Posted on 07/16/2011 9:18:40 PM PDT by LibWhacker
Aatish Taseer, the son of an assassinated Pakistani leader, explains the history and hysteria behind a deadly relationship
Ten days before he was assassinated in January, my father, Salman Taseer, sent out a tweet about an Indian rocket that had come down over the Bay of Bengal: "Why does India make fools of themselves messing in space technology? Stick 2 bollywood my advice."
My father was the governor of Punjab, Pakistan's largest province, and his tweet, with its taunt at India's misfortune, would have delighted his many thousands of followers. It fed straight into Pakistan's unhealthy obsession with India, the country from which it was carved in 1947.
Though my father's attitude went down well in Pakistan, it had caused considerable tension between us. I am half-Indian, raised in Delhi by my Indian mother: India is a country that I consider my own. When my father was killed by one of his own bodyguards for defending a Christian woman accused of blasphemy, we had not spoken for three years.
To understand the Pakistani obsession with India, to get a sense of its special edge—its hysteria—it is necessary to understand the rejection of India, its culture and past, that lies at the heart of the idea of Pakistan. This is not merely an academic question. Pakistan's animus toward India is the cause of both its unwillingness to fight Islamic extremism and its active complicity in undermining the aims of its ostensible ally, the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Indonesia has the most Muslims in the world, though India has more than Pakistan (10% of a billion+ people is still a lot). Pakistan has never forgotten that India broke them in half by sending troops to help Bangladesh (East Pakistan) leave “West Pakistan”. They did the same thing with the Sihks and in Sri Lanka, and Indira Ghandi and her son Rajiv (no relation to the Mahatma) died for it.
As long as Americans think of India as a country, they will never understand it - though not geographically, it is a continent.
“will tell you why Israel will continue to remain Jewish, or secular, for a long time to come.”
Aren’t these 2 ideas diametrically opposed? They certainly cause plenty of tension over there.
India let the British tell the story of its history, and Pakistan took it one step further and let Arab Muslims define their culture.
No wonder they are so screwed up.
I say “nominal” because Christians are still horribly persecuted, if not officially and with govt. approval. I am thankful that India is not like its Muslim neighbor; don’t get me wrong. Most Americans have become very favorable towards India since that country moved away from socialism, and since Indians have come to live among us as good citizens.
I know. I’ve been to Israel, and have friends and acquaintances there. A significant proportion of the people there are secular. The rest are Jewish, and a minority, Muslims and Christians.
India has religious freedom, and you are right, Christians are persecuted. However, the persecution isn’t one-way. Ever heard of the NLFT? They’re a Christian group which would put the Taliban to shame:
National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT)
The National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) was formed in December 1989 for the purpose of seceding from India in order to create an independent Christian fundamentalist state of Tripura. The group was banned under the Unlawful Activies Prevention Act of 1967.
The headquarters of NLFT is located in the Khagrachari district of Bangladesh, about 40-45 km southeast of Simanapur.
In Tripura a systematic surrender of arms by a faction of NLFT insurgents and NLFT fringe groups is due to the increased security pressure and to infighting within NLFT insurgent ranks. Since 2000 a few hundred militants have surrendered in small groups to the security forces, handing in their weapons. The NLFT leadership engaged in peace talks with Mizoram Chief Zoramthanga in April 2001, however the NLFT has not promised acceptance of any future peace process.
The NLFT has set up a number of camps in Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), in the Sylhet, Maulavi Bazar, Habiganj and Comilla regions. NLFT also has ties with Pakistan’s external intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI).
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/nlft.htm
Have a look at the list of atrocities committed by them:
http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/tripura/terrorist_outfits/NLFT_tl.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2696965.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4190570.stm
Actually Indonesia has the most muslims in the world. I believe India is 2nd.
I don't know much about Israel firsthand, but I do know Messianic Jews in the U.S. I also know that Israel is the home of a sacred site for Bahais, and I have Bahai friends, who I know have suffered horrible persecution at the hands of Islamic Iran.
Please. Give it a rest. You simply sound silly.
I really don’t think this is the forum for debating which religion is the true religion. But if you must use anecdotal evidence, don’t pretend that you are the only one who possesses it. I know quite a few former Christians who converted to Judaism. The head Imam of Italy was once a Roman Catholic. What does all this prove? Not a thing. People change their faiths, sometimes one way and sometimes another.
Religious freedom in India was first abolished by the British, who suppressed the Thuggist cult and outlawed Satee, or the live cremation of one’s favorite wife at one’s funeral, formerly a regular practice of wealthy Hindus. Did they do bad? Not under the circumstances. Nutso, homicidal cults and practices ought to be suppressed. It didn’t spell the end of Hinduism, because it is a viable religion even without the Thugs and Satee practices. Would it spell the end of Islam? One can only hope.
I read this article yesterday morning and I was really impressed by it. Basically, Pakistan hates India because Pakistan is obsessed with extending Islam and sees India and its success as a rebuke to the nutty goals of Pakistan.
The article points out that Pakistan devotes a huge amount of its budget to its military, which has defeated any attempt by political leaders to change the country’s direction.
The British seem to have been very bad at dealing with the problem of Islam in their colonies. In many ways both Israel and India reflect the fact that partitioning an area and handing one part of it over to the Muslim element was not a successful way of dealing with the problem, if only because Muslim societies are incapable of succeeding and also never drop their desire to take over the entirety of the area for their insane, dysfunctional death-cult society.
I guess that's two words. Sue me.
Great article. Thanks for posting.
Pakibabble.
Paki’s are inferior to Indians. Indians know it and Paki’s know it but never the less hate it. Being inferior raises animosity
“People need to read the whole article. Until both India and Pakistan adopt complete religious freedom, there is no hope for either of them.”
From what I’ve read of Islam the act of allowing religious freedom is itself blasphemous. Anyone who suggested it would be automatically subject to death from the “true believer” closest to him. Notice the author’s father was killed by his own bodyguard for defending a Christian accused of blasphemy. Just the un-Islamic act of defending someone of another faith is an automatic death sentence. Not a death sentence carried out by a government, mind you. Islam is the most “empowering” religion. If you consider yourself a true believer, you can enforce the death sentence, or caning or throwing acid, whenever you like. Imagine you’re a poor peasant. As long as you claim to be a true believer, you have all the power of a king. That’s one of Islam’s appeals to the masses; much more enticing than Communism.
Huh? Are Christians supposed to let Nazis rule the world?
Ravi Zacharias, one of the most prominent Evangelical evangelists, was born in India to a nominally Christian family, and his father was the Indian equivalent of Assistant Secretary of State. This is not something you would see in Pakistan, where his father instead might have been beheaded for not being Muslim.
Thats right, I stand corrected. I'm not sure now, but I believe India may actually be dropping down the list soon, possibly to 3rd, at some point....Good for them, lol.
Wrong... millions of Hindus were slaughtered by the Islamic invaders - -
...and after the end of the British Raj, hundreds of thousands of Hindus and Muslims tore each other to pieces with their bare hands, sticks, rocks and anything else they could manage to utilize...
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