Who the army's voting for

johnee

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At many places, the police were standing around doing nothing while Hindu extremists were killing Muslims in front of their eyes. In many other places, BJP MLAs personally led the killings. They did not even spare Congress MPs. One high profile case was that of MP Ehsan Jafri. He was brutally murdered and then his body burnt outside his own apartment.
police's role in many riots is dubious. but only in gujarat is the chief minister of the state blamed for it. he is termed fascist and neo-nazi etc. the cases are booked against the perpetrators and they are sub-judice. the so-called NGOs like teesta setalvad tried to add masala by extremely exaggarating the events. anyway, congress party is known to CBI for its political reasons, infact it has not even spared its own allies like mulayam, so if modi had any direct or indirect hand in the riots, he would have been behind the bars long back. and dont forget that after 2002, modi has been elected again and again. even in muslim constituencies.
so, yes the riot happened. it was brutal. but that riot was caused because of the brutal killings of hindu pilgrims in godhra. gujarat govt failed to save those hindu lives as well, so modi is against the hindus? yours is a twisted logic.
if the govts are to be blamed for the riots, then congress must be blamed for babri, because babri happened when congress was in power at center. sikh riots also happened when congress was in power.
now, did modi ever justify the riots in gujarat the way rajiv gandhi justified sikh massacre? who is fascist modi or rajiv gandhi?

Please don't tell me you support these monsters. In its 62 years of rule, Congress Party activists have never indulged in such heinous violence, barring the 1984 Sikh riots. On the other hand, the very ideology of the BJP/RSS/VHP/BD is divisive and based on hatred for certain minorities. Even when they were not in power, they demolished the Babri Masjid. After coming to power, Gujarat happened. So did the Orissa riots last year, the burning of Graham Staines and his two little kids alive by BD activists, the manhandling of women in the Mangalore pub early this year and so on. The rise of extremism in India is mirrored by the rise of the BJP.
you are clubbing all right wing groups, and blaming the actions of anyone on BJP. if we were to go by your logic we would have to similarly club all left wing groups and put the responsibility of CPI(m) and CPI. that means if there is a naxalite attack anywhere in india then karat and bardhan are responsible. does that sound logical to you?

sri ram sene(SRS), the group that was behind mangalore pub attack is against BJP. recently, they went to the stage from where advani had addressed and cleansed the stage saying that advani had contaminated it!
SRS has fielded candidates against BJP. so, SRS is political opponent of BJP. to BJP, SRS and congress are equal equal.

as for orissa, swami lakshmanand, an octenegarian, I repeat an octenegarian priest was killed along with two women who were accompanying him. one of them was christian. wat do you call that? the priest was reconverting the tribals who were converted using money and 'service' by the missionaries.
unethical soul harvestations in india by missionaries is a big problem. you can start a separate thread to discuss it. btw, NE was predominantly hindu at the time of independence. but now it is predominantly christian. there was/is a call for separate state for christians in NE. also naxalites get lot of missionaries help.

The Congress may have been many bad things-statist, pandering to minorities, corrupt etc, but at least Congress activists never indulged in mass murder of their fellow citizens.
really?!! wat happened in 1984 then?
anyway, the congress's misrule and apathy have led to many smaller riots many times. just becoz they didnt get the kind of media coverage that gujarat got due to the efforts of sekulaar NGOs like teesta, that doesnt mean congress or its cadre was/is clean.
btw, I hope you know wat recent SIT report says about teesta and gujarat riots.

And what about the BJP? They're clean? Their candidate from Udaygiri, Orissa, is a person called Manoj Pradhan, who faces 7 murder charges, and is currently in jail.
I hope you are not saying that except BJP, all other parties have clean candidates. becoz nothing can be farther from truth. frankly, BJP is much cleaner on this aspect than almost all parties.
 

EnlightenedMonk

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anyway, the congress's misrule and apathy have led to many smaller riots many times. just becoz they didnt get the kind of media coverage that gujarat got due to the efforts of ppl like teesta doesnt mean that congress or its cadre was/is clean.
And now, the courts have called into view the activities of people like Teesta Setalvad in the entire issue... I read somewhere on a thread here that questions have been asked about the statements of the so-called victims... and that, the statements instead of being recorded in front of a magistrate were all made and printed in Setalvad's own printer....

