How is this different from the Islamic moral police who go about telling women that their ankles are visible and hence they are inappropriately dressed. If Taliban is considered a terrorist outfit, I don't see why organizations like Ram Sene who inflict such fear in our citizenry are not called terrorists. Is it because they are backed by the politicians? Or is it because they have not yet killed anybody? Mutalik was out on bail shortly after his arrest. And he is a suspect in other cases. Where is the logic?
I tried to avoid this comparison in my mail as this opens a can of worms. But to be honest, I don't think Ram Sena or any other outfit in India will ever come close to what the Taliban is. Hinduism is a very personal religion (way of life), it is also very tolerant. By its very nature and the way it has been practiced for millenia doesn't let it be twisted towards the narrow purpose of fundamentalists. The RSS have been around long enough and even they haven't been able to gain significant ground. It won't happen. Mutalik and his ilk are a passing phenomenon. He won't be able to carry this on for too long. And he will quit once he realizes he is not getting any political mileage out of this. I'm ignoring him, and also refuse to change the way I live to acquiesce to his demands. Kiran
