Restraint needed in the Bombay debris
[Note from Hindu Vivek Kendra: Once again we see so-called liberal publications blaming the Hindu's for the problems that have been inflicted on them by forces of Islamic terrorism. This is the classic attitude of dhimmitude, which extends even in their own countries, where they try to say that the roots of the terrorism is in the so-called poverty of the Muslims. Thus we have an absurd statement like; "Damaging too is that the country's 140m Muslims have not been lifted by India's rising economic tide." That is, it is the fault of the Hindus that the Muslims are poor, or that the Hindus have deliberately kept the Muslims poor.]
Even for a region pockmarked by blasts and shootings, the scale of the bombing of Bombay raises concerns about the stability of south Asia. The city port has been rocked by a series of explosions in the last few months, but Monday's attacks, which claimed more than 50 lives, were the biggest for nearly a decade.
In targeting India's bustling commercial capital, the bombers struck at the heart of a nation's economic renaissance. Those who planted the bombs were unperturbed that death would be spread among Bombay's Hindu majority and its sizeable Muslim minority. This at a time when India and Pakistan, whose enmity is rooted in a religious divide which has lasted the 56 years since the pair were separated at birth, were talking about peace. India's politicians have not emphatically pointed the finger of blame at Pakistan, but their words will have left few in doubt as to whom they hold responsible for the carnage.
There is no question that Pakistan is used as a base by bombers to launch attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir. In Pakistan, some have bent Islam to propagate hate - despite its message of peace. Similarly in India, Hinduism is being polluted by extremists. Last year's riots in Gujarat confirmed that anti-Muslim prejudice could murderously explode if tended to by religious bigots. The nation's history is also being rewritten in saffron ink - and being used to justify the razing of mosques on the grounds that they were built on Hindu temples.
India's democracy is being battered
by such forces. Damaging too is that the country's 140m Muslims have not
been lifted by India's rising economic tide. None of this justifies the
murder and mayhem. What both sides need to display is restraint. The thaw
in relations between Islamabad and New Delhi has only yielded tiny improvements
in relations - a bus service has restarted and diplomatic ties have been
restored. But the rapprochement will get nowhere if both sides do not break
free from the prison of the past. Both Pakistan and India will have to
move from trading insults and shells across disputed borders and become
serious about treading the road to peace. There will be elements in both
countries who will seek to derail any compromise or deal. Bombay's blasts
must be seen in this light. Leaders in both nations must stop envenoming
tongues and minds and offer a way, instead, to replace antipathy with amity.