Posted:
I empathize with the blog-writer... He has a valid grouse, but his writing has a poor journalistic standard. And, while I saw that many people had praised his write-up on the TOI website where it was first published, there were many people who were lost in the convoluted jumble (which does not classify as high writing, anyway)...
His principal grouse is that the plight of Kashmiri Hindus has been over-looked and brushed under the carpet in a Hindu-majority country, not least by secular governments which have followed policies of appeasement not just for the displaced Hindus, but ironically even more for the Muslim sentiments. That this is ever more prevalent in popular media: news editorials, films and the cultural thought process of the average, "moderate" Indian, is disturbing.
The author could have said this in fewer words. I also believe that he would've made a more hard-hitting point had he left SRK and KJ out of this piece. SRK and KJ are not committed to anything. They aren't the elected representatives of the people and whatever they may say "ambassador of Islam", and other such drivel trash, they still can't be blamed for anything in this matter.
As far as my opinion about the crux of the matter goes:
As it stands today, IMO the Indian State is barely secular. International media usually refer to us as "a Hindu majority nation", which is ironic because our State invests so much economic and ideological resources for minority appeasement that the majority is hardly of any significant value anymore. We have a Muslim Personal Law Board, because Muslims are too good to follow the common law of the State. They are also too good to sing Vande Mataram, because India is probably not their motherland. And, our Nation State supports all this, and goes further and offers Hajj subsidies running into millions of Rupees every year; even as many Hindu temples of historical and religious significance are destroyed. There was a time when I was reading a lot of religious literature, and was genuinely interested in Kashmir Shaivism. I read about cave temples in which the yoga-sutra were discovered and of a quaint temple where Shiv and Parvati had gotten married... Unfortunately, (I don't know for sure, but ) I am rather certain that our state failed to preserve and protect them.
This will be wishful thinking, but I hope that the State either separates itself from religion completely, or adopts a more balanced posture towards the humanity of all its subjects (irrespective of their religion). To favour one over another is not consonant with the secular ideology which we are supposedly following. Probably, we need a revolution...
His principal grouse is that the plight of Kashmiri Hindus has been over-looked and brushed under the carpet in a Hindu-majority country, not least by secular governments which have followed policies of appeasement not just for the displaced Hindus, but ironically even more for the Muslim sentiments. That this is ever more prevalent in popular media: news editorials, films and the cultural thought process of the average, "moderate" Indian, is disturbing.
The author could have said this in fewer words. I also believe that he would've made a more hard-hitting point had he left SRK and KJ out of this piece. SRK and KJ are not committed to anything. They aren't the elected representatives of the people and whatever they may say "ambassador of Islam", and other such drivel trash, they still can't be blamed for anything in this matter.
As far as my opinion about the crux of the matter goes:
As it stands today, IMO the Indian State is barely secular. International media usually refer to us as "a Hindu majority nation", which is ironic because our State invests so much economic and ideological resources for minority appeasement that the majority is hardly of any significant value anymore. We have a Muslim Personal Law Board, because Muslims are too good to follow the common law of the State. They are also too good to sing Vande Mataram, because India is probably not their motherland. And, our Nation State supports all this, and goes further and offers Hajj subsidies running into millions of Rupees every year; even as many Hindu temples of historical and religious significance are destroyed. There was a time when I was reading a lot of religious literature, and was genuinely interested in Kashmir Shaivism. I read about cave temples in which the yoga-sutra were discovered and of a quaint temple where Shiv and Parvati had gotten married... Unfortunately, (I don't know for sure, but ) I am rather certain that our state failed to preserve and protect them.
This will be wishful thinking, but I hope that the State either separates itself from religion completely, or adopts a more balanced posture towards the humanity of all its subjects (irrespective of their religion). To favour one over another is not consonant with the secular ideology which we are supposedly following. Probably, we need a revolution...
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