Comments like this will only stop the moderators from publishing such topics. I know how you feel, i’ve read about the financing also. But there are hundreds of other sites out there for anti-pakistan venting. This one lets us discuss these issues in a dignified manner, many of us being representative of South Asian backgrounds. And there are people out there just looking for a chance to jump at a flame war and race-bashing which destroys the very purpose of this blog. These are relevant topics and can be hotly debated without any name calling. The moderator knows that it has potential of turning into one and frankly there are readers like me and hopefully you who can debate this in an intelligent manner and looking forward to the chance of doing so. Don’t make the moderators stop posting about such flame inducing topics that have the potential for interesting debate.

We musn’t let our frustrations push us to condoning evil. I know that “S. Asian progressives” are hypocrites when it comes to defending the rights of Hindus/Jains etc. Giving a damn implies that we are powerless outside of where it matters (i.e. outside of the blogosphere & graduate seminar series for people we can buy/sell a thousand times over). We have legitimate grievances but I hope you can step away from this flame war, collect yourself and agree that taking it out on innocent folk is EVIL full stop. You are right, India has a right to protect itself using force. But that force has to be applied correctly. Think about the kind of India you want.

Another point I would like to make is that vilifying the vile is altogether unecessary

As far as implosion or explosion of the Pakistani state is concerned, it is a possibility ( and a rather ghastly one at that) which cannot be denied. If some Indian thinks that it is in the India’s interest, then so be it. Why so much of noise? Division of Pakistan has occurred before in 1971. By the current rationale brandied here in SM, even that would be some heinous right wing act.

1. I wish Indian politicians did not wish to be remembered by posterity for their ‘humanism’.

If you want to be remembered as a free spirit – go write poems, craft dense prose, sing a song, blabber about self-determination. But if you have taken up politics, you are operating within the agreed upon ‘nation-states’ way of looking at the world. You have your swearing-in-ceremony, oath of office etc. You cannot come in and then plan for secession.

What happened in Kashmir is deplorable. These policemen should be punished. Period.

comments#7 and #9 are the reasons why I detest nationalism from the bottom of my heart. Seems to rob people of the capacity to acknowledge the humanity of others.

But that doesn’t mean that people who free-ride on institutions created by the most blatant marriage of the state and the ‘free market’ – usurping and planting regimes at their splendid wintry Wednesday whims – can suddenly start sermonizing. I have been to many countries, but nowhere have I seen as much public display of national flags as in this country. Self-interest works most of the time. And self-interest seeking with guile works even better.

Let all Indians and Pakistanis migrate to the US. Then we can all compare notes on Allende, Pinochet, Victor o Jara, the Indian Removal Act, and the Sioux wars over coffee, with Ward Churchill as a discussant.

I do not think nationalism is bad. If a person is confined within a geographic boundary (to go outside he/she has to get a visa), that person interacts/ has to interact with similar others on a daily basis. It is only natural that communities will develop, they will feel for each other. Or is it against ‘choice’? Love for one’s nation need not translate into hatred for others. That’s crucial. And that’s where the Hindutva brigade often falter.

India’s best hope is a stable, democratic, secular Pakistan.

Well said. And stop paying for tanks, fighter jets, and other useless stuff that only fill the coffers of shareholders and employees of these publicly-traded companies. Everything is on the supply side. We should push for a moratorium on defense spending.

right.. extrapolating you can be anti-India without being anti-Indian, anti-Pakistan without being anti-Pakistani, anti-Hinduism without being anti-Hindu and anti-Islam without being anti-Muslim etc..anti-XXX is good where XXX is an ideology without being anti-YYYY where YYYY are followers of ideology XXXX.

In that sense, “Jain man” missed that test by a single ‘i’..

this is the critical distinction, not unlike the one between being anti-Semitic and anti-israel. a few commenters on this site have denied the legitimacy of the state of Israel, given her religious discrimination, and i don’t think they were threatened with a ban.

Political legitimacy is a…well…legitimate issue, especially when you have a non-democratic state that sponsors terror. in our quest to smoke out jingoism, we could ironically end up enabling it, in its most violent form.

No but i will appease myself by ridding us of your comments. Goodbye now.

I didn’t post this but I fully support it. Arguing your point is fine and welcome. Being an intolerant jingo gets you banned here. Those have always been the rules.