Luring Muslim Vote

wajahat #27

Maybe this is what it means to belong to a prophetic religion

I have made this request before. Talk what you want of your own barbaric religion but please DO NOT associate Christianity with it. There is nothing in common with a religion of oppression, bloodshed and murder and one of love for mankind. Christians do not think like your sort. Thank you.

Dear Chowk readers,

First of all let me thank you for the kind attention and the overwhelming response, you have paid to my article on Chowk on British politics.
Some comments deserves replying. One suggests that the British Pakistani/Kashmiri community is lagging far behind several other ethnic communities in education, earning, health, etc. They should focus on these issues instead of wasting their energies on Iraq.
I quite agree with that suggestion. The Pakistani/Kashmiri community does need to focus on more local issues to raise their profile as an ethnic community in the UK.
No matter what is our view, the fact remains that the single biggest vote-puller in the June 10 elections will be Iraq war - not only for the Muslim voters.
Another interactor suggested that my article sounds like a pamphlet for the Labour Party.
The truth is far from it. I don’t take sides when writing. In my article, I have simply tried to lay out the facts before the readers.
It is a fact that the Pakistani/Kashmiri vote can affect the result of around 40 seats in the general elections.
The political parties are fully aware of this fact and are trying to lure the Pakistani/Kashmiri voters.
Parties other than Labour are harping on the Iraq theme to win over the Muslim, Pakistani/Kashmiri voters who have traditionally been Labour votes.
Now Labour is the only party which has ever had any Muslim MPs. For the next general elections, up to now, it has selected three candidates from safe seats, which means come next elections, we may see five Pakistani/Kashmiri MPs - all from Labour.
None of the other parties, despite all their efforts to win over the Pakistani/Kashmiri community, has selected any Pakistani/Kashmiri candidate from a safe seat, which in a way, reflects the hollowness of their overtures.

#31 by nikki7777

FOB fresh of the boat immigrant
ABCD american born confused desi
ABCDEFG ABCD emmigrated from gujrat
PIGS poor indian grad student

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If anyone wants to know why British Pakistanis are going to Israel to blow themselves up, going to Karachi to help decapitate Jewish journalists, and plot to explode vans loaded with explosives in the heart of London, they need look no further than Wajahats posts....

Wajahat


Hello.

~~I wouldnt expect you to understand arjun as religion nurtured in the isolation of a single country is ...well... your religion~~

Please explain and elucidate your thesis on what is lacking in the indigenous religions of India and the principles and masses of philosophical and spiritual insights that are wanting due to the ``isolation`` of India despite India having absorbed every single religious and spiritual philosophy and movement at some point in its history becoming a most fertile home for all metaphysical and spiritual quests and having scholars pandits saints gurus maulvis and priests that have attained the highest expressions and investigations of religious truths and have not only maintained that great intellectual/spiritual ferment within its boundaries but has given birth to religions/philosophies that have spread outside its borders and regenerated itself through constant and historical corrective religious movements and reformations including the secular rejection of inimical social practice in the modern world.

Please make reference to all the religions of India starting with Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zorastrianism, Indian Islam, Indian Christianity, Animistic Belief Systems.

Let us know your thought, oh son of Edward Said and WEB Dubois whose heart bleeds for the third world.

(One thing I have noticed in the discourse of Islamists like you is how closely your descriptions and perceptions of non western non Islamic cultures and religions is similar and imitative of ``Orientalist`` discourse as examined by Edward Said, the pomposity of those who come out with phrases like: wouldnt expect you to understand arjun as religion nurtured in the isolation of a single country is ...well... your religion)

Hurry up and answer and dont trip over your tongue and use big phrases you dont understand like you usually do this time.

#15 arjun m

Maybe this is what it means to belong to a prophetic religion, I wouldnt expect you to understand arjun as religion nurtured in the isolation of a single country is ...well... your religion. Maybe you should tell this to your brothers in gujarat who felt so much for their brothers in Godra.

Sheryar

~~Around most campuses in US I visited as a grad student, I was told ``never ever work with a chinese or indian``. What does that tell you?~~

I dont know Sheryar, what does it tell us? Please elucidate. Next we can do a survey about general attitudes towards Pakistanis and Muslims on American campuses and you will no doubt the truth of them? What will that tell you?

