The land of God or the land that God forgot?
India advertises itself as a 'secular democracy' but the religious divide runs deep. It can be seen in the top layers of the Government as well as at the grass-roots level.
The Indian public is simply the most gullible and idiotic when it comes to differentiating between information and opinion. We are very quick to react and the reactions can be extreme.
These reactions are fueled by lack of resources. With a population of 1 billion+ and growing no wonder the incidents of violence are increasing in frequency and magnitude.
More and more people are fighting for the same set of resources. Some people get lucky and those who don't get more and more frustrated. This was the classical scenario which Hitler used to spread propaganda against the Jews.
I think we Indians need to learn how to differentiate between opinion and information. Greater access to facts and figures rather than opinion and hearsay will empower the people.
Another thing that we need to do is to eliminate the middle layer which brings the political message to the masses. This means getting rid of the hands and legs of the political machinery which is used during critical periods.
Remove one politician and you will find hundred others waiting to take their place. Remove one middle man or make political associations a liability then there will be no way that people will be manipulated into doing things (like starting riots).
