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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Mar-06
Terrorist bomb blasts in India's holiest city polarize Hindu-Muslim relations

Web Log - March, 2006

Terrorist bomb blasts in India's holiest city polarize Hindu-Muslim relations

Just a few days after President Bush's warm visit to India and his cold visit to Pakistan,

<font size=-2>(Source: time.com)</font>

(Source: time.com)

Muslim terrorists on Tuesday blew up the Sankat Mochan temple, built in 1776, one of Hinduism's holiest shrines. The blasts took place in Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, on a Tuesday, Hinduism's holiest day of the week, when the Temple was packed with people. There were simulataneous blasts at the Varanasi railroad station. In all, more than 20 people were killed.

The country breathed a sigh of relief when the bombings did not trigger another round of Hindu-Muslim rioting, as has occurred in the region frequently in the past, although armed police were standing vigil across the country, especially at temples and public places.

Still, a number of commentators pointed out numerous signs that relations between Hindus and Muslims are becoming increasingly suspicious and hostile.

This was becoming apparent anyway last month when massive Muslim rioting occurred over the Danish cartoon controversy.

But the most remarkable reaction was the political exploitation by India's opposition leader, LK Advani, who belongs to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who blamed Pakistani Muslims for the bombings, saying "People of India will not feel assured until the terrorist infrastructure across the border is fully dismantled." Pakistan quickly rejected the charges, but this is one more sign that relations between India and Pakistan have been deteriorating.

Conflict risk level for next 6-12 months as of: 9-Feb-2006

W. Europe 1 Arab Israeli 3

Russia Caucasus 2 Kashmir 2

China 2 North Korea 2

Financial 3 Bird flu 3

Key: 1=green 1=Low risk 2=yellow 2=Med 3=red 3=High 4=black 4=Active

Generational Dynamics has been predicting for some time that India and Pakistan were headed for certain war over the disputed Kashmir region, but the two countries have maintained friendly relations because of a remarkable détente that Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have engineered over the last few years.

The détente has been getting frostier recently, and this became apparent last week when President Bush received a very friendly reception when he visited India, and was met by PM Singh at the airport, after which the two leaders signed a very significant nuclear cooperation treaty. Indeed, in a world where America is less and less popular, India is the countries where Americans are still the most popular.

When President Bush moved on to Pakistan, he was met at the airport by President Musharraf's daughter. The two leaders were openly friendly, but President Bush "hinted" that Musharraf could be doing more to stop terrorists, and Musharraf openly expressed anger at Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai for giving intelligence information to the media.

Returning now to the Varanasi bombings, the political exploitation by BJP head LK Advani is just one sign of increasing anger between Hindus and Muslims. The new bombings appear to be similar to the coordinated bomb blasts across New Delhi last October.

In an analysis by Hindu opinion writer Vir Sanghvi:

This time around, however, the response has been framed in Hindu-Muslim terms. The BJP has sought to link the Varanasi bombings to what it regards as the Muslim-appeasement policies of both the UPA government at the Centre and the Samajwadi Party ministry in Lucknow. On the night of the bombings, as the blood congealed on the floor of the Sankat Mochan temple, LK Advani went on TV to declare that these blasts could not be delinked from the protests against the Danish cartoons. His successor as BJP president, Rajnath Singh, blamed government policies towards Muslims. ...

So, what has made the difference? ...

My fear is that the increased communalisation of the response to the Varanasi attacks — as compared to the more secular reaction to the Delhi bombs — tells us something about the manner in which many Hindus are beginning to perceive Muslim extremism. ...

[And on the Muslim side,] I am reminded of the US invasion of Afghanistan which removed the odious Taliban regime and pushed bin Laden into hiding. While the rest of India applauded the initiative, the tiresome Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid declared that he was on the side of the Taliban and wanted to help them.

Poll: Negative perception of Islam is increasting <font size=-2>(Source: Washington Post)</font>

Poll: Negative perception of Islam is increasting (Source: Washington Post)

The same kind of thing is happening in America, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

The poll was something of a surprise to me. Right after 9/11, the American view of Muslims was in the cellar, but I thought that Americans had been developing a more positive view of Muslims. Not true. The poll found that 46% of Americans have a negative view of Islam, up from 39% in the moths after 9/11/2001. So even without terrorist acts on American soil, the American view of Muslims continues to degrade. I guess nothing shows this more clearly than the recent widespread outrage to the port terminal takeover by Dubai Port World.

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, this is all to be expected, as we head for a "clash of civilizations" world war. Muslims around the world are forming identity groups with one another, with negative attitudes toward America, Europe and the West. America, Europe and the West (including India) are returning the favor. (10-Mar-06) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Mar-06 Terrorist bomb blasts in India's holiest city polarize Hindu-Muslim relations

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 10-Mar-06
Terrorist bomb blasts in India's holiest city polarize Hindu-Muslim relations