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Saturday, June 11, 2005
The emotions that divide the world
Shekhar Gupta writes in the Indian Express:
[T]wo emotions are driving and dividing the world these days. One is anti-Americanism, the other Islamophobia. Both are rising globally. But a remarkable — and fortunate — combination of factors has created a unique situation in India where both are declining. Despite questions on its invasion of Iraq, Indian public opinion is happy with the growing engagement with America. It is also backing a rapprochement with Pakistan with willingness not seen before. Can India lose that historic opportunity?Actually, it isn't "a remarkable — and fortunate — combination of factors", but an inevitable one, and a consequence of globalisation. Anti-Americanism is an integral part of the rhetoric of the socialist left in India, and Islamophobia is a staple of the religious right. And as I'd mentioned before, both are threatened by the opening up of India — in more than just an economic sense — to the world. An elaboration on this will follow when I get the time to write it.
