Sometimes i always wonder if Government bashing in India is almost all too easy - calling cops chors, traffic cops as corrupt, tax officials, ministers etc. - but somehow with the number of people and the amount of strain they put on the governmental resources - the fact that its functioning without a state of anarchy is itself a big deal -
and after all, elected officials are just like glorified common people - mostly powerless to change how the governmental's systems function. They just get into their portfolios after election, fit right into the existing system - the corruption and all.
All violence happens when some1 feels insecure/threatened - the easiest way to promote tolerance / reduce extremism is to spread economic prosperty, gradually professionalize the governmental machinery.
Staying on in the same theme - Thomas Friedman says - In the context of Pakistan's reaction to the whole thing -
Quote:
On Feb. 6, 2006, three Pakistanis died in Peshawar and Lahore during violent street protests against Danish cartoons that had satirized the Prophet Muhammad. More such mass protests followed weeks later. When Pakistanis and other Muslims are willing to take to the streets, even suffer death, to protest an insulting cartoon published in Denmark, is it fair to ask: Who in the Muslim world, who in Pakistan, is ready to take to the streets to protest the mass murders of real people, not cartoon characters, right next door in Mumbai?
......
We know from the Danish cartoons affair that Pakistanis and other Muslims know how to mobilize quickly to express their heartfelt feelings, not just as individuals, but as a powerful collective. That is what is needed here.
Unquote
One cannot decribe this concept any better. The full articles is of course on his blog here
I do regular business with Pakistanis - they speak hindi - and most of them are no different from the typical North Indian person - maybe the hindi is too correct - but im sure they too, as they often tell me when we meet in European fairs - hope that all the internal violence and animosity between India / Pakistan can end and they can do productive work - they agree that their political system is corrupt - and there are constant security hassles in Pakistan.
I guess for pakistan its a bit of an internal grappling to get through - getting rid of the corruption / weak government (in a way, Musharraf was kind of sucessful) - and when that gets strong - they have the muscle to give the radical/madrassa types a firm shove or two -
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