The statements, opinions, or views in the articles may not necessarily reflect that of the Goan Voice Canada.

The Indian Elections
Letter in New York Times

It is truly the greatest show on Earth, an ode to a diverse and democratic ethos, where 700 million + of humanity vote, providing their small part in directing their ancient civilization into the future. It is no less impressive when done in a neighborhood which includes de-stabilizing and violent Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Lanka and Burma.

It's challenges are immense, more so probably than anywhere else, particularly in development and fending off terrorism -- but considering these challenges and its neighbors, it is even more astounding that the most diverse nation on Earth, with hundreds of languages, all religions and cultures, is not only surviving, but thriving.

The nation where Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism were born, which is the second largest Muslim nation on Earth; where Christianity has existed for 2000 years; where the oldest Jewish synagogues and Jewish communities have resided since the Romans burnt their 2nd temple; where the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government in exile reside; where the Zoroastrians from Persia have thrived since being thrown out of their ancient homeland; where Armenians and Syrians and many others have to come live; where the Paris-based OECD said was the largest economy on Earth 1500 of the last 2000 years, including the 2nd largest only 200 years ago; where 3 Muslim Presidents have been elected, where a Sikh is Prime Minister and the head of the ruling party a Catholic Italian woman, where the President is also a women, succeeding a Muslim President who as a rocket scientist was a hero in the nation; where a booming economy is lifting 40 million out of poverty each year and is expected to have the majority of its population in the middle class, already equal to the entire US population, by 2025; where its optimism and vibrancy is manifested in its movies, arts, economic growth, and voting, despite all the incredible challenges and hardships; where all the great powers are vying for influence, as it itself finds its place in the world.

Where all of this is happening, is India, and as greater than 1/10 of humanity votes.

An inspiration to all the World.
V Mitchell, New York, NY

One For The Road - Aussie Pride, Xenophobia & The Changing World
Anand Soondas | Saturday June 06, 2009
http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/onefortheroad/entry/aussie-pride-xenophobia

Many Indians have been taken aback, shocked and dismayed by the attacks against them in the land they either had made their own or were in the process of doing so. Unknown to them, patriotism had metamorphosed into ultra-nationalism, morphed into racism and then mutated into plain xenophobia.

Old timers living Down Under don’t remember the laid back Australian to be the flag waving, Indian-bashing fiends they have turned into. The change happened in the last decade or so with the acceptance in mainstream political discourse of anti-immigration politicians like Pauline Hanson in a land that largely cared just for its sports and beer. Slowly the race riots began, at pubs, during football matches, musical festivals and Australia Days.

Writing for TIME, Sharon Verghis says, "Jingoistic young whites are turning the Australian flag into a symbol of exclusion". There’s that risk involved in waving flags too much. The chalk line that divides proud nationalism can blur too soon to melt into snarling exclusionism. It started that way in Hitler’s Germany and in Mussolini’s Italy. If it happens in Kevin Rudd’s Australia, it will be unfortunate because he was even learning to speak in Mandarin! And he may just have gone on to do a little talking in Italian, Greek, Arabic and Cantonese, the other languages many in Australia are now heard speaking in.

The mess-up is usually triggered the moment nations and peoples begin to establish their identity around that of the other. Jews are Jews not because they are not Arabs. Hutus are Hutus not because they are not Tutsis. Back home, Marathis are Marathis not because they are not Bhaiyyas.

With an increasing pile of jobseekers and Permanent Residence-crazy outsiders slowly but steadily popping up their black, brown and pale faces in restaurants, buses, classrooms and offices, the young of Australia and not so young nationalists like Hanson are deliberately letting the initial pride in their Australianness degenerate into hatred for the others, the biggest and most conspicuous symbol of which are Indians.

But I see this happening elsewhere too as the natives share space and precious resources with the newcomers, as land diminishes and competition increases. And the ones that come in late from the south gate are always the ones in a hurry to come out first from the north gate. It’s natural human psyche – you don’t mind that odd-looking face sitting next to you in a train that’s half empty. But you will if the train is packed and the only seat available has been occupied by someone who doesn’t come from where you do. The dynamics, equations, power balance changes almost immediately. The veneer of civility, compassion and universal brotherhood drops in tandem.

There are two things to be considered here. The reaction is natural and can be seen as an insidious form of defence mechanism. But what all nations that can still offer livelihood to shifting millions have to remember is that in such a rapidly shrinking world, where human traffic has never been this fast or this smooth, the original demography is bound to alter. There will have to be a way of making room for the door-knockers. And beating the daylights out of them is not one.

Open Letter to Overseas Goan Organizations
Posted on www.goanet.org | By Arwin Mesquita , UAE | June, 16, 2009

Dear Overseas Goans,

Goan Organizations worldwide are involved in many goodwill services to our Community. To each Organization; we need to address a priority on an urgent basis i.e. to mobilise a mass awareness among overseas Goans to protect Goa's Identity; else we will no longer have a place to call home.

