Thanks RSJ for "The Closing of The Indian Mind". I agree mostly except the initial heading. The heading implies as if the Indian Mind was open earlier. The Indian Mind (w.r.t. Hindu Muslim unity) was closed since 1947. BJP shook the status quo of that closed mind and gave us a real shot at "opening up".
The root of Hindu Muslim discord runs deep. Before BJP, there was a DISHONEST attempt to ignore the friction and 'force' an unreal, false, Muslim-appeasing-and-Hindu-demeaning unity. To BJP's credit, BJP introduced the term 'pseudo-secular' in Indian politics and made the Hindu-Muslim discourse more honest. BJP/Sangh-Parivar forced us to face the harsh reality that the Hindu-Muslim relationship in India needs attention.
Before solving a problem, one has to acknowledge the problem's existence. That acknowledgement is BJP's contribution to Indian politics.
But much-maligned 1947 leaders got one thing right (maybe by accident or virtue-signalling tendencies or true wisdom). India decided NOT to become a 'Hindu' Rashtra. For India to become a strong nation, Hindus and Muslims need to work together. But to enable that, Hindu-Muslim conversation needs to start at the people-to-people level. My biggest problem is that I cannot discuss my Muslim apprehensions with my Muslim friends. They also do not share their anger/unease about Hindu excesses with me. There is an awkwardness that prevents me from honest discourse. This phenomenon is widespread throughout India. As a result, the only people taking this conversation forward are the extremist sar-tan-se-juda and goli-maro-saalo-ko crowd.
Suppose we, the mild-mannered, cannot overcome the awkwardness and initiate Hindu-Muslim-honest-dialogue at the people-to-people level. In that case, the extremists will carry the day with popular support on both sides. That would be a tragedy, and we need to stop it.
Thanks RSJ for "The Closing of The Indian Mind". I agree mostly except the initial heading. The heading implies as if the Indian Mind was open earlier. The Indian Mind (w.r.t. Hindu Muslim unity) was closed since 1947. BJP shook the status quo of that closed mind and gave us a real shot at "opening up".
The root of Hindu Muslim discord runs deep. Before BJP, there was a DISHONEST attempt to ignore the friction and 'force' an unreal, false, Muslim-appeasing-and-Hindu-demeaning unity. To BJP's credit, BJP introduced the term 'pseudo-secular' in Indian politics and made the Hindu-Muslim discourse more honest. BJP/Sangh-Parivar forced us to face the harsh reality that the Hindu-Muslim relationship in India needs attention.
Before solving a problem, one has to acknowledge the problem's existence. That acknowledgement is BJP's contribution to Indian politics.
But much-maligned 1947 leaders got one thing right (maybe by accident or virtue-signalling tendencies or true wisdom). India decided NOT to become a 'Hindu' Rashtra. For India to become a strong nation, Hindus and Muslims need to work together. But to enable that, Hindu-Muslim conversation needs to start at the people-to-people level. My biggest problem is that I cannot discuss my Muslim apprehensions with my Muslim friends. They also do not share their anger/unease about Hindu excesses with me. There is an awkwardness that prevents me from honest discourse. This phenomenon is widespread throughout India. As a result, the only people taking this conversation forward are the extremist sar-tan-se-juda and goli-maro-saalo-ko crowd.
Suppose we, the mild-mannered, cannot overcome the awkwardness and initiate Hindu-Muslim-honest-dialogue at the people-to-people level. In that case, the extremists will carry the day with popular support on both sides. That would be a tragedy, and we need to stop it.