To: JPR who wrote (11855 ) 3/5/2002 10:15:50 AM From: JPR Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 12475 Reality This observation has nothing to do with right or wrong, or moral or legal standing in this case, but speaks only of the present day reality in India. The recent reprisal is expected, and a well-known assumption that in India especially in the North, the Hindu majority will not tolerate any violence from the Muslims. The reprisals are a reminder that the police and the army are totally hog-tied in their response to any religious riots. The military and the police are no match to the Hindu rage if unleashed in its full potential. In a developing society as in India with a history of perception of intense suffering from the past Muslim rule, the Hindu majority needs only a slight reason to respond overwhelmingly against the Muslims. The Muslims, as the society exists today in India, have no chance of terrorizing the Hindu majority into submission. The response is always swift and brutal, though it is wrong. The Hindu majority will not wait for justice system to act and resolve the issue, but administers its own justice quickly. Look at America, it lost about 4000 people, it didn't go and butcher the muslims in US. That is the difference between a developed society and a developing society. The Indian electorate will change the administration, if it reacts brutally against Hindus; even worse, there will be widespread riots by the Hindus and a fall of the Govt will be the result, if the police or the military will take an even or disinterested stance in any religious dispute or the Hindus are alienated. This reprisal phenomenon is not seen in Israel or in other developed societies. It is seen in Africa and India. Until the society matures, all citizens feel as one organism in India, and the muslims think and act Indian first, last and always, the muslims have no chance to advance their just causes and no choice but to express their grievances through legal means.