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Posted on 02/20/2012 6:34:58 PM PST by James C. Bennett
Indians own about 40 million guns, second only to the U.S. Rising incomes, along with crime and fear of terrorist attacks, have fueled firearms purchases.
Vikramjit Singh stands in the parking lot of a posh club in Chandigarh discussing one of his favorite subjects: guns. He owns 10 or so; he can't remember exactly.
In a Hatfield-versus-McCoy saga that haunts the 25-year-old student, his grandfather was shot to death here in the western state of Punjab and his father imprisoned for a retaliatory murder. Although the two clans signed a truce a few years back, Singh isn't taking any chances.
"Having a gun 24/7 is a necessity," he says.
...
India, the land of Mohandas Gandhi, known for its Hindu belief in the sanctity of life, is anything but gun-shy. Rising incomes have made high-end weapons a new form of bling, and rising crime and memories of Mumbai's 2008 terrorist attack have left Indians eager to be armed and dangerous.
...
Government worker Deep Sidhu sits in his living room feeling the weight of the family's Luger, a German World War II-era pistol, in his hands. Guns are in the blood, he says beneath a painting of a man toting a shotgun.
"This forgiveness-peace idea will only make Pakistanis think we're soft targets," he says.
"All that Gandhi stuff is for tourists," adds his father, Raja K.S. Sidhu. "They should go off to Varanasi, see the holy cows."
...
Tighter regulations also prompted gun owners to found the 3,500-member National Assn. for Gun Rights India in 2010, modeled on America's National Rifle Assn., which lobbies the government to ease restrictions.
"Guns boost an individual's confidence," says a video by the group, titled "Guns For Peace." "Guns are force equalizers."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
One probably eats, shoots, and leaves!
Mrs. AV
That is hilarious. A new take on eating sausages.
‘‘Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.’’
--Mohandas Gandhi
Respecting life means having the means, the ability, and the will to defend it should that become necessary.
“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.”
Gandhi was urging Indians to join British army to fight the Boar War in South Africa. Gandhi himself served in the Boar War as part of the Peace Corps.
Ah, but to what end but the independence of India, by arms if necessary?
While Gandhi was truly pacifist and non-violent, he was neither passive nor stupid. In the day and age when there was no tv no Internet, Gandhi knew how to mobilize Indian masses in a highly organized way. Gandhi knew that British power rested on 2 things... economy and military. He asked Indians to stop paying taxes and stop buying British manufactured good (instead make their own) to hit British economy. He urged Indians to join British army to fight WW1 even though he was against violence.....so that Indians get trained in modern military tactics and learn the use of fire arms. That way the base of military power would shift from the hands of the British over to Indians.
Gandhi did not intend to use the firearms or the Indian military against the British but by end of WW2 there were 3 million highly trained Indian soldiers who have seen combat in Europe, Africa and South East Asia. One word from Gandhi and they could potentially wipe out the British Empire. And 2 years after WW2 Britain decided to give India independence.
mark
Your reading/spin of the Gandhi quote is incorrect and a bit disingenuous. Even when you use the full quote the context is still clear that Gandhi was saying that the arms ban was wrong. He advocated serving in the British military as a way to get the ban withdrawn so that the people could be armed, which was desirable for multiple reasons.
Gandhi was NOT “truly pacifist” - he was merely intelligent enough to understand that due to the unique nature of British culture, pacifist tactics were the way to go in their struggle for independence. If instead of the British Gandhi had been dealing with the Germans/Nazis those tactics would have been suicidal.
Gandhi was not an absolute pacifist, nor a saint. He was a canny, pragmatic political strategist. And, quite an opportunist when necessary. Your assertion that he’d have preferred the extermination of the Indian people to using violence is complete nonsense.
If you think that's nonsense then I would say you have never read about Gandhi...IN HIS OWN WORDS. And like any average American you have your own bias about the British. It is a very common misconception held by Americans that British were somehow more humane then Nazis. A view not at all shared by people who lived under British colonial rule. Gandhi was a pragmatic political strategist ...yes! Opportunist...yes! Did he prefer extermination of the Indian people to using violence?.....absolutely! If you don't know about this piece of fact then you don't understand Gandhi. You have no idea what Gandhi asked Jews to do in face of Nazi extermination. An you have no idea what he asked Hindus to do in face of Muslim ethnic cleansing during partition ...also called “Direct Action”. I think you need to do a lot more reading of Gandhi in his own words before you apply your own spin.
If you think that's nonsense then I would say you have never read about Gandhi...IN HIS OWN WORDS. And like any average American you have your own bias about the British. It is a very common misconception held by Americans that British were somehow more humane then Nazis. A view not at all shared by people who lived under British colonial rule. Gandhi was a pragmatic political strategist ...yes! Opportunist...yes! Did he prefer extermination of the Indian people to using violence?.....absolutely! If you don't know about this piece of fact then you don't understand Gandhi. You have no idea what Gandhi asked Jews to do in face of Nazi extermination. An you have no idea what he asked Hindus to do in face of Muslim ethnic cleansing during partition ...also called “Direct Action”. I think you need to do a lot more reading of Gandhi in his own words before you apply your own spin.
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