India and Islam

Britain left the Indian subcontinent united; the creation of Pakistan was a tragedy. Whereas the India-Pakistan confrontation is presented in Hindu versus Islam terms, on the Indian side the issue is more complex. India has elected a Muslim rocket scientist A.P.J. Abdul Kalamas its next president. The move was aimed at healing the wounds from some of the nation's worst Hindu-Muslim bloodshed. Kalam, a popular former academic and ex-civil servant and father of India's missile program, won the largely ceremonial post with 4,152 of the total 4,785 votes cast in a complex electoral college system involving national and state lawmakers. India's coalition government, led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), chose Kalam to try to heal religious rifts and silence criticism of its handling of Hindu-Muslim violence in February and March. The government says more than 1'000 people, mainly Muslims, died in weeks of violence in western Gujarat state after 59 Hindus died on a train torched by a suspected Muslim mob. Some put the toll at more than 2,500. Kalam is the third Muslim among India's 11 presidents.

Ronald Hilton - 7/19/02