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*Originally posted by Malik73: *
It doesn't take a genius to recognise the fact that your DMK is an ally of the BJP-RSS government in New Delhi - see the links in previous posts. Or are you denying this fact?
The clear fact is that so-called "secular" parties like the DMK (which you vote for) and others are propping up a BJP-RSS government which instigated the slaughter in Gujrat, and the Ayodhya-inspired massacres of Muslims before that. So much for Indian "secularlism" huh?
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DMK and some other so-called secular parties are in the NDA (the coalition) only for the political reasons. Maybe being a part of the central government helps them get policy decisions which will be favourable to them in their native states. Or maybe they just want to have some of their people as central ministers - an opportunity to make money, and to dole out favours to kith and kin.
Even if any such party leaves the NDA, it will be only if they fear that remaining there would alienate their Muslim supporters; nobody would quit for moral reasons. Politics has become a way of gathering power (money & influence), and few politicians these days are principle-driven.
As for secularism, or any other -ism, I believe it has two parts - the belief in the hearts of the people, and the legal provisions in the constitution.
Regarding secularism in India, the legal provisions still exist. However, the secular outlook among the people is decreasing. I believe the politics of the Sangh Parivar are to blame. They spread their propaganda continuously and in the garb of "culture".
A brief digression: The two major religious communities in India have lived a little aloof from each other. A typical adult Hindu will not have Muslim friends, and I believe most Muslims also have few Hindu friends. Because of this, most Hindus don't really understand Islam or Muslims. (On the other hand, since the Muslims live in a predominantly Hindu country, they do understand atleast some of Hinduism, and Hindus).
So, in this situation - where most Hindus don't understand Muslims - the Sangh Parivar people have been able to brainwash them with their ingenious propaganda. They say things like, "Muslims don't employ family planning because they want to be the dominant religion in India. ... Five hundred years from now, Hindus will be in minority. ... Muslim rulers committed atrocities against Hindus; once the Muslims are in majority, they will do so again. ..." etc.
So, many Hindus believe that the Sangh Parivar says and does the right things. When the Gujarat riots took place, the Sangha Parivar said that it was a "natural reaction" to the burning of the Hindus in the ill-fated train, by Muslims. And, most Hindus believed it; this included my parents. I had difficulty explaining to them that it was politically motivated, where the rioteers went around carrying government records of the properties of Muslims.
Moreover, the common person (anywhere in the World) doesn't want to be needlessly disturbed. If anybody else is in trouble, they don't bother, because "it" is happening to "them", not "us". So, most Hindus did not consider the riots to be a big deal.
I am sure this apparent apathy of Hindus towards the Muslims must have come as a disappointment to the Muslims. So, now we have a situation where the Hindus mistrust the Muslims because of the Sangh Parivar's propaganda, and the Muslims mistrust the Hindus because of their apathy and their apparent silent complicity.
To me, it looks like things will only worsen, until we ask ourselves some tough questions. And unfortunately, the tough questions won't be asked - are never asked, anywhere in the world - until the problems have gone out-of-control.
