[Reader-list] India on a list of countries which have failed to protect its religious minorities adequately

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Rajen ji

How would you feel if I were to call you a eunuch or Shikhandi? A person has
a name and that name must be taken with respect. If you don't have that
basic respect, you should seriously consider stopping posting of your views
at all. He is Manmohan Singh, and while I dont' agree with many of his views
and policies, the name deserves a respect and it should be given.

There is nothing wrong with vote-bank politics as long as it doesn't
interfere with freedoms of an individual in any way. If Muslims vote for a
particular party in order to get safety of life, good education facilities
and better health care facilities, they have the right to do so. More
importantly, governance must be based on providing freedoms for all, and if
equality can help in securing that freedom, so be it.

However, for people like you, infringement on other's freedoms is ok if it
is important for the survival of the state. You would be supporting those
who attack 'azadi' agitations in Kashmir because it's against the state,
even though the fight for 'azadi' boils down to freedoms of individuals who
feel they have been terrorized and victimized.

As for priority to 16%, correct that figure. It's 13.4% as per 2001 census,
and it will reach 17% at most by 2101 census (100 years from 2001). So all
those worrying about Muslim demographics can sleep well.

And yes, when we talk about Muslims, it's about three kinds of
discrimination:

a) Discrimination which only Muslims face (because of their religion)
b) Discrimination which Muslims face because of their caste  (that faced by
Dalit Muslims, and this is similar mostly to what Dalits face)
c) Discrimination on class affiliations (poor Muslims and poor Hindus both
suffer the same)

The idea is to stop the first kind of discrimination, though it is linked in
some measure to the second and third kind of discriminations as well. And
one statement need not even reflect the priority of the govt. as well. The
govt makes all the right-noises about environment policy and climate change,
but does any of it actually get reflected on the ground? The govt made many
noises about the nuclear deal, but is any electricity production on the way
due to nuclear fuel? How much time it would take, has anybody even analyzed
or tried to find out?

And as for your argument, I am putting forth some of the data which people
must see in order to find out the progress of Muslims in India.

This is being put in the next mail.

Regards

Rakesh