REGIME CHANGE!!! MY FAITH IN DEMOCRACY HAS BEEN RESTORED!

[Seismic Anamoly]

Easy Come - Easy Go.



story.news.yahoo.com/news...ndia_dc_66

[HKRockChick]

bunch of turds. I'm really pissed off. My mouth is too full eating all my earlier words <choke>



If Manmohan Singh comes to power that would be cool, but I'd rather he was engaged in the full time business of being finance minister.

[Rev9Volts]

i saw this in the newspaper today, still kind of confused by it all...

Quote:

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A brand-new case of pollster confusion comes in the shape of elections in India last week, where voters threw the government out on its ear — to everybody's gigantic surprise, including the governing Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Pollsters and reporters had anticipated another win for Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, who has brought the benefits of globalization to India's cities and thriving middle class.

Under Mr. Vajpayee, India has become an international player, cooperative partner of the United States in the war against terrorism, and a center for outsourcing for companies looking for high levels of technical education, English language skills, and an inexpensive and virtually inexhaustible labor supply.

Even more surprising perhaps was that Indian voters turned out for Sonia Gandhi, the Catholic, Italian born leader of the Congress Party. That certainly is a first for India. Her late husband, Rajiv Gandhi, elder son of Indira Gandhi, was assassinated during the 1991 election. Mrs. Gandhi did indeed make an unlikely candidate, and was dismissed by her opponents as a "half-bred Jersey cow" and an "Italian housewife."

What she did, however, was connect with the two-thirds of the Indian electorate that lives in villages far away from the booming urban, 21st century Indian economy. As quoted in the Financial Times, V.P. Singh, former prime minister of India, put his finger on the cause of the disconnect.

"We all missed this undercurrent of popular sentiment," he said. "While Mr. Vajpayee was talking about the stock market and foreign exchange reserves and economic growth, Sonia was talking about issues like jobs and electricity. Ironically, it was she who was quietly talking in a language that people could understand."

Mrs. Gandhi has stated that she will not be leading the government herself, but the Congress Party will certainly at first redirect its energies toward a much more inward-looking agenda than has recently been the case. Indians accused Mr. Vajpayee of having become a poodle to the United States; the next government will try to make a distinction — up to a point.

Now, these events give some cause for thought as we move toward a hand-over of political power in Iraq — which remains set for June 30. And when and if there are elections in Iraq, we may find that we don't even particularly like the result. After all the American lives and bloodshed there, that may be a bitter pill to swallow.

But here is where the example of India also gives us hope. The fact is that democratic systems can flourish in multi-ethnic societies, even when circumstances have seemed desperately discouraging. This was certainly the case on the Indian subcontinent where a horrendous civil war broke out after the British withdrew from India and Pakistan after World War II. Likewise, years from now, Iraq may present a case for hope for others.

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[HKRockChick]

Rev, there is a big big difference between Indian and mid-eastern cultures. India has never invaded or been an agressor to any country. She has repeatedly been occupied herself, by the mughuls, greeks, british, you name it. In 1947 the brits drew a line on the map and split india into india and pakistan (yes, pakistan was once india), and people crossing from the one to the other were killed by the thousands. Yet the nature of the people is non-confrontational and peaceful, quite laid back, almost fatalistic (too laid back, sometimes that frustrates me). That's what irritates me about the hindu-muslim riots and how it gets stirred up by politicians in a country that is by nature easy going. This is an ancient civilisation with rule of law and well established legal system, and I know for a fact there is some true spirituality amongst people. I'd say that in the middle east is a bit more "fierce" and emotions are stirred up far far more easily there. There is also the injustices and bullying that have been wreaked by the west that has instilled a deep deep mistrust which is not going to go away by an apology or a farcical war for "liberty".



I hope that Iraq may present a case for others, but I doubt that we or our children will be alive to see it.



Gandhi has refused the prime-ministership - and I dont blame her, she watched a husband and mother-in-law being assassinated and her children wouldnt let her go the same way. There's a very real risk of that.