Losing my religion
Yes, this is an REM song. But the article that I found to share with you today is relevant. As you should know, India is multiethnic and multireligious. Hindu is a primary religion in the nation, but there are also a significant number of Christians and Muslims in the country as well. You can imagine that they might not get along together all the time. That’s pretty much all the background information you need. Please read the article and consider the questions below:
THE blackened shell of a burnt car lies in the yard of Radha Bai’s farm in this bucolic village of whitewashed houses and unhurried bullock carts in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh. On January 16th, as she prayed with a large group of Christians, a mob of Hindu extremists arrived. They chased worshippers away, set fire to a car and ten motorcycles and, says Mrs Bai, threatened to cut her “into pieces”.
The entire article can be found on Economist.com here.
- What do you make of the religious disconnect among Hindus, Christians, and Muslims?
- Taking into account your minister’s background, how might you respond to this wave of violence?
- Think about these issues and how they might affect the government’s proceedings.
As usual, please email me at bhuang419@berkeley.edu if you have any questions. I’ve gotten some e-mails from some of you in the past week– please keep it up! I’m sure you have questions, so please don’t hesitate to ask. You can even ask a question in the comments and I will be happy to respond.
Also, the conference is just over a month away, so keep researching!
February 19th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Something interesting I discovered while interviewing an Indian woman who lived in India for most of her life (and live through two of the three wars between Pakistan and India).
The Northeastern part of India (the same one reported in this article you posted) is full of the BJP, or Hindu extremists. If you guys have heard about the Jodhaa Akbar controversy, it also relates not only to this area, but the rampant religious intolerance and lack of education of the area. Cinemas in that area closed for the entire weekend because of all the riots, burnings and vandalism surrounding disapproval of the film’s “historical distortion”. If you don’t already know, “Jodhaa Akbar” is about a 6th century wedding between a Muslim emperor and a Hindu princess that marry for an alliance — it depicts the emperor as merciful and puts the Hindus in a perspective where they are “at mercy” of the Muslims, which caused the extremists in the area to riot against its showing.
No other part of India is showing interest in banning the movie.
This isn’t as trying as the Christian killings, but when I brought it up in the interview, she said that the area concerned (Rajasthan and Gujardi) is on the Indian-Pakistani border where many Islamic extremists also reside. If Hindu extremists can be so offended by a film solely intended for entertainment (and even vandalize/burn cinemas over it), imagine what could occur if the two polar opposites should collide with even the slightest discomfort.
I think we all agree (as of now) that Pakistan and India have the potential to develop friendly relations because of the complexity of the situation (whether these democratic elections are carried out), but of all the regions of India, I think that these Northeaster ones should be watched carefully. The last thing we need is Islamic extremists rubbing Muslim extremists the wrong way, or vice versa. From the interview and research I’ve done so far, it seems to me that this region is the most unstable.
Just a thought.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Just a quick edit from my previous comment — I made a typo.
In the last paragraph, that’s “Muslim extremists rubbing Hindu extremists the wrong way.”
My mistake.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Chhattisgarh, the region in the article, in the central provinces India, has seen some of the worst uprisings due to religious disputes. Most notably this region was one of the known centers of the rebels in the Sepoy Rebellion against the British in 1857, and further saw uprisings against both the British and the newly formed Indian Free State in the 20th Century. It is due to such events that we must take special precaution when looking into these specific situations. Not all regions will respond similarly and not all religious groups - extreme or not, will react in similar fashions.
If violence on religious grounds were to break out - we must respond to it as a police action and quell the situation using riot tactics and suppressive strategies - quickly and efficiently. We must learn from our mistakes, the last time we attempted to intervene between two groups on a national scale in Sri Lanka we had many unnecessary casualties on all sides. Our police forces cannot take one side lest we run the risk of all out civil war - but we must make an effort to restore peace and civility in any case.
In the specific case of the Central region we can see that our problems will not have the courtesy to be focussed on our normal hotspots on the Norther borders. We must step up internal security as well as our external military readiness.
This only reiterates our need to focus on our army readiness, while maintaining naval and air superiority. Though this also brings up a key factor in our proceedings - all my life, I have been dedicated to the internal security of India, in the IB and a distinguished leader in the IPS - in the past I have advised upon many situations of security, but none have needed such dire action as this. The police and counterintelligence services must be stepped up and adequately equipped and prepared for the coming days. If you look throughout the history of our nation, there has been no point when our security has had more potential to be compromised. Not only do we face two substantial powers, but we have civil unrest on a grand scale, this has not yet erupted into rebellion, but the die has yet to be cast. More and more reports are coming in that Islamist extremist groups have clear footholds throughout India having entered not only through Pakistan, but Bangladesh.
Pakistan has already gone to great length to combat many known terrorists in the “Talibanised Federally Administered Tribal Areas” and Waziristan in the Northern Provinces of Pakistan - It is time that we increase our internal security and allocate more funds and jurisdiction to the Indian Police Service, Research and Intel Wing, and the Intelligence Bureau. India has been at the forefront of anti-terrorist rhetoric for the past seven years, it is time that we increase our efforts - because our current tactics are clearly not enough, even though they are indeed already extensive. We must secure the influence of terrorists at the borders. If we can increase border security we therefore also have the potential to protect against any incursions if problems arise in Pakistan.
February 24th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
What about the possibility of making use of the extremists/ terrorists? We could negotiate about their own locally administered territories (with some stipulations), buying us time to deal with the other crisis that will presumably occur, and once those are resolved, either reneging or continuing with this experiment.
February 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
As I have said in the past, we must keep our options open, therefore I am not going to immediately rule out such an unorthodox tactic Mr. Prime Minister. Though if you have qualms about being exposed for stepping up intelligence activity in Pakistan - imagine the implications of being exposed for aiding / or in any way using terrorist groups. If we are desperate for a backdoor solution then we could consider it, but at this point it should be our general tactic to use the resources we have already at hand.
March 11th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
India has currently been in the process of developing ties with both Pakistan and China. These issues that have been resolved range from bus disputes to prison inspection, but it is progress, so I must disagree with the previous comment. As tempting as it may be to consider such an extreme idea as a “backdoor solution”, it ramifications would be detrimental to India. As the Minister of External Affairs, I have greatly researched and observed the tension between both China and Pakistan, and any utilization of extremists would severely damage numerous aspects of Indian society. On that note, India and China have had the most communication improvement, as our Prime Minister and their Premier recently discussed issues and we have even worked out a trade agreement, strengthening Indo-Chinese and Indo-USA ties. Such progress is what we must accomplish: the strengthening of ties, not terrorists.