Vikram’s Talking Points

I suspect  British Hindus want to ditch the Asian tag to distance themselves from Muslims. There is an effort in the United States to create a common "South Asian" identity for the immigrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. In due time, I expect that identity to fail. Muslims from all South Asian countries will opt for the emerging American Muslim identity and Hindus will identify as Indian-Americans.

Hindus say it’s time to ditch the Asian tag - Britain - Times Online

Lord Parekh, who is a Hindu, writes in the report that the community is politically “invisible” because it makes “few noises when confronted with injustices”. He says that British Hindus, drawn mainly from Asia and East Africa, have quietly concentrated on building their careers, holding families together and nurturing their children’s education.

In three generations, he says, they have risen to senior positions in most of the professions and have a larger middle class than any other ethnic minority except the Jewish community. Yet only two MPs are Hindu.

Although relations with other communities are described as excellent, “those with Muslims leave much to be desired”, the Labour peer says.

"If you are late for work in Mumbai and reach the station just as the train is leaving the platform, don’t despair. You can run up to the packed compartments and find many hands unfolding like petals to pull you on board. And while you will probably have to hang on to the door frame with your fingertips, you are still grateful for the empathy of your fellow passengers, already packed tighter than cattle, their shirts drenched with sweat in the badly ventilated compartment. They know that your boss might yell at you or cut your pay if you miss this train. And at the moment of contact, they do not know if the hand reaching for theirs belongs to a Hindu or a Muslim or a Christian or a Brahmin or an Untouchable. Come on board, they say. We’ll adjust."

-Suketu Mehta

Al Qaeda Signature : outlookindia.com

The expert orchestration of the terrorist strikes in Jammu & Kashmir and Mumbai and the targeting of tourists in J&K and the railway system in Mumbai resulting in the death of close to 150 innocent civilians carry the signature of Al Qaeda, which has been carrying on an anti-India and anti-Hindu campaign since the visit of President Bush to India in March,2006.

Since the visit, Al Qaeda has been talking of a Crusader-Jewish- Hindu conspiracy against Islam. …

While there is no reason to believe that the terrorist strikes of July 11 might have been carried out by the Arab members of Al Qaeda, the inspiration and planning are likely to have come from Al Qaeda. The execution could have been through Al Qaeda’s surrogates in the Lashkar-e-Toiba or other Pakistani members of the Al Qaeda-led International Islamic Front (IIF) or the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) or the followers of Dawood Ibrahim.