If some wrongdoing is found, then I say people like Setalvad should be tried for perjury and brought to justice just like what happened in the Zahira Shaikh case (one Mumbai court sentenced her for Perjury for repeatedly changing statements, and guess what, Setalvad was also involved in that case)

Frankly, I think we've had enough of these neo-secularists who don't know the first thing about secularism and just play that card to get votes for themselves... and the minority community also, without realising the fact that they're being conned go and vote for a party that only is interested only in "kursi" and vote out a party that actually gives development on the ground...
 

Known_Unknown

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So you choose to have no government at all? Please don't consider putting a non-religious political perspective in Indian subcontinental politics because remember that India is surrounded by countries that are governed by rather specific anti-Hindu/anti-Sikh establishments.
Surrounded, eh? Hmm....let's see. Pakistan, check. Bangladesh? In my opinion, neither "anti-Hindu" nor "anti-Sikh". I don't think it is the official policy of the Bangladeshi government to sponsor terrorism in India. What's left? Nepal? Bhutan? Sri Lanka? Don't think so. Surrounded? Hardly.


Therefore a significant religious perspective has to exist in the government structure even in India and by the way, the "secular" perspective of this incumbent government for the past 30 plus years is what is leading to communal tensions in the country. Allow me to elaborate.
Seeing that the premise is wrong, the conclusions will be necessarily wrong too.


The 1989 massacre and ethnic cleansing of Pandits happened in Kashmir when this very "secular" party was in full power; This "secular" party was the one that perpetrated the Sikh holocaust. All this happened much before any of the BJPs had ever come to power.
Are you saying that the Congress Party activists went and butchered Pandits in the valley? Aren't we trying to obfuscate the issue here? What comparison is there between the BJP's ideological bedfellows (and members of it's "Parivar"), the BD and VHP, going around slaughtering innocent people and Pandits being butchered by terrorists in the valley? If you mean that both of them are equally guilty of terrorism and should be dealt with equally, I'm all with you.

But something tells me that's hardly what you mean.


This "secular" party was the one that perpetrated the Sikh holocaust. All this happened much before any of the BJPs had ever come to power.
Yes, BJP supporters always try to bring this up. And no one in their right mind on either side of the political spectrum would support the massacres of the Sikhs after Mrs. Gandhi's assassination. HOWEVER, to blame the Congress for one incident, while indulging in the same on an even larger scale time and time again (Babri Masjid, Gujarat, Orissa, Graham Staines etc), smacks of hypocrisy at the very least.


India is the only country where the host community of the land lives in exile and the "secular" government does nothing to it. All these actions of repeated sectarian appeasement of one community while completely ignoring the others is what created tremendous frustration in the "racist Hindu fanatics" and led to what you saw in 1992 and Godhra massacre.
See, this is the kind of linkage that's utterly obnoxious to any "secularist". What do you mean by "host community?" Why don't you just come out and say that in a majority Hindu country, a group of Hindus should not live as refugees after being forced out of their state? That just says how you see everything in terms of religion. So if it was a Hindu terrorist movement launched in Kashmir, and all the Kashmiri muslims had been evicted from their houses, you wouldn't give two hoots about it?

To any "secularist" person, a refugee is a refugee. Regardless of whether he is Hindu or Muslim or whatever. All of them should receive the government's help and support, YET, none of them deserve any kind of special status purely on the basis of their religion.

I am aware of the terrible conditions that some Kashmiri Pandits continue to live in, and I sympathise with their plight. I'd also want the government to relocate them to alternative safe places in India, provide them proper housing, and a means to earn a living. HOWEVER, I'd oppose any kind of special perks to them if those are provided merely because they follow a particular faith.

As you yourself reiterated a few posts earlier, you expect "secular" parties to treat people of all religions equally. So do I. That's why I take issue with your statement, "India is the only country where the host community of the land lives in exile and the "secular" government does nothing to it."


While everyone talks about Gujarat 2002 riots, no one talks about or consoles the family of the pilgrims that were burnt alive. If you think that is not real, let me tell you that one of my very close acquaintences lost his beloved brother in that. In short, secularism has become a word that is used and abused by certain longstanding parties to remain in power and retain their dynastic pattern of ruling in the country.
I am sorry for your friend's loss. And every life is valuable, whether it is of the victims of Godhra or those that were massacred later. There have been two commissions of enquiry regarding the Godhra incident. However, it is only natural that people talk about the riots more because there was a larger number of people who died later.

