[Assam] Appeasement

[Chan Mahanta]

I hear the word 'appeasing minorities' in India all the time--in 
Assamnet, in desi papers and internet forums.

A raging controversy is going on in the US  right this moment on GW 
Bush's likening diplomatic contacts and efforts to 'appeasing 
terrorists' which he implied Barrack Obama would do, in a speech in 
Israel. Aside from  it being a blatantly  shameless  form of 
pandering to the Jewish vote in the USA, the tactic employs the 
misuse of words to score political points with poorly informed 
voters, something this administration has employed masterfully to 
take the country into war under false pretenses, among other misdeeds.

And the Indians, who tend to copy whatever the west does and parrot 
whatever their politicians might, particularly those who have 
shamelessly tried to ride the coat-tails of US reaction against 9/11, 
hoping to exploit it to deliver themselves from the Kashmir fallout 
also have been using the word 'appeasement' without ever knowing what 
it MEANS, just like GW Bush has done.


Appeasement means , in this context:

The policy of granting concessions to potential enemies to maintain 
peace. ( from Wikipedia)


So, when our THINKING friends here in assamnet use the word to vent 
their anger against Muslims or their Hinduttwa frustrations, they 
might consider its meaning first,  to see if it is applicable.