It was supposed to be a very happy Thanksgiving. Law School was going well, Barack Obama had won the Presidential Election, the Democrats increased their lead in both Houses of Congress, but alas it was not to be. As you all know by now yesterday around 9:30 AM PST terrorists attack the city of Mumbai in India. As of now 125 people are dead and hundreds more are injured. It is too early to tell what group these terrorists are part of, an unknown Islamic terrorist group took responsibility for the attacks but they are unknown so it is hard to tell if they are telling the truth. CNN and others in the traditional media keep bringing up Al-Qaeda but who knows if this is them. Regardless of whom it is they need to be found and brought to justice. This horrific event is even more personal due to my Indian heritage.
I was born and raised in the United States. My parents moved here from India in their 20s and have me a few years later. Both my parents are from Kashmir and have seen the horrors that have gone on there. Being from Kashmir means having lots of Kashmiri friends. One thing most, not all Kashmiri people seem to agree on is that Muslims are terrorists. Now they might now say this in public here in the US but when they get together it comes up. Once again not all Kashmiris are this way but a lot are a lot more than most people would think. So I was someone who grew up with this ideal that Muslims are bad people and terrorists and what not. As I grew older I soon came to realize that I was wrong. One cannot condemn an entire group of people based on the actions of a few. With over a billion Muslims in the world it is hard to believe that they are all terrorists. I must admit when I first heard about these attacks yesterday my blood was boiling and these old feelings about Muslims started to surface but my conscience soon kicked in and those feelings went away. I remember as a kid not being nice to a kid in my class simply because he was a Muslim, I didn’t tell him that but that was the reason. It’s a mistake I won’t be repeating.
Now as most Kashmiris are my family is of the Brahmin caste. I went to the ceremony to get my Jeneu (sacred thread) and do the pooja (prayers) that is required for it every day. However I was taught that just because I was a Brahmin doesn’t mean that I was better than any other caste. All Hindus were equal, which is what the Gita (Hinduism’s Bible) taught us. So even if someone was of the "untouchable" caste they were not someone to be shunned. As an American I choose to be a Democrat because they represent my values. But as someone of Indian descent I think the BJP is the better Party for India. Now you might say to yourself isn’t that a right wing party or the Republican Party of India? By looking at their core values (strong national defense, small government, and belief in free-market principles) I could see why you would think that. But to me the most important issues is Kashmir and getting it back in Indian hands. Some of you might say does it belong to Pakistan but isn’t that like a part of Montana breaking off and then claiming they want the rest of Montana to join them? That would be silly because Montana is part of the US the same way Kashmir has been a part of India. And please don’t tell me that before the British came there was no entity of India, that is a lie the western world spreads because it is hard for some of them to believe that brown people who were not Christian could have a country and civilization that goes back 5,000 years. Anyways I feel the BJP is India’s best shot to get Kashmir back. I do not seeing the BJP oppressing minority religions when they are in power just as the Republican Party does not oppress minority religions when they are in power.
Now I’m not saying Hindus are perfect we do have our share of extremists and some political parties in India do want to oppress minority religions but the BJP is not one of them.
Anyway that all I got. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.
SensibleDemocrat