Martha Nussbaum has written another article which is much less unprofessional or controversial than her previous one. I had written a rebuttal to her earlier article, and continue to pooh-pooh her fears for India’s democracy.

Which intellectual would not condemn religious riots, be their perpetrators Muslim or Hindu, Catholic or Protestant? So Martha chides the “Hindu right” for their “extremism” and wishes to expose them to her part of the world, America. She informs us that there is a lacuna in the US public about matters relating to India, and expresses her intent to enlighten them of the “religious terror” caused by the “Hindu right” that is allegedly threatening India’s fledgling democracy.

Martha has evidently studied the Gujarat riots, though it seems that she has conveniently forgotten the Godhra train burning episode. While her previous article was more of a canvassing for the Congress party, this one appears more balanced at the outset. However, further down, she says that to her friends who were concerned about the riots in India (2002) and who have quite rightly asked, “Are the Muslims stirring up trouble again?”, she, surprisingly, replied in the negative! It would seem that the burning of 58 Hindus in Godhra is a-nothing to her.

I agree that the Muslim=terrorist stereotyping as well as the anti-Muslim propaganda need to be tackled by the intellectuals, but I cannot see how “Intelligent action from the world community” can prevent the likes of Godhra or Gujarat riots.

Here, let me reassure Martha that India’s democracy, though young, is incredibly mature. Indian women need not shy away from the highest post, for gender does not come in the way of the democracy practiced by Indians, as is evident from history. The same also applies to foreign-born people, as seen in last year’s elections.

Also, only last year, due to economic reasons, has the BJP been voted out of power and Congress ushered in by a massive rural vote. These and many other incidents go on to indicate the resilience and maturity of the democracy and the electoral process of India.

The riots in Gujarat, though very unfortunate, occurred only in a tiny pocket in this huge country. They were not reflected elsewhere, and in my opinion, the two are unrelated. Indian democracy is, therefore, pretty safe!

Stories of Hindus celebrating Id and Muslims celebrating Hindu festivals abound in the Indian press. It would do much good if the religous flux in India were presented in a more balanced way to the naive American public.

Lastly, attaining a solution for the Ayodhya controversy would go a long way in improving the Hindu-Muslim tensions in the entire sub-continent. However, with religious tensions serving the petty politics of both the BJP and the Congress, this does not seem imminent.

Read my rebuttal to the first article; the second part by Martha Nussbaum.