From: Xavier William <varekatx@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Sep 16, 2010 at 9:43 AM
Subject: Kashmir - some questions
To: india-unity@yahoogroups.com, indiathinkersnet@yahoogroups.com, KeralaDD@yahoogroups.co.uk, Mahajanapada@yahoogroups.com
There was a report a few days back that 37% of the Indian population of a little over a billion live below poverty line which means that more than 370M Indians are living BPL. In another report this morning according to the UN there are 925M people who are termed starving in the world and of these 925M, 40% are in India and China. This means 150M are below subsistence levels or starving in India. There is an obvious discrepancy between the two reports. These numbers are after India made long strides in economic progress in recent decades. Before that more than 80% of the Indian population was living on the fringes eking out a hand to mouth subsistence or worse. But even in those days India was buying up huge quantities of arms much of which is deployed against Pakistan in the cause of Kashmir.
With India becoming an economic powerhouse in the recent decades we are buying up arms and ammunition with unmatched frenzy. Thus according to another report this morning, India is second in purchase of arms from the US with Saudi Arabia accounting for the highest volume of arms purchase from the US. According to the report India bought $17100M worth of arms from the US in the period 2006-09 In addition India orders considerable quantity of arms and ammunition from Israel, Russia, France and other traditional sources.
Today's news headlines say that a discussion was held at the highest levels in Delhi on rolling back the special powers given to the armed forces in Kashmir. It seems the defense department and the BJP are deadest against the proposed reduction in the powers. However the internal ministry under Chidambaram is in favor of a cut-back. The report goes on to say that a delegation of Kashmiri Pandits met Chidambaram and asked him not to roll back the special powers of the armed forces in Kashmir.
I looked up "Kashmiri Pandits" in Wikipedia and according to Wiki there are only about 300000 Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu now and the balance live in Delhi and elsewhere. This is the only group that was and is interested in India holding on to Kashmir at all costs. It is to protect this minisculity of 300000 that we deprive 925M of their food and enrich the US and other arms dealers in the process. But this 300000 Pandits are special. For one thing the ruling dynasty in India has their origins in the Pandits. What is more the Pandits being Brahmins of the highest order are more equal than the starving dalit millions. We boast we are a democratic nation. However it is sad that caste considerations come into the equation. With higher castes having very crucial control over government as ministers and as officials the lower castes have always had a raw deal. The BJP boasts that it represents Hindu interests. If it were so they would have won all the elections with hands tied. But their election performance and their stance on Kashmir prove that they and their allies like the Shiv Sena stand for the interests of the upper castes. Without any one to speak on their behalf at the national level except for a few charlatans, the Dalits are forced to join the Naxals and other vicious political streams.
According to me one of the solutions to the Naxal problem which is of far more magnitude than any problem that India faces, lies in finding a humane way out of the Kashmir imbroglio. We have to decide whether the 300000 Pandits are more equal than the 925 starving millions in India. A starving man has neither personal pride nor national pride. All he wants is his next meal and he will kill anyone for that irrespective of whether it is an Indian or a Pakistani that stands in his way to a meal.
--
Xavier William |
--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited-banga.blogspot.com/
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment