Incredible India?

The following is an extract from the article 'Taste of India' by Vir Sanghvi, dated 15 Feb '09.

Local councils in the Italian city of Milan in the Lombardy region are considering whether to impose a ban on restaurants serving non-Italian food. In one town in the region, four kebab shops have been denied licenses on the grounds that their cuisine is against the traditions of Italy. This bizarre move appears to have the support of Silvio Berlusconi, the equally bizarre media magnate who is the current Prime Minister of Italy. 

Of course, there are all kinds of subterranean agendas at play here. One of the councillors supporting the ban made the point that the owners of kebab shops tend to be foreigners who work very hard and stay open for long hours. This, he said, posed unfair competition to native Italians. Presumably, hard work is also to be regarded as un-Italian from now on. (Or was it always so?) The real agenda, of course, is one that our friends in the sangh parivar will recognise immediately. Each time I am invited to a serious seminar in Europe, the discussion always veers towards diversity in society. After ten minutes of going around in circles, the Europeans get to the point. How do we in India cope with our Muslims? 

Aren't they all fanatics? Don't they refuse to integrate? Aren't they all too obsessed with insults, real or imagined, to their religion? Could they ever fit into any kind of liberal society where people are not expected to wear headscarves? It is at this stage in the seminar that I begin to look superior and lecture Europeans on India's triumphs in dealing with diversity. We've never had that sort of problem with our Muslims, I say. Of course the Muslim community contains a fair share of fanatics and religious psychopaths. But then, so does the Hindu community. You do not judge religions or communities by their nutcases. 

I note that the Council that has denied licenses to the kebab shops has also opposed the building of any mosques within its precincts, presumably because these are also un-Italian and unable to host little snack bars selling Chianti and pizza con salumi. So the real agenda is not about food at all. It is about making life tough for Muslims. 

Think about that the next time some European politician comes to lecture us on the condition of India's Muslims, the need to solve the Kashmir problem and the importance of religious equality. It's all very easy to preach tolerance when the majority of your people belong to one religion; much more difficult when you face the kinds of problems that India has coped so magnificently with.

I can't recall reading anything as simple, to-the-point, perfect as this when talking about the religious issues that are practically everyday occurrences here. And there's just something about seeing your thoughts so awesomely put into words by someone else.. right down to the use of the word 'nutcases'!

When i read the article, I thought about cutting out the article and keeping it someplace, but knowing myself, I'd probably forget all about it or lose it or my cats would get at it, and so on. This way it's safe and i can make other people read it too.. win-win.. or something like that :)