that is why i said an example as America and India as an aspiring developing and we are not yet there, yes differences are there, but if you go 20 years back the internal disturbances were 2 times more than what it is today 40 years back it was 4 time, India is the place where Dawood ibraihm and Prabakaran originated but today there is no place for these fellows in our society,
modernity in India is not about wearing bikinis, it could be for Indians living in other developed countries, i live in India and I don't see any bikinis on our streets, modernity in India is about how every younger generation has improved upon every older generation, is about how we have found a common language in English transcending linguistic divide, it is about how we know that if we discriminate we will split to pieces, see Indian cricket for example, we are winning today because our cricketers are from all parts of the country and most of them are from rural India that epitomises the whole India not only in cricket but in all the fields,
today we have very little discrimination in our society so much so that a community in Gujarat called gujars want to be categorized as SC and MBC(most backward class) because they don't want to miss out on government benefits, subsidies, educational reservation etc.. sir we are taught in our schools that Akbar is our great king and we have green as a Indian color in our flags, sir Indian society is modernizing from the root the rural India, because of the huge population India will never develop to be a all developed country,
you talked about how we are ruling Punjab and kashmir, i ask you again here who is ruling who and i say it again, a south Indian state Kerala is ruled by people of kerala, Tamil nadu is ruled by people of Tamils Maharashtra is ruled by people who live in Maharashtra west Bengal is ruled by Bengalies, Jammu and Kashmir is ruled by its own people every India state is ruled by its own people and India is ruled by the Indian government and anybody with some strong will can become India prime minister and president and a parliamentarian which India government is ruling Jammu and Kashmir is it the Congress or the BJP, UPA, NDA, Left CPI , National conference, PDA , Indian army, IAF, Indian Navy is it the prime minister or the prisedent of India, in my country things change and it changes for better and it changes all the time and with every new generation we are transcending our inabilities, religion and becoming more united than ever before and we hope to make a good friend of Pakistan.
ALL countries aspire to be great. India is not unique in this case. Neither is America for that matter, considering how many of Americas minorities still feel left out.
Being "great" is a relative term first of all, and whatever it is, its a work in progress. Whats "great" for one people is not the same as that for another. A msulim country, one thats based on Islamic theology, strives to create a society thats in tune with Islamic principles. Who are you to say they are wrong?
Very little discrimination?!?!? Thats debatable. For one, I find the oppinion of the majority is always bias in such pronouncements. American Whites for example have a very different view of their society then a Balck American.
And I hope I dont have to remind you of all your ethnic cleansings,, The last being in Gujrat a measly 7 years ago.
And what of the statements from your own politicians. As Vajpayee once famously said, the minorities have nothing to fear so long as they tow the line. Meaning, believe what we believe and know your place or else.
The case of Gojra community is not relevant to the overall attitude of the society towards minorities. Govts everywhere make laws, but laws are only on paper, what counts is what happnes on the ground.
Now with the kerala thing, I think you contradict yourself. On the one hand, Indian claim to be multicultural and multi ethnic, yet on the other hand, you seperate states along ethnic lines. So you at once support multiculturalism, and yet at the same time acknowldge the need to seperate ethnic groups into different states.
This to me shows that multiculturalism is not whats need to keep the peace. Whats needed is for ethnic groups and cultural groups to be seperated into their own states or even nations.
The people of Kashmir do not want to be part of India. Period. And I question whether they truly rule themselves considering the many sham elections the Indians have run there. Kashmiris want to choose their own fate.
Medernization may not mean that to you, but what about the up and coming carrer girl in Mumbai? Or the bussines man in Banglore? Its not about bikinis, its about different interpretations. We all have different understanding about what is or isnt modern. Just because you say you are modern, doesnt mean we in Paksitan or someone in America would agree with you.
And I suppose a girl in India who can wear a bikini in the US but not in India, would probably think of her country as pretty backwards and old fashioned dont you thnk?
Passing on information from one generation isnt modernity. Passage of knowledge from generation to generation is as old as humanity itself. Thats how we went from stone tools to rocket engines.
Paksitanis also have a common language, it called Urdu. And a good portion of English aswell. But how is this being modern? Just because you have adopted a foreign language as your lingua franka means modernity all of the sudden?
The Japanese cant speak a lick of Englsih and yet they are considered modern.?!?!?
Your cricket team success has everything to do with the fact that regardless of where they are from, they know how to throw a ball and hit one. The Australian cricket team is rather homogenous, and yet they were unbeatable for most of this decade.
Anyways, it all nice and sentimental, but reality is rarely this simple.