The time to act is now! I believe that Overseas Goans have a very important role to play given the fact that minimum 30% of the Goan population is outside Goa either thru migration or work residency. This awareness programme needs to be well planned & co-ordinated to spread the facts; this is very important as many Overseas Goans are unaware of the facts threatening our identity. People will only act if they are aware.

Goans generally seem to have resigned themselves to loosing their Identity.

If this is the case, then we should stop creating Goan organizations/forums or having Goan Conventions as in my view what is the point; if we carry on as we are; soon without a Goa with Goan Identity, all these organizations (will) not be relevant!!

Arwin Mesquita, UAE.

Fight against the Taliban on ideological battlegrounds poses a grave challenge for Pakistan
http://blog.dawn.com:91/dblog/2009/06/12/the-lahore-blast-and-taliban-ideology/
June 6, 2009

The fight against the Taliban on ideological battlegrounds poses a grave challenge, writes Dawn.com’s Huma Yusuf.

Scan newspapers and blogs in recent months and you’ll see that the fight against the Taliban in north-west Pakistan has been framed as a ‘war against terror’ or an ‘information war’ over the ‘hearts and minds’ of residents of the Frontier province. Op-eds have argued that the Pakistan Army is fighting the Taliban to restore territorial integrity, safeguard human rights, ensure good governance and establish the writ of the Pakistani state. Books and articles point out that Taliban foot soldiers are young men, lured to militancy by hefty cash dole-outs in the absence of other job opportunities. Indeed, one aspect of the fight against the Taliban has almost been forgotten in recent months – its ideological underpinnings.

The suicide bombing at the Jamia Naeemia mosque in Lahore on Friday, in which the head cleric Dr Sarfraz Naeemi lost his life, is an urgent reminder that the fight against the Taliban is nothing less than a battle for the future of Islam and how the religion is to be practiced and interpreted in Pakistan.

Events in recent months – such as the fiasco of the passage of the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation and increased focus on the Taliban’s funding sources – have made many Pakistanis cynical about their motives. In some quarters, the militants are viewed as money- and power-hungry warlords, hell-bent on claiming territory and control (and revelling in the wealth that Swat’s emerald mines have to offer). But Friday’s blast confirms that Pakistan’s militants are primarily on a broad ideological mission to impose, consolidate and spread their preferred interpretation of Islam.

Dr. Naeemi was not targeted by suicide bombers because he could offer them cash, territory, new recruits, communications technology or weapons. He was targeted because he opposed the Taliban ideology, consistently and brazenly. Earlier this month, he led a rally in Lahore condemning the Taliban. Members of two dozen parties comprising a Sunni alliance known as Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz gathered behind Dr. Naeemi as he criticised the Taliban, demanded the eradication of militancy and expressed vociferous support for the military operation in Swat.

For opposing the Taliban ideology – and having the clerical clout that makes his opposition significant – Dr. Naeemi was killed by a suicide bomber in his own office on the premises of the Jamia Naeemi mosque.

He isn’t the first cleric who shuns extremist Islamic views to be assassinated, and he won’t be the last. In fact, the practice of targeting influential clerics with contradicting ideas has been flourishing among Afghan Taliban for several years now. Clerics of the Ulema Shura, a body comprising two thousand religious leaders that opposed the Taliban ‘jihad’, were regularly killed by militants in Afghanistan. Their support for Hamid Karzai’s government and a softer interpretation of Islam ‘displeased’ Taliban commanders who would ‘kill them’ to ‘obtain silence’.

For good or for bad, it’s time Pakistanis realised that once the dust settles in the wake of the Rah-e-Rast operation, the war against the Taliban will continue on ideological battlegrounds. And Friday’s blast reaffirms that these are not metaphorical battlegrounds, confined to the column inches of scholarly journals or the lecture halls of universities. These battlegrounds will take the form of mosques and madrassahs. They have already taken the form of Sufi shrines.

Recently, analysts have criticised the fact that politicians and political parties defer to religious councils to support their secular stance against the Taliban. For example, the MQM, despite its secular credentials, convened an ulema convention to speak out against Taliban infiltration. Similarly, the Pakistan government recently created a seven-member Sufi Advisory Council aimed at combating Talibanisation by spreading Sufi teachings instead. These efforts have been maligned because they “add yet another layer of religious governance to a country wracked by religious conflict” and further entangle religion and the state.

No doubt, having the Pakistan government champion and concretise one interpretation of Islam as the ‘correct’ one in an effort to stamp out extremist interpretations is a dangerous idea. But those who genuinely want to see the eradication of the Pakistani Taliban – liberals, moderates, and those who advocate for the separation of the church and state included – cannot now shy away from an ideological battle.

It is increasingly apparent that the struggle for a Pakistan free of militancy is conflated with a struggle over the soul of Islam. For that reason, in addition to military operations that target Taliban methodology (bombings, attacks, killings), the government – and the people of Pakistan – will have to jointly engage in ijtehad to devise a way to quash Taliban ideology.