/04/0415_india_most_powerful/49.htm -- ((Udhay Shankar N)) ((udhay @ pobox.com)) ((www.digeratus.com))
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Udhay Shankar N wrote: > conveniently happens to be a Saturday evening. Anyone up for a drink > with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that evening, I'm game. > somewhere in the vicinity? We all get to gawk at one of India's most > powerful men [2] as an added bonus! Right between Sachin Tendulkar and Laloo. :-) Venkat
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
Udhay Shankar N wrote: Suggestions for place to gather? *cough* -- <<< * >>> Madhu Menon Shiok Far-eastern Cuisine | Moss Cocktail Lounge 96, Amar Jyoti Layout, Inner Ring Road, Bangalore @ http://shiokfood.com & http://mosslounge.com Join the Moss group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=39295417270
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
> > Anyone up for a drink with Amit, myself, and whoever else turns up on that > evening, > I'm game too > somewhere in the vicinity? Which crossword is this? There are four in Bangalore. http://crosswordbookstores.com/html/Bangaluru.htm Kiran
Re: [silk] Bangalore Meetup on May 16?
On Mon, Apr 27, 2009 at 11:56 AM, Madhu Menon wrote: > Udhay Shankar N wrote: > > Suggestions for place to gather? >> > > *cough* > Hero, have you been cashing on the IPL? Did you ever manage to start that quiz?
Re: [silk] Disenfranchised Minorities?
On Sat, Apr 25, 2009 at 2:51 PM, Venkat Mangudi wrote: > Vinayak Hegde wrote: > Some people I know are of the opinion that there are corrupt officials > who work with the politicians and delete the names if they suspect that > the votes are going to their opponent. His argument seemed plausible, > but I do not buy it. Has anyone else heard such stuff? Is this true? > It is true. I have come across both studies as well as experiences from friends and family members contesting elections at different levels indicating that this is indeed does take place. Electoral rolls are a very powerful political tool. They have been systematically used during the anti-Sikh riots as well during the 1992-1993 riots in Bombay to mark Sikhs and minorities respectively and launch targeted attacks. It is also true that parties field candidates with names sounding similar to those of other candidates who are contesting from the same constituency but from different parties, in order to confound voters. Sometimes, voters in a particular constituency field candidates among themselves in order to eat into the vote shares of the popular candidates. These behaviours, among many others, are known as tactical voting. > > I have stopped reading mainstream newspapers as all they look for > nowadays > > is a good "story" - truth be damned. Sad but true. > I was also extremely sceptical when I read the first report in The Hindu, wondering whether this was an act of sensationalizing. I am trying to contact the reporters who have done these stories to verify as well as to get a more nuanced understanding. But I agree with Biju's comment that given the current political atmosphere and the polarizations that mark both our polity and our mindsets, it becomes difficult to ignore these reports as mere instances of sensationalism and victim-hood. It would help to investigate more and challenge our own beliefs and assumptions. -- Zainab Bawa Ph.D. Student and Independent Researcher Between Places ... http://zainab.freecrow.org
