Khojki & Hindus/ India Gandhi's "minority demonisation"

[rohan.oberoi at CORNELL.EDU]

Malaiya wrote:

>Oberoi wrote:
>
>>Indira Gandhi's well known Hindu mobilisation and minority
>>demonisation campaigns are only one facet of this.
>
>She was not one of my favorite politician (but she was popularly
>elected by people on several occasions). But what "minority
>demonization" Oberoi is talking about?

My remarks referred to Gandhi's various campaigns to paint minority
groups and political parties as anti-national, separatist, etc. and
thereby to strengthen the Hindu majority vote behind her.  Most
notably, her campaign against the Akalis in the late 70's and early
80's.  I'm surprised "Malaiya" doesn't know about this.  I don't have
any references at hand right now, but you could get some information
even from a web search:

http://www.epw.org.in/34-05/edit3.htm
http://www.epw.org.in/34-12/comm2.htm
http://inic.utexas.edu/asnic/sagar/sagar4.1.html
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.indiaserver.com/1999/04/20/stories/05202523.htm+indira+gandhi+akalis&hl=en

>She was in some sense more Hindu that her father (who was a well
>known agnostic), but she married a Zoroastrian and her two sons
>married a Christian and a Sikh girl. How exactly did she "demonize" a
>minority?  And what "Hindu mobilisation"?

Gandhi's demonisation of 1) Muslims in Kashmir and 2) Sikhs in Punjab
in the early 80s, and her attempts to mobilise the Hindu vote, have
been remarked on by many commentators.   I'd suggest some reading.  I
recall a couple of very good commentaries from the period I had saved
from a LEXIS-NEXIS search, but I don't have them now.

Look up famous incidents like the 1982 Asiad "turban ban" in Haryana.

Regards,
Rohan.