Aftermath of a tragic discussion..

Recently I had a long discussion with a close friend of mine, who is obsessed with repugnance for all Hindu fundamentalist organizations. His obsession has reached to a level where he has started to believe that Muslims in this nation are unsafe. Such a belief has made him the scapegoat of his own feelings which are trying to feast on his gullibility. Now he believes he has converted himself into a Muslim.

Well its not about this friend I am going to talk about in this post; but its about all those gullible people who get affected by what they see first so fast that they are unable to see the other picture despite having eyes. Its quite natural that the movies my friend has watched in the recent past are Godhra Tak, Zakhm etc. I appreciate these movies but am unable to appreciate what my friend perceives from a few parts of these movies.

This post is not about the friend mentioned in the first para, but also about another friend of mine, who only watches movies and documentaries like The plight of Kashmiri Hindus, Islamic Terror etc. And he believes he needs to save Hinduism in order to help India remain a secular country. What an irony!

I would like to make it clear that none of these movies are biased towards any religion and all of them are pure in what they try to portray. Its what these friends of mine have perceived after watching these movies which concerns me, and should be the concern of the youth of today.

Secularism or fundamentalism? If given a choice to select between the two, both of my friends would select the former. I would, too. But despite this selection they forget the fact that secularism is trying to reach new meanings in the politics of today's world. This new meaning is what they are selecting and professing, and this new meaning is what is acting as the vote bank of politicians of today. Its similar to what once Asoka has believed- he needs to kill people and create one country under his own rule to ensure non violence in the future. Violence to ensure non violence? Fundamentalism as the road to secularism?

I think its the time to think.

p.s. I hope none of my friends feel anything bad about this post, and I request that even if you do, please DON'T start a war of words in the comments section.