Regarding dynastic politics, no one likes it, and I will certainly not be an apologist for it. The Congress Party has become a party that revolves around a personality cult, that of the Gandhi family. Surprisingly, I have recently read that Rahul Gandhi has been working rather hard to reform the Congress and bring in it a democratic process to elect the top leaders. I can only hope he succeeds.



Now keeping aside all religious perspectives, talk about the national security. I am sure that you know what has happened under the protection of "great secularist government". More than 5000 Indians have lost their lives in past 4 years due to the appeasing God-knows-whom, indecisive and spineless attitude of incumbent government. When every community in India is outraged and is ready to jointly fight the perpetrator of this horrible attack, the incumbent party has now gone a step ahead by considering appeasement of rival countries.
5000 people? Please provide details, because I think that's clearly exaggerated. Sure there have been terrorist attacks, bombings, and what is new? Even during the BJP rule, there have been attacks. Blaming terrorist attacks on the government of the day is pointless and ill-advised. There are a host of reasons why terrorists can strike so easily in India, and whether the government of the day is the BJP or Congress makes really no difference.

Their constant delays with supplies to NSG as pointed out by D.Gen. JK Dutt, delays with approving Naval projects as pointed out by Adm. Sureesh Mehta and snailing around with air force project as pointed out by Major sir, were indirect causes of what took the lives of 15 brave soldiers and 170 innocent civilians and took the remaining alive 60 hours to get rid of 10 terrorists. The pathetic equipment that security forces receive, the insufficient training that they get, all thanks to not upgrading anything or holding onto every bill for the past 40 years is the reason why 26/11 happened.
And Kargil, the Parliament attack, and Akshardham happened while the BJP was in power. Haven't seen you blame them yet.

And after all this horror, the "secular" government has the audacity to show the place of attack to a film director, has its Home Minister changing clothes thrice in 3 hours and later take the credit of an Indian film made overseas while buying the copyrights of its lead song! Nice going, oh great "secular parties".
Yes, and for being insensitive, and a moron, the Chief Minister had to resign. All while Vajpayee, Advani, Modi etc, who committed far greater crimes, are merrily prancing around.

Since you consider yourself secular in the right manner, please do bring out similar facts that happened against innocent Hindu families in Kashmir and SIkhs families in Punjab. Today its perpetrators are freely contesting for elections.

Care to bring out similar related videos, facts, and incidents, please?
No they're not. Congress has dropped the candidature of Jagdish Tytler, and one other Congressman that were involved in the Sikh riots. I'm not aware of any Congress activists that took part in the pogrom against the Pandits in Kashmir. I'd be happy if you could enlighten me if they were.
 

Known_Unknown

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police's role in many riots is dubious. but only in gujarat is the chief minister of the state blamed for it. he is termed fascist and neo-nazi etc. the cases are booked against the perpetrators and they are sub-judice.
Police stand down only if they have orders to do so. If they do have orders to watch while the killings go on, the politicians should be held responsible and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. If they haven't been told by their political bosses to stand around, but to actually do their best to quell the riots, and yet they are found to be inactive, then heads should have rolled and top police officers, commissioners etc needed to be suspended for letting the bloodshed continue. In Gujarat, neither happened, which obviously leads one to think that the state government was involved.

In fact, the Gujarat Advocate General, Arvind Pandya, himself admitted that Modi ordered the police to take no action.

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107KG.asp]Tehelka:: Free. Fair. Fearless

TEHELKA: Who was at the forefront during the riots?

Pandya: It will be wrong to say some were there and some were not… Practically everybody who went to the field was from the Bajrang Dal and the VHP…
http://www.tehelka.com/story_main35.asp?filename=Ne031107Were_Modi.asp]Tehelka:: Free. Fair. Fearless

Thereafter, the second hero by the name of… Narendra Modi came and he gave oral instructions to the police to remain with the Hindus, because the entire kingdom is with the Hindus.
YouTube - The Truth: Gujarat 2002: Arvind Pandya

How much more proof do you need?


if the govts are to be blamed for the riots, then congress must be blamed for babri, because babri happened when congress was in power at center. sikh riots also happened when congress was in power.
now, did modi ever justify the riots in gujarat the way rajiv gandhi justified sikh massacre? who is fascist modi or rajiv gandhi?
Yes, 1984 was bad, It was a terrible blot on the country's secular history. But of 1984 was bad, 1992, 2002, and 2008 was a 100 times worse. 1984 happened because of the tremendous popularity of Mrs. Gandhi. In fact, if you go a little back, in 1948, after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, many Brahmins of the caste that Nathuram Godse belonged to, were butchered, their houses burnt etc in Maharashtra. But these are isolated incidents.

