Aug 22, 2002: Two contrasting articles from NYTimes  
 

 

 


1. First one trying to project India as a nation of ‘Hindu militants’
2. Second one: India - A true vibrant democracy ‘Where Freedom Reigns’
----------------------
Obviously the first one is on Shabnum Hashmi (an Indian activist) who is currently campaigning across the US cities projecting ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Muslim minority in India.

Indian Starts a Campaign Against Cash for Militants
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/18/international/asia/18HIND.html

Second article underlines the freedom that India offers to her multireligious society including 150 million Muslim minority. It does not project Gujarat as Genocide but quotes Syed Shahabuddin saying "Even when Gujarat was burning, practically the whole of India was at peace"

Few quotes form this worth reading article ‘Where Freedom Reigns’

“The more time you spend in India the more you realize that this teeming, multiethnic, multireligious, multilingual country is one of the world's great wonders — a miracle with message. And the message is that democracy matters.”

About Gujarat: “It was a shameful incident, and in a country with 150 million Muslims — India has the largest Muslim minority in the world — it was explosive. And do you know what happened?

Nothing happened.

The rioting didn't spread anywhere. One reason is the long history of Indian Muslims and Hindus living together in villages and towns, sharing communal institutions and mixing their cultures and faiths. But the larger reason is democracy.”

"Even when Gujarat was burning, practically the whole of India was at peace — that is the normal pattern here," said Syed Shahabuddin, editor of Muslim India, a monthly magazine, and a former Indian diplomat. "India is a democracy, and more than that, India is a secular democracy, at least in principle, and it does maintain a certain level of aspiration and hope for Muslims. . . . If there were no democracy in India, there would be chaos and anarchy, because so many different people are aspiring for their share of the cake." It is precisely because of the "constitutional framework here," added Mr. Shahabuddin, that Indian Muslims don't have to resort to terrorism as a minority: "You can always ask for economic and political justice here."


Where Freedom Reigns
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/14/opinion/14FRIE.html?
ex=1030357178&ei=1&en=344b9b865332cd1d

The message is clear “India is a nation for peace and freedom”

Do you wish to reach IndiaCause readers?
Write at IndiaCause

 



Join Strong-India Movement


Read NewsLetter archive