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Hindus a Favorite Target (A letter) 
By
Shyam Tiwari, Duluth, Ga.
Publication: The Washington Post
Date: July 27, 2000
http://www.hvk.org/articles/0700/77.html

An act of violence against innocents is an indefensible act and must be condemned.  What I would like to know is if these people engaged in massive breast-beating exercises over each and every incident that happens in India have ever honestly pondered fundamentalists waging war in other countries.  All we hear in such cases are human rights issues against the very people challenging such violent groups.  A few years back, many churches were burned deliberately all around the United States, but no one raised a hue and cry about it to the level that has arisen even over a small incident in India.

Could it be due to the stark reality that despite our liberal face it is still considered politically correct to point out that the majority of India is Hindu, and hence all such incidents of violence against non-Hindus are the work of Hindus implicitly and collectively?  It is still considered politically correct to denounce Hindus' religion publicly.  It is still considered politically correct to mention the demographic map of India in almost every news item, whereas the same yardstick is seldom applied to other countries of the world.  It is still politically correct to denigrate Hindus for the flimsiest reason.  It is still politically correct to ignore without condemnation when Hindus get killed or become victims of racial, religious persecution.  It is still politically correct to implicate India for being against minorities just because it is majority Hindu.  It is still politically correct, in almost every incident with negative connotations, to carefully point out the religious identity of an individual or group as Hindu.

Religion is always an issue when it comes to India, and bashing Hindus under any guise is very systematic in news reports as well as letters that get published.  The worst thing is that it is considered politically correct to do that.  In fact, the common perception is that the only way to get something published is to write something against Hindus or India no matter how unreal, unproved, unjust, vicious and fabricated the stories may be.  Can someone please explain what is "Hindu fundamentalism"?  One must remember, however, that many of the yardsticks and terminology in vogue to describe religious fanaticism don't even apply when seen from the Hindu perspective.

Unless we do some soul-searching ourselves, we will continue to be hounded by the skewed perceptions, wrongful ideas and mythical notions about Hindus individually and as a whole around the world.


 

 

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