US cable
praises India's secular society
Saturday December 18, 2010 05:42:04 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi/London: A
diplomatic cable sent by the US embassy here to Washington says
America can learn a lot from the Indians' tolerance for all
faiths, according to whistleblowing website WikiLeaks.
An April 2006 cable posted in The Guardian newspaper said that in
the Indian context, secularism was synonymous with tolerance for
all faiths, and does not imply life devoid of religion.
It said India enjoyed a "democratic, multi-religious,
multi-cultural, heterogeneous, multi-ethnic society", where all
major world religions were practiced freely.
Though "isolated elements of religious extremism of many
varieties" had occurred in India, "notably among Hindus, Muslims,
and Sikhs", extremists were outnumbered by "secular" moderates, it
said.
The cable says that at a time when many nations "appear to be
losing ground to extremist movements, India's trendlines are
pointing in the right direction, bolstered by strong indigenous
traditions of communal co-habitation, non-violent political
protest, a free press, and a realisation by politicians that
religious hatred is not a vote-getter among the increasingly
savvy, globalised, and prosperous Indian electorate".
It, however, warned that there always remains a risk of isolated
outbreaks of sectarian violence.
This would be so "especially in response to the terrorism" that
has plagued India for decades "or when provoked by regional
politicians for their narrow political purposes".
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