Impromptu theology lecture with my Sikh Uber driver who started peppering me with questions about the differences between Christian sects. He couldn't understand why a monotheistic religion would opt for a thousand variations on a theme. "But God is One", he'd interject.
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It was a scary time to be growing up as a kid in North India when the Khalistan movement was at its peak. There were bombs going off in buses and trains pretty frequently. I remember once I had to go to Shimla for a summer vacation and I was terrified of train bombs.
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Yeah, politics in India are interesting. I was in Rajasthan after the Parliament attack, and the army mobilized while we were heading west to Jaisalmer (close to the border). Rode in a train full of Indian army officers and soldiers. All very war zone. Felt like World War III.
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India is a poor, developing nation with all that it implies. Yet against all odds it has stuck together as a democracy in one of the most diverse nations on the planet. I am very proud of that. I think it is because Indian culture is inherently accepting of diversity.
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I was astonished at how little crime or violence there was, given the extreme income inequality and mind-blowing ethnic diversity. Any other culture, that place would be a war zone, and forget about democracy. I should go back. Probably my most memorable backpacking trip.
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Since I believe you have some Jewish roots it will interest you to know that during the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh the Head of the Eastern Command was a Jewish General (JFR Jacob).
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Reading about his life now. Interesting. Had no idea. During my trip (with the Jewish gf), we considered heading down to Cochin to see what's left of the tiny Jewish community there. And I made a pilgrimage to Goa to see Francis Xavier's grave. Marvelous history there.
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I think most left after Israel was created. I have run into many Parsees and even ethnic Chinese Indians but never ran across a Jewish Indian.
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In the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks Pakistani terrorists targeted a Synagogue. I didn't even realize India had functioning Synagogues today till that attack. 6 Jews were killed in the attack although the Indian nanny did manage to save the Rabbi's infant son.
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I acknowledged the anti-Sikh riots of 1984. I am not going to relitigate the Khalistan movement. It was a murderous, violent terror campaign in which thousands of innocent civilians were killed. I also acknowledged that the Indian govt put down this movement with brutal means.
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The Khalistan movement didn't start with the 1984 anti-Sikh riots BTW. The person after whom you have named your account was leading it before that and defiled the Golden Temple by occupying it with his band of thugs and turning a holy shrine into a snipers nest.
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Oh shut up. You named your account after a hateful man who killed fellow Sikhs he felt were not following his Taliban version of pure Sikhism and regularly advocated for violence and killing of Punjabi Hindus in his public speeches and rhetoric. All of that happened before 1984.
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You are well following the tenants of the figure on whom your account name is blamed. He assassinated the Sikh priests who did not want him to defile the Golden Temple and turn it into a armageddon factory.
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He killed Sikh sects he thought were impure and exhorted every Sikh to kill 32 Hindus each. This is the kind of evil human being whose name you have adopted.
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