~Many of my American friends who are fond of indian food and clothing have very poor opinions about Indian people in general. ~

Right. So they are pompous bigots like you. Congratulations for hanging out with pompous white bigots.

~~Do you think that Indians would ever be so gracious to Pakistanis? Never. Why? Because Indians are too arrogant and malicious by nature.~~

You are a pompous and malicious bigot making generalisations yourself. What a lapdog, sucking on the ass cheeks of white men for the affirmation of his prejudices! Congratulations! ;-)

~~The only religious minority that enjoys favor in India is christians. Otherwise, its basically a hindu land~~

Nobody does Christians any favours in India, they just get on with their lives.

Please come out with some more pomposities so I can laugh at you, thanks.

;-)

The Labour Party says the same things to Hindus Sikhs Jews and Buddhists every month when they get the party grandees up to fish for the ethnic minority vote. Muslims in England need to worry less about jihad and examine why they are falling behind every other group in the UK in terms of educational achievement and employment and focus on that and fix it.

#6 by shehryar on May 23, 2004 7:50pm PT

[I am from Indian origin, but I prefer to tell people that I am Canadian.]

In any case, we have absolutely no use for frikking idiots like you. I would have been flabbergasted if you, with your views, ever called yourself an Indian.

#19 by shehryar

``And I will reiterate that many muslims from India, that I know of, have expressed great disappointment after the gujrat incident. ``

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Can you also tell us how did the hindu students sentiment contrasted in comparison?

Your discomfort with oily Poor Indian Graduate Student (PIGS) is perfectly normal. Their life seems to be firmly supported by four pillars- Deaprtment, Apartment Advisor and Budwiser.

Many other indians and x-indians (east-african brats, bombay cats, and dilli ke billies included) also share your feelings, so you are not alone. I have a warning however, this generally is the first step which later blooms into an obsessive love and sometime even marriage with one of that species.

So best of luck and take care, else you will lead a troubled life of uncontrolled obsesssion mixed with deep self-loathing.

niranjan # 22

Nobody `must be` proud of anything. What we are proud of boils down to our viewpoint.

#17

Does he cut-and-paste or goes through the trouble of retyping the whole thing?

#19...you must be proud of your indian origins...no one is proud of any communal disturbance or violence but you have to understand that these are like meteors that play out fast...the majority immediately step in and quell any disturbance from getting out of hand...a nation of incredible diversity such as india will be subjected to various tremors and quakes in its` social fabric.it is inevitable.what gains india the admiration of the world is that despite the enormous differences in its` national make-up they have united under one flag and given all its` citizens an opportunity to excel...witness india`s president and prime minister from minority communities...its` present cabinet overwhelmingly southern and western indian, presiding over the destinies of all indians..the previous govt. had more ministers from the northern states but they did as much for the rest of india as would the pressent cabinet..india is a mini united nations and just like the UN has its ugly side at times india does too..i live in the US and i`m thrilled by the respect india has among the people here..india as a brand name is recognized all over the world and indians are welcome in all nations either for pleasure or for commerce...you have to give credit where credit is due....the indians hindu,muslim, christian ,sikh,buddhist,parsi,jain or jew have done something right....

The UK is a piddling little place and one day in the not too hereafter all non-white people especially asians are going to get their asses thrown out and there`s no point denying this fact...look what happened in germany,bosnia,turkey and various other piddling little nations where space is a problem....it could happen in the US too, except that there`s a little more space right now...why can`t muslims who emigrate to the Uk just try to get along and assimilate within the culture that prevails there , fer crissakes....i figure if i`m an anglo and i hear a federal minister pandering to a particular community then i will definitely resent such happenings and resent the community that demands such privileges...because of ye guys the rest of the immigrant community is going to get thrown out too..be muslim , be british, be proud..but leave it at that....

# 9: I think so too. Most Pakistanis I see are incapable of handling themselves gracefully. But I must not generalize :-)

# 8: My ancesters migrated from Rajasthan to Tanzania and to Canada eventually.

You are correct that indians hang out with each other on campuses, but those are usually FOBs (manily due to cultural similarities).

And I will reiterate that many muslims from India, that I know of, have expressed great disappointment after the gujrat incident. Do not overestimate yourself, you just appear foolish that way.