[1810] in peace2
Re: India Vigil, Copley Square, 7 p.m., Thursday
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Anant K Saraswat)
Thu Jul 11 11:18:31 2002
Message-Id: <200207111518.LAA11880@no-knife.mit.edu>
To: Payal Parekh <parekh@pimms.MIT.EDU>
cc: peace-announce@MIT.EDU, saraswat@MIT.EDU, hsc-talk@hscnet.org
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 11 Jul 2002 10:34:26 EDT."
<Pine.GSO.3.95q.1020711103252.28395B-100000@pimms>
Date: Thu, 11 Jul 2002 11:18:21 -0400
From: Anant K Saraswat <saraswat@MIT.EDU>
Why is it that, while this so-called "Alliance for a Secular and
Democratic South Asia" is very eager to stop the Rath Yatra, a
centuries-old Hindu festival, it has nothing to say about the ethnic
cleansing of Hindus from Kashmir, or the ongoing violence against
Christians, Hindus, and other religious minorities in Pakistan and
Bangladesh?
Perhaps if this organization was really concerned with secularism and
democracy, it would stop howling so loudly at India, the only truly
secular and democratic country on the subcontinent. Instead it might
look across the border at Pakistan, which has been under military rule
for half its history and which is a sponsor of Islamic terrorism, or
at Bangladesh, where activists of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist
Party, with the support of the government, routinely terrorize the
Hindu population.
What happened to the Muslims of Gujarat was deplorable, and the Indian
government should punish those responsible. But protesting against the
Rath Yatra has nothing at all to do with protecting Muslims. Rather,
it is a vicious attempt to prevent Hindus from practicing their own
religion in their own homeland.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> Fearing further violence against Muslims in Gujarat during the
> Jagannath Rath Yatra, the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic
> South Asia is holding a vigil on July 11 in Copley Square, Boston at
> 7:00PM. Concerned that the Indian government's decision to allow the
> Jagannath Rath Yatra to pass through communally sensitive areas in
> Ahmedabad on July 12th might lead to a fresh outbreak of violence
> against Muslims, the vigil is being held in solidarity with the
> ravaged Muslim population of Gujarat, and to remind the government
> that it will be held fully accountable for the consequences of this
> decision. In addition to this vigil in Boston, Non-resident Indians
> from Boston, New York and surrounding areas are holding a day-long
> fast and vigil outside the Indian Consulate in New York from 10 a.m.
> to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 10th.
>
> For more info about the yatra:
> http://www.onlinevolunteers.org/gujarat/news/yatras/
>
