[Reader-list] On the Swiss referendum & law proposal against minarets

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Patrice (and all)

I appreciate the tone of your mail, particularly as it takes the context of
the situation into consideration. Firstly, let us be clear that 43% of the
people have not voted in favor of the referendum, which would still be a
significant number. Secondly, condemning people is never going to help
simply because when people are condemned for not changing, they will for
sure not change to boost their ego, and hence this doesn't lead us anywhere.
Moreover, it's not as if people have committed any kind of violence (in the
loose sense of material and human destruction) that it should be condemned.

What is important is to understand the malaise, and then correct it. As one
of my friends always says: 'People change, they do. But don't force them to
change'

With love

Rakesh