You may recall the nuclear deal that the Bush administration negotiated with India recently. That deal was in considerable jeopardy because of opposition within India. The Indian government is run by a coalition of parties, and a bloc within the ruling coalition (the leftists) were strongly opposed to the deal. They pulled out of the coalition on the same day that the Indian PM decided to go ahead with plans to "operationalize" the deal.
As a consequence, the Indian government was reduced to a minority, and the India President asked the PM to prove his majority in the relevant Parliamentary house on July 22. The government managed to scrape through (275 for, 256 against).. so the nuclear deal survives for another day.
During the debate, there was one speech that impressed me. It was by Omar Abdullah, who is a Member of Parliament from Srinagar.. the capital of Kashmir.
He began by proudly declaring: I am a Muslim and I am an Indian... and I see no distinction between the two.
These are the types of words that can lift a people up. These are the types of words that can win the war on terror.
I have excerpted parts of his speech (along with some commentary) below the fold.
I am a Muslim and I am an Indian....And I see no distinction between the two.
I don't know why should I fear the nuclear deal. It is a deal between two countries which, I hope, will become two equals in the future. The enemies of Indian Muslims are not America or deals like these. The enemies are the same as the enemies of all those who are poor -- poverty, hunger, lack of development and the absence of a voice.
This is said in the context of the opposition claiming that Indian Muslims (who are, on average, worse off than the average Indian) were opposed to the deal.
Today, the Left is telling me that all secular parties should stand with the BJP to bring down this government. The same Left treated me like a political untouchable when I was with the NDA.
I am not a member of the UPA and don't aspire to be one. I made a mistake to be with the NDA, especially after Gujarat riots happened. My conscience had asked me to quit NDA but I didn't. My conscience has still not forgiven me.
The UPA is the secular ruling combine, the NDA is the Hindu nationalist opposition block. The "Left" used to be part of the UPA, and used to be bitterly opposed to the NDA (The Left is secular, the NDA is not). Omar Abdullah used to be a Minister in a previous NDA government, and continued on as Minister even after several thousand Muslims were killed in mass rioting in the state of Gujrat.
Until the day there is even a single Muslim in Kashmir, from Srinagar to Amarnath, the Amarnath yatra will not be allowed to stop
The "Amarnath yatra" is one of the holiest pilgrimages in Hinduism... it is on par with a Muslim's pilgrimage to Mecca (or, at least to Medina). The Amarnath shrine also happens to be in Kashmir, which (as, I am sure you all know) is a Muslim majority state. There was some controversy over this yatra (trip) recently, and Mr Abdullah is standing up for it here.
WOW !!
I have waited for a long time... to hear words like these !!
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