Dealing with Fundamentalism – what can we do?

In recent weeks, there has been a major public outcry against attacks by the fundamentalist’s – on the women in the pubs of Mangalore, immigrant workers in Mumbai and on the Muslims in Gujarat. Most newspapers were quick to editorialize on the them as a pernicious evil in the body politic – indeed Outlook went so far as to headline its weekly edition as “The Talibanization of Karnataka”. Others, more moderate like Vir Sanghvi, wanted us to learn lessons from Mangalore, suggested asking questions of all the politicians as to who gave them the right to define Indian culture and realizing that underlying many of these attacks were an unease with the emergence of women in the workplace—remember the pubs were not attacked when only men patronized them. In all these depredations, there were three common elements – they were led by a small but vocal minority, these were done in the name of religion or culture, and they became violent in the presence of the media to heighten their cause. Many commentators compared these outbursts to a virus whose causes have varied – anti Muslim in Gujarat, anti women in Mangalore, anti immigrant in Mumbai, anti Christian in Orrisa. But the intelligentsia were at least agreed on one issue, this was a dangerous virus that needed to be stamped out. Unfortunately few had any specific actions to recommend on what we could do.

Since it was a virus *, I wondered if we should perhaps consult those experts who knew how to deal with viruses. Perhaps their scientific knowledge could provide us with some clues for our actions. So I called on my favorite research doctor and asked:

“ How do you tackle a virus that is infecting the body and threatens to kill it if not controlled?”

“First thing, “ she said, “ was to find out if it was a known virus which had been successfully controlled in the past anywhere.” No luck there I thought- Taliban was still proliferating in Pakistan, anti Semitism was still alive and well and women were still sold in slavery in some African nations.

“ Then if the virus is unknown or there has been no known success in the past, the initial step has to be to isolate it, deny it any sustenance and create an environment in which it cannot flourish.” OK, I thought, that we could do. Let us cut off funds to these organizations, make it difficult for them to continue by continued exposure to sunlight, educate the public of their evil and pernicious impact on the system.

“Then you could introduce some general antibiotics into the system.” Passage of laws could help create an environment against perpetuation of these antics. Unlikely that these laws alone would work but it could increase the probability for success in the long term.

“Next comes the experimental phase where you introduce specifically targeted drugs to attack and weaken the virus”. We could launch public interest litigations in different states forcing these organizations to continually defend themselves, identify specific candidates to defeat in elections.

“Sometimes these viruses erupt and they have to be cauterized by harsh and painful means”. When the next pub attack takes place, perhaps we should send a platoon of women constables to control the mobs, or Muslim troops to disperse the attackers in Gujarat or a Bihari national guard brigade to confront the anti immigrant demonstrators in Mumbai. This may be provocative and dangerous but at the very least, the oppressed will not complain of complicity between the oppressors and the protectors.

“Finally, if all these approaches don’t work, you will need to amputate the limb it is living in.”

“ Amputate it?: I ask

“ Yes”, she replied, “ sometimes you have to cut off the limb to save the rest of the body.” OK, I thought, why should I be surprised- is that not exactly what the western troops did in eliminating Nazism in Germany, the US in exterminating the Taliban in Afghanistan and what Israel is attempting to do to Hamas in Palestine.

“ But”, she continued, “ to be successful, you must act quickly and promptly before it spreads.” So what are we waiting for- let us start.

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* A virus (from the Latin virus meaning toxin or poison) is a infectious agent that is unable to grow or reproduce outside a host cell. Viruses spread in many ways. Some viruses can cause life-long infections, and the viruses continue to replicate in the body despite the hosts' defence mechanisms. The life cycle of viruses differs greatly between species but there are six basic stages in the life cycle of viruses: Attachment is a specific binding which determines the host range of a virus. Penetration follows attachment; Uncoating releases the virus. Following the assembly it is eleased by a process that kills the cell by bursting its membrane.

Epidemiology is used to break the chain of infection in populations during outbreaks of viral diseases. But it is important to find the source, or sources, of the outbreak and to identify the virus. Once the virus has been identified, vaccines can sometimes break the chain of transmission. The body's first line of defense against viruses is the innate immune system. Often infected people are isolated from the rest of the community and those that have been exposed to the virus placed in quarantine. The most effective medical approaches to viral diseases so far are vaccinations and antiviral drugs. When vaccines are not available sanitation and disinfections can be effective…. Sometimes you have to eliminate the entire community to control the virus –for eg to control the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in cattle in Britain in 2001, thousands of cattle were slaughtered. – Source Wikepedia