They happen because a particular leader is assassinated by violent means. They do not cause long term polarization and religious divides in the country. They do not threaten to tear a country apart because of internal divides. That is what I fear BJP rule will do. Their ideology is based on exclusivity, they consider Islam and Christianity to be antithetical to their idea of India as a Hindu Rashtra. And due to their rise, other ideologically affiliated organizations have sprung up espousing the same ideas that will eventually break apart the country.

India is a diverse country in religious, ethnic and social terms. Any effort to impose some sort of homogeneous, one track philosophy of Hindutva on the whole nation WILL NOT WORK. Especially if it is at the cost of alienating 150 million citizens of this country.


you are clubbing all right wing groups, and blaming the actions of anyone on BJP. if we were to go by your logic we would have to similarly club all left wing groups and put the responsibility of CPI(m) and CPI. that means if there is a naxalite attack anywhere in india then karat and bardhan are responsible. does that sound logical to you?
The VHP and BD are closely affiliated with the RSS, whose political prodigy is the BJP. They all are part of the same "Sangh Parivar", and senior leaders of all these groups are often seen together at functions and cultural events. Almost all of the BJP leaders have a RSS background, as is the same with the VHP.

In contrast, the Maoist Party of India shares nothing in common with the CPI/CPM. The Communist political parties believe in democracy and have been continuously democratically elected in WB for more than 30 years. In fact, the Naxalite movement in WB was brutally suppressed by the CPI government in the 1960s and 70s.

Compare this to the VHP and BD, which were given a free run to slaughter as they saw fit in the earlier links I have provided.


sri ram sene(SRS), the group that was behind mangalore pub attack is against BJP. recently, they went to the stage from where advani had addressed and cleansed the stage saying that advani had contaminated it!
SRS has fielded candidates against BJP. so, SRS is political opponent of BJP. to BJP, SRS and congress are equal equal.

No, they're not equal. Pramod Muthalik has worked in the RSS, VHP and BD more the past 30 years. His ideological outlook has been shaped by those organizations. That's what I meant by the rise of the BJP in India mirroring the rise of fundamentalism and extremism.


as for orissa, swami lakshmanand, an octenegarian, I repeat an octenegarian priest was killed along with two women who were accompanying him. one of them was christian. wat do you call that? the priest was reconverting the tribals who were converted using money and 'service' by the missionaries.
If they were converted using inducements, that could be proved in a court of law. What I read about him was that he was a leader of the Bajrang Dal (the same people who burnt alive Graham Staines, in Orissa) who provided "spiritual guidance" for his goons to forcibly reconvert Christian tribals to Hinduism. Is that a justification for the violence that followed? More than 50,000 houses burnt, thousands rendered homeless because of the death of one priest? That tells you about the sort of people this guy was leading.

unethical soul harvestations in india by missionaries is a big problem. you can start a separate thread to discuss it. btw, NE was predominantly hindu at the time of independence. but now it is predominantly christian. there was/is a call for separate state for christians in NE. also naxalites get lot of missionaries help.
I know the situation in NE. You're wrong to assume that the separatist violence started after the conversion to Christianity. The separatist in several NE states has been going on since the 1960s and 70s because those people believe that those states were never a part of India, and hence India has no business being there. In fact, in Nagaland, the main separatist movements are socialist in terms of ideology-the largest separatist group, I believe, is the National Socialist Council of Nagaland.


really?!! wat happened in 1984 then?
anyway, the congress's misrule and apathy have led to many smaller riots many times. just becoz they didnt get the kind of media coverage that gujarat got due to the efforts of sekulaar NGOs like teesta, that doesnt mean congress or its cadre was/is clean.
btw, I hope you know wat recent SIT report says about teesta and gujarat riots.
1984, like I have said, is 1 incident perpetrated by Congress workers in 62 years of independence. In contrast, the BD, VHP, ABVP and the kar sevaks have indulged in much more mayhem in just 20 years of national prominence.

