Love thy neighbor... Even if he slaps you!

The headline carried on the front page in today's edition of the Times of India just riled me no end. 'European Union raps India' it shrieked. And below the headline were the words, 'Describes Church Attacks as Massacre of Christians'. And may be I got out of the wrong side of the bed today morning, but the words just put me off. The church attacks were a reference to the recent attacks on Churches in Karnataka and Orissa. Of course, the issue has been hotly debated in many forums - on mails, by casual bloggers, by seasoned columnists, in the television and print media. But the point really is not about the attacks. It is about a conglomeration of countries trying to interfere with the sovereignity of a nation. A nation's internal security is it's concern alone. And people living in glass houses certainly shouldn't throw stones. Look at what the French President, Mr. Sarkozy had to say about the issue of Sikhs in France. "We respect their customs and traditions and they are welcome to France. But we have rules regarding the neutrality of civil servants... So while we respect the customs of Sikhs, we expect them to follow the rules of the Republic", he said. This was Mr. Sarkozy's response when asked about the ban on Sikh turbans in government-funded schools. And honestly, I admire him for his clear words on the topic. Unlike the ruling coalition in India, where the leaders hem and haw about calling a spade a spade. For clinging on to their chairs. To preserve their votebank. And do not utter a word about a third party interfering in the nation's internal affairs. To give an analogy, this is like your neighbour giving you sermons on familial harmony because he happened to overhear that argument you had with your wife last night. Not only that, imagine the same neighbor calling you a serial wife-beater! Calling the attacks on the churches a 'massacre' is being exactly like the neighbor. Well, if he (the neighbor) were to do that to me, I'd tell him to shut the *#$** up! But our premier, being the genial Sikh that he is, gives an 'assurance' to the neighbour about 'the constitutional right' of the minorities 'to profess and propagate their respective faiths'!! I can understand the profess part. But propagate?! What the hell does he mean by that?! But then you expect no more from a man who 'professes' the 'love of Indian people' for Mr. Bush, the president of the US of A! What riled me was the fact that this remark was a slap on the administration of the country. And the fact that the administration remained a mute spectator, instead of reminding the EU to keep their noses out of a sovereign nation's affairs.