Re: True Face of India
Here is the elephant in the room noone wants to address - it is about caste, not religion. A muslim is not considered "lower than a dalit" if he/she was originally from a higher caste.
To the best of my knowledge, caste extends its evil influence in Pakistan also.
From the glass half full perspective, kudos to NDTV for publicizing this particular incident. More publlicity such incindents receive, the better. At least in this instance, the Indian press did a good job.
Not to beat a dead horse, but I would make this one point. To be fair southie, this im sure is the response any intelligent educated Hindu would give. But what of uneducated and superstitious Hindus?
There are stories passed down from elders in our village of Hindus who would walk on opposite sides of the road in order to avoid their shadows mingling with those of Muslims. Or of those Hindus who if you went to their homes, would serve their Muslim guests on Palm leaves or the like and reserve the plates for their Hindu guests. Or they would fill their buckets on opposite side of the well to avoid mingling with the Muslims. So to many Hindus, perhaps not as well versed even their own faith, Muslims were often and perhaps still are considered to be among the lower caste, if unofficial.
There are those who draw up these fantasies of pre Partition India, as if we all lived together as brotherly as conjoined twins, but Religious discrimination was and is a very real thing.
Still though, you are right, baggage from the caste system is still prevalent among Pakistanis, especially among villages where everyone knows everyone else s family background. But beyond the villages, the anonymity of the city means many otherwise low caste clans etc do relatively well...
