{"id":4008,"date":"2015-10-13T22:25:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/?p=4008"},"modified":"2015-10-13T22:29:25","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T16:59:25","slug":"why-do-hindutva-types-love-saudi-arabia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/why-do-hindutva-types-love-saudi-arabia.html\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do Hindutva Types Compare us to Saudi Arabia?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whenever you point out intolerance\u00a0in India these days, someone will respond\u00a0“Please see the Middle East\/Pakistan etc and look at how they<\/em> do these things. If you did this\u00a0there, you would be beheaded!”<\/p>\n

Whether it’s in response to beef bans, or attacks on freedom of expression, a large number of people will point to Islamic countries<\/a> with great relish to show us just how bad they have it. So according to them, we’re supposed to feel grateful for being in India.\u00a0It’s almost as if we’re saying “Look! We’re better than these other terrible countries!”<\/p>\n

But what kind of standards are you setting for yourself if your only ambition is to simply be better than the worst? It’s as if your feet are trailing in the gutter and you’re thrilled that someone else is sunk up to their waist!<\/p>\n

Being better than the worst is not an achievement!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I think the real reason is the subconscious competition many Hindus in India have with Muslims. For them, being better than Islamic countries is good enough. That’s the only race that matters. Forget about the rest of the world and how far ahead they are. As long as India is a better place than Pakistan, they’re happy!<\/p>\n

It’s time we lost this obsession with Islamic nations and raised our standards a bit. When talking about freedom of expression, we need to compare ourselves to the US and improve ourselves. When talking about renewable energy, look at Germany and France and emulate their policies. If referring to Internet connectivity, try and follow\u00a0South Korea. For public\/private partnerships, keep the “Swedish model” in mind. There are lots of great countries to imitate\u00a0in this world. All of them have something to teach us.<\/p>\n

Islamic countries are nowhere in the picture<\/em>. That is NOT your role model! That is NOT your benchmark! Surely we’re better than that. Surely we have better standards. We cannot look to Saudi Arabia and how they don’t allow women to drive, and feel super happy<\/em> that Indian women can drive! I mean what the hell?<\/p>\n

Wake up guys. Stop comparing us to the Middle East. We can do better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The RSS, VHP, and other hindu organizations are forever comparing India to Islamic nations and saying “See! If you tried this in Saudi Arabia, you would be killed!” But so what? Are our standards so pathetically low that we’re thrilled about being better than one of the most barbaric nations on the planet? Come on…that’s no achievement!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","category-rights-and-freedoms"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy do Hindutva Types Compare us to Saudi Arabia?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Being better than Saudi Arabia is not an achievement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/why-do-hindutva-types-love-saudi-arabia.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why do Hindutva Types Compare us to Saudi Arabia?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Being better than Saudi Arabia is not an achievement.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.bhagwad.com\/blog\/2015\/politics\/why-do-hindutva-types-love-saudi-arabia.html\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Expressions - 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