[WikiEN-l] India problems

[Ray Saintonge]

Fred Bauder wrote:

>Libertarian wrote:
>
>In particular, I've been having problems regarding contributions I've
>made on India. I've tried to stick to verifiable facts and present
>things in an encyclopedic manner, but there seem to be 3 members
>who keep watch on what I'm posting and revert it to their version
>which carries nothing but what can be classified as propaganda of
>the Communist Party of India(Marxist). These people add allegations
>by this party as a part of an article.
>
>I'm all ready to jump in and give those folks hell, but from looking at the
>article, "India" I find no record of any user Libertarian or of any
>widespread reversions. Could you give more detail with some references to
>specific articles, edits, information, etc?
>
Our new friend [[User:LibertarianAnarchist]] seems to have more on his 
mind than Communism.  The polarized POV's in India over the Hindu/Muslim 
divide can be as vicious and blind as any of our classical POV debates. 
 The communism/capitalism divide is fairly mild by comparison.  One of 
the problem articles is [[ 2002 Gujarat violence 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_violence> ]].

Our friends contributions included

> In February 2002 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002> , 58 train 
> passengers, including Hindus returning from a pilgrimage to Ayodhya, 
> were burnt alive by a mob of fundamentalist Muslims who surrounded the 
> train near Godhra 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Godhra&action=edit> , 
> Gujarat <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat> and set it alight after 
> dousing it in petrol.
>
> As news of this gruesome incident spread across the state of Gujarat, 
> scores of people were killed in communal rioting that took place in 
> the days that followed. Gujarat <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat> .
>
> The official toll from the riots is pegged at around 800, while 
> India's leftist and Marxist groups claim over 2000 people died, a 
> figure considered extravagant by others. These groups further claim 
> that the incident was a one-sided "pogrom" against Muslims that was 
> unleashed by Hindus.
>
> Although precise statistics of the violence are unavailable and 
> subject to much controversy, it is now known that a significant number 
> of Muslims as well as Hindus were killed in the rioting that followed 
> the carnage at Godhra.
>
This was replaced by

> In February and March 2002 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002> , about 
> 58 people (apparently mostly Hindus) died in a train fire in Godhra 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Godhra&action=edit> , 
> Gujarat <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat> .
>
> Following this, many people were killed in incidents in the following 
> days and weeks throughout Gujarat 
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gujarat> .
>
Expressions such "burnt alive by a mob", "gruesome incident" and 
"one-sided pogrom" can inflame passions as well as railway cars.

The "communist" angle on this relates to the appointment of [[V. R. 
Krishna Iyer]] to investigate the incident.  Iyer is a retired justice 
of the Supreme Court of India, who was previously a cabinet minister in 
the 1957 Communist Party state government in Kerala state.  By all 
appearances he has considerable personal credibility that extends beyond 
any political affiliation that he may have had.  The strongest 
complaints come from those who felt that his report did not support 
their POV.  The reference to his communism appears to be a largely 
irrelevent straw man argument.

The politics of India is a subject with which most of us are 
particularly unfamiliar.  At least in North America we tend not to hear 
very much about what happens there despite the fact that India is the 
second most populous country in the world.  It is difficult for most of 
us to know whether or not anything about it is neutrally written.  For 
the article in question, the adjectives employed are the most revealing.

Ec