I hope you are not saying that except BJP, all other parties have clean candidates. becoz nothing can be farther from truth. frankly, BJP is much cleaner on this aspect than almost all parties.
I brought it up because you brought up the issue of Madani. No party is clean, and hence picking on the Congress while the BJP merrily puts murderers up as candidates is sheer hypocrisy.
 

Ray

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It is incorrect to feel that the armed forces vote en bloc.

The problem that faces the armed forces is that there is no political will in any govt and the political parties precipitates crises and then expect the armed forces to clear the mess.

Take the cases of Kashmir, Gujarat, Punjab. All were politically motivated. And the worse is what follows i.e. the blame game and each political party acts so pious. They keep fanning the issues so that they can inflame the different sections as and when they want to garner the votes.

No party is clean.
 

VayuSena1

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Known_Unknown;13871]
PHP:
[QUOTE]Surrounded, eh? Hmm....let's see. Pakistan, check. Bangladesh? In my opinion, neither "anti-Hindu" nor "anti-Sikh". I don't think it is the official policy of the Bangladeshi government to sponsor terrorism in India. What's left? Nepal? Bhutan? Sri Lanka? Don't think so. Surrounded? Hardly[/QUOTE].
You need to check again on defence news and situation in Bangladesh. Please read up on the various radical jehadi groups that have been popping up in that country against India. Do you know about HuJi? I am sure you would.

Nepal has become a Maoist hub from where Maoists can easily trickle into India. Do you think they would be so naive to admit such a thing even if it is really happening? Please wake up. Bhutan is a passive country and I don't say something towards that. Therefore Mao Nepal, Pakistan and Bangladesh can be sufficiently called "surrounding countries". Wake up to the reality.






Are you saying that the Congress Party activists went and butchered Pandits in the valley?
Not being able to give a befitting military response to the Pakistan backed extremists for butchering the Pandits is worse than what you mentioned now.






HOWEVER, to blame the Congress for
one incident, while indulging in the same on an even larger scale time and time again
(Babri Masjid, Gujarat, Orissa, Graham Staines etc), smacks of hypocrisy at the very least.

One incident? Remember that this one incident happened for the death of one woman. Also this one incident caused the death of 4500+ sikhs. You apply so much logic, go so gaga over Godhra incident and yet you rub this off saying "ONE" incident? Nice equality there. Making a SIkh PM will not bring back the dead loved ones of those 4500 plus families back. Congress should understand this more clearly.



Why don't you just come out and say that in a majority Hindu country, a group of Hindus should not live as refugees after being forced out of their state
?
So if it was a Hindu terrorist movement launched in Kashmir, and all the Kashmiri muslims had been evicted from their houses, you wouldn't give two hoots about it?
Well India is a predominantly Hindu country and that is a fact. I have nothing to hide there and neither I am hiding anything. Kashmir was also in a similar state as the entire country until Pakistani-sponsored fanatics successfully ousted them and the government did nothing to counter this and restore the Kashmiri pandits. I am also one, you know.

And don't try to paint me in the pseudo-secularist colours that coat you. I work where a Muslim would die to protect a Hindu, a Hindu for a Sikh and a SIkh for a Jew. Watch your words when blaming others, boy.

of special status purely on the basis of their religion
.

You don't need to remind me of that because the refugees here in question are Hindus. Don't pretend to trap me with words that make me appear as a fanatic. The question here is about Kashmiri Hindus and it remains unanswered.

I
am aware of the terrible conditions that some Kashmiri Pandits continue to live in, and I sympathise with their plight. I'd also want the government to relocate them to alternative safe places in India,
Some pandits? The WHOLE community is displaced in its own country and you say some? Relocate to alternate regions? Why? When the state is indian and Indian military is there, why relocate them to another region? What crime have they committed for this exile? Why not instead conduct random military operations, flush out the perpetrators of this heineous act, kill them and restore the Kashmiri pandit homes? You seem really biased in your words here.

"
India is the only country where the host community of the land lives in exile and the "secular" government does nothing to it."
Kashmiri pandits have been the residents of that place for centuries and hence became the host communities when others came and settled such as the first tribe of Mnashe of Jews. That is why I used "Host". Don't twist facts. I work in a secular organization. Your words of politics don't affect me one bit.


