Would you deny that we exclude minorities from our lives ?

The signs that we are alienating minorities more and more are all around us.. or that we make little effort to embrace them.. same thing, isn’t it ? 

See this article in yesterday’s paper : Raising a Muslim child in India: A recently published book presents an unsettling narrative.

Christians were alienated some years ago by attacks on churches widely reported to be by Hindu right groups. Now it is Muslims, as well as Dalits..

Ofcourse Tribals and Dalits in rural areas have always been badly exploited in our country, constitutional protections and positive discrimination, notwithstanding..

What we forget is that we are ALL minorities in one context or the other .. North Indians in Maharashtra for instance.. People from any part of India in other countries.. 

The oft-heard poem below comes to mind again.. From Wikipedia : "First they came ..." is a poem written by German Lutheran pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984). It is about the cowardice of German intellectuals following the Nazis' rise to power and subsequent purging of their chosen targets, group after group. 

First they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Communist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Ofcourse we hear news of how ultra conservative Muslims don’t let others of their community breathe freely either. But we – the majority community, certainly need to do more to have normal relationships with Muslims.

A friend in Chennai shared that earlier they had a festive spirit around Christmas as around other religious festivals.. but now it is felt to be a crime to bring a small tree home to decorate around Christmas.. and her children dared not wear the red santa caps they had bought at a fair..

I am ashamed we have allowed the Hindu right to do this to our people.

Support to Trump by Indian Americans..

All Indian political parties these days woo support from the Indian diaspora abroad particularly in the US. We are familiar with stories of their fund raisers, and even visits to India to support the political party in Q. In this context, it was interesting to read this article which looked at support of American Indians to Trump during and after the US Elections.

The article is entitled 'WANNABE ARYAN BRIGADE' and says : 'I argue here that the small segments who support Trump, particularly Hindu fundamentalists and nationalists, seek wages from that relationship that will not secure rights for the rest of south Asian America, especially Muslim Americans.'

'..as the post-9/11 racial hysteria has shown us, regardless of one’s respective background, south Asian Americans were/are targeted as “terrorists” and perceived as a “danger” to the country. Organisations like Desis Rising Up and Moving (in New York City) and Raksha (out of Atlanta) stand as examples of groups that work across the ethnic, class, sexual, and religious spectrum to advocate for social justice.'

'In contrast, Hindu fundamentalists and Hindu nationalists present a starkly different political position and alliance. As a result of their financial clout and representational power in government and business, they have monopolised the conversation about south Asia by conflating south Asia, India, and Hindu.'

'With a Hindu fundamentalist party in power in India, the wave of such conservatism and violence washes up easily onto the shores of the United States through transnational connections. The same fundamentalism shaping Indian politics finds a home with the Hindu Indian American community with their anti-Muslim rhetoric.'

'We can glean from this Hindu American support of Trump that it is more about entrenching a solid, powerful, transnational class of Hindu elites, which does nothing to provide support or protection to working-class Hindu Americans who face the wrath of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hysteria.'