On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 6:20 AM, Kiran K Karthikeyan <kiran.karthike...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I tried to avoid this comparison in my mail as this opens a can of worms. > But to be honest, I don't think Ram Sena or any other outfit in India will > ever come close to what the Taliban is. Hinduism is a very personal religion > (way of life), it is also very tolerant. By its very nature and the way it > has been practiced for millenia doesn't let it be twisted towards the narrow > purpose of fundamentalists. The RSS have been around long enough and even > they haven't been able to gain significant ground. It won't happen. To avoid the comparison simply because it may open a can of worms isn't very far from outright denial. Hoping that the Indian outfits will never come close to the Taliban merely by thinking it is also denial. It also reeks of idealism. Hinduism may be many things but that does not, in any way, automatically ensure that mobs of thugs will behave - the Mangalore/Bangalore attacks being examples against that very idea. > Mutalik and his ilk are a passing phenomenon. He won't be able to carry this > on for too long. And he will quit once he realizes he is not getting any > political mileage out of this. I'm ignoring him, and also refuse to change > the way I live to acquiesce to his demands. Muthalik may be a passing phenomenon but I doubt that it is the same with his ilk. If we choose to sit quietly hoping that they are, we also choose to send them the signal that it's acceptable for them to carry on. And like the juveniles they emulate, they will try to see how far they can push the boundaries of acceptability. First they came for the <insert your favourite demographic here> ... [1] -gabin [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came... > > Kiran > -- Groucho Marx - "I have had a perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it."