I
However, it is only natural that people talk about the riots more because there was a larger number of people who died later.
Larger or smaller, even those were brutal deaths and they have practically been OMITTED from every news. What are you buddy? You are so biased when you call SIkhs "a few" and now this is also ignored by you by justifying that the pilgrims burnt were "a few".



5000 people? Please provide details, because I think that's clearly exaggerated
. Sure there have been terrorist attacks, bombings, and what is new?

Watch some news. After the last of Delhi blasts, this was a statistics shown on all the channels. I am surprised that if I managed to watch this during duty time at the base, how come you missed it? Or should I say, "conveniently" missed it? Terrorists strikes even happen in Israel, where the world's most lethal and effective military operates. This cannot be stopped but the answer is HOW effectively one counters them. Under NDA none of the terrorist attacks were of this proportion of 26/11 and the one that was almost going to be (Parliment attacks), was averted when NONE of the politicians died. Didn't see that with the UPA, did we?


And Kargil, the Parliament attack, and Akshardham happened while the BJP was in power. Haven't seen you blame them yet.
1) Kargil war won us another war as well as global recognition in exposing Pakistani backed terrorism in India... something the Congress government was unsuccessful at after fighting Pakistan more than 3 wars earlier.

2) Akshardham seige did not end with the killing of 170 pilgrims, but 29 devotees and 70 injured with a sucessful on-time commando operation. 2008 was fragged with blasts and all UPA Home Minister did was change clothes 3 times.

3) The Parliment attack saw the death of 11 security personnel, but the terrorists' aim of killing politicians was foiled when NONE of the leaders at the parliment were even injured let alone killed.

4) Before you point out Kandahar, let me tell you that Kandahar's one decision saved the lives of 170 plus passengers, enabling their safe return to the country. The hijacked aircraft was taken to a country whose government was sympathetic to the terrorists and not to us. Therefore this was the only prudent decision unless you suggest that we should have immediately invaded Afghanistan for one aircraft. NDA's one decision saved 170 people; UPA one indecision killed that many.

Yes, and for being insensitive, and a moron, the Chief Minister had to resign.
All while Vajpayee, Advani, Modi etc, who committed far greater crimes, are merrily prancing around
.

You easily ignore everything related to Sikhs and Kashmiri pandits with "a few" formula but are excellent at blaming these right wing leaders with "war crimes, human rights" and what not when it comes to anything related to riots with muslim community. Good justice. I can see what is feeding Hindu extremism; it is this unequal mentality.

I'm not aware of any Congress activists that took part in the pogrom against the Pandits in Kashmir
. I'd be happy if you could enlighten me if they were.

As I said, taking part in pogrom doesn't mean that a party can go clean. When we have Kashmir the most militarized zone on the planet, what made the Congress not take a military action against these foreign backed fanatics when this was happening? This religious pogrom is what lead to Babri Masjid and 2002 riots as a outburst of frustration. This is of course a possibility and not a sure shot answer so don't go asking me sources about that. I am a man in uniform, not a journalist. Had that pogrom been stopped, today none of this would have happened.

In the end I can just say that this thread is about military choosing BJP and the simple reason is that whatever be it, BJP has a stronger record on not compromising national security for votebank politics. BJP knows to give orders that we like to hear when our country is run over by terrorists and infiltrators; unlike the UPA under whom, even a confirmed terrorist has the audacity to ask for perfume and toothpaste and free strolls outside his cell. Don't know this one? Read today's newspaper.

Thank you.
 

VayuSena1

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It is incorrect to feel that the armed forces vote en bloc.

The problem that faces the armed forces is that there is no political will in any govt and the political parties precipitates crises and then expect the armed forces to clear the mess.

Take the cases of Kashmir, Gujarat, Punjab. All were politically motivated. And the worse is what follows i.e. the blame game and each political party acts so pious. They keep fanning the issues so that they can inflame the different sections as and when they want to garner the votes.

No party is clean.
No party is clean, but we have to choose the lesser evil such that it does not compromise national security for votebank; wins not only wars but also diplomatic recognition of the nation's cause and also is hard on enemies of the country.
 

