Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Wall Street Journal article: India's Terror Politics (http://cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6709)

oct 9th, 2006

the upa has a phd in the subject of appeasing dangerous groups, in particular mohammedans.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anupam

September 29, 2006

India's Terror Politics

by Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar (http://cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6709)

Mr. Aiyar is a research fellow at the Cato Institute and a columnist for the Times of India.

When Islamic terrorists exploded seven bombs in Mumbai on July 11, there was widespread sympathy for India in the West. Yet that sympathy may soon turn to bewilderment -- or worse -- if Indian political parties continue wooing violent Muslim groups in order to improve their electoral prospects.

Local elections in India are often won or lost on swings of 1% or less, so parties cynically vie for every possible voting bloc, even when they're headed by those facing criminal charges. Take, for instance, the upcoming polls in India's largest state of Uttar Pradesh, where 18.5% of the population is Muslim. Among the candidates for the State Assembly in next February's elections is Abu Salem. He's currently being tried for his role in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts by Muslim militants that killed 257 people. Far from being shunned, Mr. Salem says he's already received private feelers of support from several local parties. One, Apna Dal, which mainly represents the north Indian laboring Kurmi caste, has even gone public in offering to make Mr. Salem its candidate. And Haji Qureshi, a state cabinet minister belonging to the mainstream Samajwadi Party, which relies heavily on Muslim support, was quick to defend Mr. Salem's eligibility on the grounds that he hasn't actually been convicted as yet.

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This article appeared in the Asian Wall Street Journal on September 28, 2006.

1 comment:

iamfordemocracy said...

Perceptive though you are, you have missed the catch in this article. Why does the title have to be "India's terror politics". Assuming 90% people won't read beyond the title, we can safely conclude that the reader will begin by associating India with terror. Whether Iyer has chosen that title to save his skin or job; or whether the editor has chosen that title to please some wealthy India-haters, we will not know, but it is certainly mischievous. By highlighting the title, you aren't doing any favour to India. I request you to remove it and remove this comment after that.