bomb blasts was October 1997 – two months before he went on first and last trip to Pakistan.“……
“… Aamir has his own questions:“ madamji”, he asks me,“ If at 18, I became a dreaded mastermind with so many aliases, surely I would have been but a child when I started out?” And also,“ I spent 14 years in jail for allegedly causing five deaths. What about the policemen who shot dead so many Muslims in cold blood in hashimpur? What about Gujarat 2002?” It ends ….
Yet in another article published in the same daily( The Hindu – February 8 2012) Ravinder kaur – Associate professor of Modern South Asian Studies, University of Copenhagen, concludes“ Thus, simulated images of a world with people happy, well – nourished, cheerful and skilled Indians who are ready to work long hours at low wages has its limits. These limits become apparent at a time when India no longer seems to be the only high profile actor engaged in the art of image making. Nations like South Africa and Brazil have been quick to move into the field, followed closely by yet another newly minted group of nations, N11, the termed coined by the imaginative Goldman sach bankers. The idea of‘ India Everywhere’ has instead become a case of“ Everyone Everywhere,” as one Indian anchor covering Davos put it. As the novelty of dazzling image campaigns levels out, India might need to rework its agenda – To focus on actual production of a prosperous and equitable nation, rather than producing images of it.” Again so it ends …..
When it comes to Justice and security and particularly secularism of Indian state, Praveen swami writes in The Hindu – January 21 2012,“ leaving aside the question of whether India’ s religious traditions are in fact tolerant – a subject on which the tens of thousands of victims of communal and caste violence might have interesting opinions – this spurious secularism has served in the main to institutionalize and sharpen communal boundaries, It has also allowed clerics to exercise influence over state policy – insulating themselves from a secularizing world.”
“ The strange thing is this: India’ s people notwithstanding their religiosity, aren’ t the ones pushing the state to guard god’ s cause. India’ s Poor send their children to private schools hoping they will learn languages and sciences, not prayer, Indian Politics remains focused on realworld issues: no party campaigns around seeking more funds for mosque domes or temple elephants.”
While calling for decline of scope of religion in civil society, Mr. Praveen swami asserts“ no sensible person would argue that school curriculum ought to discourage eight – year olds from discovering that tooth fairy does not exist. No sensible person ought to argue, similarly, that some purpose is served by buttressing the faith of adults in djinns, Immaculate Conception, or armies of monkeys engineering trans-oceanic bridges. It is legitimate for individuals to believe that cow-urine might cure their cancer – not for the state to subsidize this life threatening fantasy.” Mr. swami calls for“ Indian secular democrats to assert the case for a better universe: a universe built around citizenship and rights, not