Known_Unknown

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Vayusena reply

Vayusena,

You berate me for calling the Sikh riots of '84 "one incident", yet, I have still not heard you blame the Sanghis for Gujarat, Orissa, Babri Masjid demolition, the Bombay riots etc etc. If you share so much outrage for, I repeat, one incident in which 2500+ Sikhs were killed, why would you not express the same outrage for the other incidents? It seems that I might have figured it out. You seem to rationalise all the Sanghi-sponsored massacres on the basis of the expulsion of Pandits from the Valley. You seem to think that since the expulsion of the Pandits happened, it is understandable, or may be even justifiable if Hindus in Gujarat attack fellow Gujarati Muslims. If I were a Kashmiri Pandit, I might also have had such a view. Persecution often causes a minority to indulge in group-hating of their oppressors. Kashmiri Pandits, being the victims of terrorism, tend to be more rigid in their anti-Islamic views than do Indians in other parts of the country. Jews in Israel, also used to fighting Islamic extremism, are considerably less approving of Muslims than, say, Tibetian Buddhists. Many scholars also say that some Hindus in North and West India, who have been persecuted for centuries under the Muslims, are now fighting back-against an imaginary enemy (but which, for them, is very real).

I am quite aware of the right wing perspective on religion in India, since I have relatives who not only sympathise, but were also active members of the RSS. They believe that India is under siege: one of them once said to me, that the Muslims have so many countries, the Christians have their countries, but what do Hindus have? Only India. This is our janmabhoomi and our karmabhoomi. They often compare India with a goddess (you might have seen that poster of the RSS where the map of India is depicted as a goddess with a lion standing behind her), and say that we have already suffered partition once, and that Christians and Muslims are that "other", which represent a view that is diametrically opposed to that of Indian civilization.

What can you say to that? For a religious person, that is an unassailable argument. Unarguable. See, you find the Maoists to be "anti-Hindu" and "anti-Sikh". I say nonsense. You say India will suffer because of the Nepali Maoists. I again say nonsense. If anyone has suffered because of Maoists, it is Nepal, because of us! Nepali communists were an offshoot of Indian communists, and when Prachanda and others were hiding in India while their soldiers fighting in Nepal, we never killed or extradited him to Nepal! Let us not believe that we are always the victims. The Tamil separatists were armed and funded by India against Sri Lanka, if you care to jog your memory, and there was also a CIA funded Tibetian insurgency hosted by India in the early years of the Chinese takeover of Tibet!.

Some people like to see an "anti-Hindu" or "anti-Sikh" conspiracy in everything. Fortunately such people don't run the foreign affairs of our country. Oh, and about Bangladesh. There are terror groups operating from their soil, no doubt. But that hardly makes the "regime of Bangladesh" anti-Hindu or anti-Sikh. After all, those groups pose a common threat to both our countries, because last I checked, Bangladesh was still officially a secular country, and there is healthy internal opposition to the politics of extremism in the form of the Awami League.

Oh, and btw, when the BJP was in power, did it make even an iota of effort towards re-establishing the Pandits in Kashmir? Or did they fool you with their promises yet again?
 

Yusuf

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I have seen over the years (3yrs) of my posting on the internet, that most of the posters were pro BJP, Hindutva (the wrong interpretation of it).
For some reasons they all feel that the BJP is the only party which can lead India against terrorism which is the main security issue right now. People have kept cursing the out-going government led by Mr Singh as being soft on terror. Yet I find the BJP as the only party that has so far being soft on terror when it actually came to fighting terror.
Very obviously the first instance that comes to mind and the one that has been used in this election campaign is the Kandahar issue. Till date we have heard no justification or clarification on why the government of that time led by the BJP so benevolently handed over dreaded terrorists to the Taliban?
The Self Proclaimed new Iron Man says he didnt have a clue as to the terrorists were going to be handed over. Either he say that he new and kept quite as he developed cold feet, or say that Mr Vajpayee did not trust him. Also the news of the imminent hand over of the terrorists were splashed all over the world. Why did Mr Advani NOT intervene and stop the process? Mr Advani smacks of hypocracy which is true for all politicians. Buts its the holier than thou attitude that Mr Advani proclaims that hurts.

Operation Parakram was another instance. Akshardham, and the Mother of all attacks, the one on our symbol of Democracy. What did the government of that time do?

So its time we get real and ask ourselves, not led my any religious beliefs that who is best suited to fight terror. The answer i feel is the people of India who have a collective responsibility to put pressure on whichever party is in power to fight the terrorists and terrorism with an iron fist.

PS: I voted for the BJP both the time when Mr Vajpayee came to power. The 13 days government and the full term thereafter. So i dont vote on religious beliefs but on which party at that time was suitable to lead our country.
 

Daredevil

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I have seen over the years (3yrs) of my posting on the internet, that most of the posters were pro BJP, Hindutva (the wrong interpretation of it).

For some reasons they all feel that the BJP is the only party which can lead India against terrorism which is the main security issue right now. People have kept cursing the out-going government led by Mr Singh as being soft on terror. Yet I find the BJP as the only party that has so far being soft on terror when it actually came to fighting terror.
Congress as well is soft on Terrorism. The first thing done by UPA was to repeal POTA which NDA govt. has constituted to just fight the menace that they have faced during their regime. Now who is talking about toughening the anti-terrorist laws and FIA etc?. For past few years I have lost count on the number of bomb-blasts that have happened in India from North to south part of India.

Very obviously the first instance that comes to mind and the one that has been used in this election campaign is the Kandahar issue. Till date we have heard no justification or clarification on why the government of that time led by the BJP so benevolently handed over dreaded terrorists to the Taliban?
It was not done benevolently but to save lives of 170 people on board the hijacked flight.

The Self Proclaimed new Iron Man says he didnt have a clue as to the terrorists were going to be handed over. Either he say that he new and kept quite as he developed cold feet, or say that Mr Vajpayee did not trust him. Also the news of the imminent hand over of the terrorists were splashed all over the world. Why did Mr Advani NOT intervene and stop the process? Mr Advani smacks of hypocracy which is true for all politicians. Buts its the holier than thou attitude that Mr Advani proclaims that hurts.
IIRC, it was a joint cabinet decision to handover.

Operation Parakram was another instance. Akshardham, and the Mother of all attacks, the one on our symbol of Democracy. What did the government of that time do?
What were you expecting?. Indeed we were prepared for the war, if it were not for the slow movement of our troops (our doctrine) we would have had a war. This has resulted in Army moving towards cold-start doctrine.

So its time we get real and ask ourselves, not led my any religious beliefs that who is best suited to fight terror. The answer i feel is the people of India who have a collective responsibility to put pressure on whichever party is in power to fight the terrorists and terrorism with an iron fist.
Every one should ask themselves, after our country experienced a number of bomb blasts through various cities of country and Mumbai attacks what is present incumbent government's response. Remember, our beloved ex-home minister Shivraj Patil was busy changing clothes while the city was being bombed and another minister Antulay casting doubts on killing of ATS chief Karkare as being done by some interested parties when we were supposed to be united in our response and last but not least the Maharastra home minister calling Mumbai attacks as some small incidents that happen everywhere.

While NDA is seen to be talking (if not walking) about fighting against the terrorism while UPA was seen doing neither talking nor walking.
 

Ray

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I read a very illuminating post in another forum by a non Indian which sort of sums up the issue as to why there has been gravitational shift to the BJP.

A précis of his views:

Electoral politics ever since Mrs Indira Gandhi's time has revolved around identity politics and patronage, neither of which are attractive to India's educated classes.

Politicians who depend on a 'Muslim bloc' vote have no interest in diluting that voting bloc, nor do Muslim political and religious bigwigs whose power comes from consolidating a power base.

The majority of middle class Hindus who have started voting for the BJP from the 1980s are not really attracted by the identity politics of creating a 'Hindu bloc', or using that to create a 'Hindu state', whatever that might be.

They believe in the Indian nation-state and want it to be as prosperous, as strong, as stable and as well-run as possible. And these people are not keen on fighting a whole bunch of cultural and ideological wars. What they want is an effective, visionary but responsible leadership.

These people are revolted by the dysfuntionality of the Centre in certain areas and they feel that the Congress is responsible. They are also disillusioned by the manner the Congress is promoting and foisting a dynasty on India at the expense of meritocracy and democratic norms(Manmohan said yesterday that Rahul was PM material and should take over! This is possibly the reason why Sonia selected a weak man as the PM so that he could be jettisoned once she had made up her mind!).

This soft dictatorship upsets the educated!

Although the middle class desire for national cohesion, meritocracy, public order, economic progress, etc overlap with Hindutva, the latter is attractive primarily as a means to those ends, not as an end in itself.

The statements in italics are mine.
 

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