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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Sep-2010
8-Sep-10 News -- India political uproar over 'saffron terror'

Web Log - September, 2010

8-Sep-10 News -- India political uproar over 'saffron terror'

Abbas rejects Netanyahu's 'historic compromise' on Jerusalem

India has political uproar over 'saffron terror' or 'Hindutva violence'

There was a suicide bombing in Malegaon in India on September 29, 2008, and Muslim Jihadists were immediately suspected. However, Indians were shocked to learn that evidence pointed to a widespread terror network, a Hindu Hindutva group that seeks revenge against Muslims. Even worse, this terrorist group has links to India's major opposition party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). (See "'Hindutva' terrorist violence against Muslims shocks Indians.")

The issue never achieved much prominence in India at the time, but it has now. On August 25, India's Home Minister (like America's Secretary of State), speaking to a group of police chiefs in New Delhi, said that a new phenomenon of "saffron terrorism," led by radical Hindu groups, was responsible for well-planned terror attacks and inciting communal violence.

Home Minister P Chidambaram is quoted by New Delhi Television as saying,

"There is no let up in the attempts to radicalise young men and women in India. There has been a recent uncovered phenomenon of saffron terrorism that has been implicated in many bomb blasts in the past. My advice to you is that we must remain ever vigilant and continue to build, at both Central and state level, our capacities in counter-terrorism."

He linked saffron terrorism, or Hindutva violence, to several terrorist attacks in the last three years, including the Malegaon suicide bombing mentioned above.

The phrase "saffron terrorism" has caused a political outcry, because saffron is the color associated with Hinduism, Hindu nationalism, Hindu valor, and with Hindu heroes. Thus, some interpreted the remark as an attack against all Hindus, and against Hinduism itself. The phrase was also interpreted as striking at the opposition political party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has historically been associated with Hindu nationalism. (See the 2008 article referenced above for the interesting history of Hindutva.) However, Chidambaram subsequently issued a clarification saying that his remark was not targeting the BJP.

The issue has gotten quite heated. On Tuesday, BJP chief Rajnath Singh struck back, according to the Hindustan Times:

"Home Minister Chidambaram has committed a serious mistake. Nationalist forces would raise this issue, and launch an agitation if [Prime Minister Manmohan Singh] does not seek an apology from him and direct him to withdraw his words,

Saffron is not just a word related to BJP but is a symbol of peace and happiness. Saffron is also one of the colours in the national flag and represents the Indian ethos of sacrifice and devotion. ...

We never use a term like Islamic terror because the scourge can not be linked with a particular set of social, moral, ethnic and religious values."

From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, a resurgence of Hindu violence is to be expected. Hindus and Muslims fought a massively genocidal war following Partition (the 1947 partitioning of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan), and Generational Dynamics predicts that that war will be fought in the years to come.

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Adriana Alves

Adriana Alves

You can't make this stuff up. The new Tory MP Mike Weatherley, who just took office a few weeks ago, was shocked to learn that his wife, Adriana Alves, is a prostitute working in three brothels, charging Ł70 for a good time. According to Weatherley, he and his wife separated in February. Mirror (UK)

In an interview Saturday for a Palestinian newspaper, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's talk about an "historic compromise" and said there would be no compromises on core issues such as Jerusalem and borders. He also reiterated his rejection of Netanyahu's demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Jerusalem Post

Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, is leading the effort to block any extension of Israel's settlement freeze, set to expire on September 26. Lieberman is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition, but he's in a right-wing political party, the Yisrael Beiteinu ("Israel is our home") political party, which mostly represents immigrants from Russia and the Soviet Union. "A promise is a promise," he said. "We will not agree to any extension. I promise that if there's a proposal that we don't accept, it will not pass." A compromise on the settlement freeze must be reached by September 26 if the Mideast peace talks are to continue. Associated Press

After the international uproar over the Gaza flotilla incident several months ago, Israel eased controls on the movement, import and export of goods in the Palestinian Terroritories. The result is that the economies of both the West Bank and Gaza have been booming. Media Line

In northwest Pakistan, a remote-controlled bomb blast inside a police colony killed at least 20 people on Tuesday evening, mostly relatives of policemen. Dawn

Speculation abounds that North Korea's ailing president, Kim Jong-il, is going to use the Workers' Party conference this month to announce that he will anoint his son, Kim Jong-un, to be his successor. An official statement said that the meeting would "mark a meaningful chapter in the history of our party," and that, "The people's hearts awaiting the revolutionary, festive occasion heat up due to their joy and happiness." Associated Press

A state in eastern Germany is so worried about neo-Nazis trying to take over kindergartens that it has ordered teachers to vow allegiance to democracy. But that won't tackle the underlying problem -- the racist youths who assaulted immigrants in the 1990s are now parents intent on rearing little skinheads. Spiegel

The Army is warning its personnel about viewing or downloading documents posted on Wikileaks, since the documents may be classified, and downloading them could "potentially expose Army networks to sensitive data or create situations in which data is improperly safeguarded." Fierce Government IT

In a fraud plot, four women invented a man, and then killed him off. Talking Points Memo

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 8-Sep-10 News -- India political uproar over 'saffron terror' thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (8-Sep-2010) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Sep-2010 8-Sep-10 News -- India political uproar over 'saffron terror'

India has political uproar over 'saffron terror' or 'Hindutva violence'

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 8-Sep-2010
8-Sep-10 News -- India political uproar over 'saffron terror'