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Dear friends,
Welcome to IndiaUnite.org where together we stand against injustice and fight for human rights.
On November 26th, 2008, Mumbai suffered from a series of terrorist attacks, and as I write this today, the city is still in peril.
IndiaUnite.org is a community, an advocacy group, a space for discussions and a forum to continue our fight against terrorism.
Whatever your religion, background, ethnicity, culture, whoever you are, let your voice be heard.
United we stand, divided we fall.
Shruti Ganguly
India Unite co-founder
1 comment:
Nikhil, while you indeed seem to genuinely care about these issues, i'm afraid i don't agree with the analysis. First off, you absolutely must blame this administration. The system does indeed have problems, but if the country elects a party led by a woman without even a college education who places incompetent people in the home ministry (american intel analyst's words) and beyond, this is what happens. What's worse, there is no accountability as 7 attacks later, this man has not been removed. And now, the leaders of his party now cut him out of important meetings (so he can neither do the job to begin with and will not be provided with the information needed to succeed).
Second, this is an ideology of hate that confronts the country. India did nothing to the leader of LeT, but he spews more hate than any victim of riots ever could. I agree that the politics of division hurts the country and must be contained, but that does not mean we have to blame the victim or ignore the nature of the threat India faces. It is not just kashmir they are after, it is not mere grievances that drive them, it is the destruction of secular India and her pluralistic society that they want. Everyone needs to recognize that.
Third, it is not enough to selectively pick cases where human rights have been violated. After all, we can't argue that because of what happened to Kashmiri pandits that they too would be justified in picking up arms, which happened pre-babri. What about the victims of these attacks? Would their children be justified in doing the same? Human rights must be protected without rationalizing the crimes that were committed.
Lastly, POTA absolutely has flaws, but the country needs some legal infrastructure that lays a process and a system in place to allow security forces to effectively prevent these attacks and to operate most efficiently when they do take place. We can't argue against POTA simply because it is fashionable, but must suggest improvements or alternatives. In short, you can't give your police officers lathis and expect them to take on rpgs. There has to be an intelligent and fair system in place that allows for speedy trials and the necessary human intelligence to combat this. The UN recently faulted India for lax anti-terror laws.
Human rights is the mainstay of liberal democracy and must indeed be safeguarded (and equal protection must be provided to all regardless of background). However, we must also understand the true nature of the threat and vote in elected officials with a record of good governance and not mere scions of dynasties because of their media image. That is ultimately what is harming India (sycophancy and dynasty which breed incompetence). Speeches make us feel good, but action and good governance are true indicators of the strong political will and vision needed to defeat this menance, without violating our faith in democracy and pluralism and belief in human rights.
So in conclusion, please continue the very important work of advocating human rights and registering to vote. But also, please do consider these points as well.
Regards
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