From our first days in Chennai, I've been struck by how safe and peaceful things feel. We've just learned how fleeting that feeling can be.
My parents and two aunts have been visiting us, and last Friday I took them into the Consulate for a quick tour. John took us around the consular section and explained what he does every day, part of which is interviewing visa applicants to try to determine whether they are going to the U.S. with peaceful intentions.
Security was a little tighter than usual because of the anniversary of September 11 and also because of the violence in Libya and Egypt. Nothing to worry about, though. We left the Consulate and did a couple of errands and were headed home when we got a call from John. The Consulate was being evacuated early in the afternoon, because our security team had reports that a few Muslims might march on the mission after Friday prayers.
Here's what things looked like a couple of hours later:
There have been protests of varying degrees of violence for the last few days, and the Consulate has remained closed to the public since Friday. Obviously, we're a bit shell-shocked, but we are safe. The violence has been limited to the area right around the Consulate so far, and our regional security team is doing a good job of keeping us informed about what's going on. The kids' school didn't close until today, and the closure is because of an unrelated national bandh that had been planned for a while.
Despite all the craziness, we've been able to be out and about as long as we avoid the areas right around the Consulate. That's one of the busiest areas of town, though, and the non-Muslim population here (majority Hindu) is not amused. The police are concerned that the upheaval will ignite Hindu/Muslim tensions, which are always simmering just under the surface calm in this part of the world. I spent some time reading comments on local news web sites, and I'd say a good 90 percent of the comments were anti-protesters, with varying degrees of religious intolerance thrown in.
I don't want to get all political, but speaking as someone in the thick of things (though things certainly aren't as thick here as they are in the Middle East), I'll tell you what bugs me:
1. Large groups of people with little education and little understanding of concepts like freedom of speech who are easily influenced by radical leaders. They resort to violence at the slightest provocation and end up proving their critics right. They make things dangerous for our military, our diplomatic force, and frankly for the entire world.
2. People who glory in provoking that first group by producing inflammatory films, cartoons or whatever. What can they possibly hope to prove?
3. People who think that second group has no responsibility at all for this mess. It's not spineless to avoid that kind of provocation; it's wise. There are infinitely better ways to try to make a difference in the world.
4. Armchair diplomats who get irate about real diplomats without the slightest understanding of what actually happens in embassies and consulates around the world.
This situation also gives me a list of things I love and appreciate:
1. The hard, dangerous work done by our military and civilian security forces around the world.
2. People who have the desire to perform the difficult and often dangerous work of diplomacy. They have a vision of the peaceful place the world can be.
3. Friends from all over the world -- Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and some who aren't religious at all -- who have made it a point to reach out to us to express their disappointment in what's happening.
4. All of the random people I've met while running errands and visiting places around Chennai who have made it clear that they disapprove of the protests and particularly of the violence.
Demonstrations continue, and we're not sure when things will settle down. We're praying things die down very soon.
Here's a slideshow from one local paper with images from the most recent demonstrations.
And here's a slideshow from the same paper with images of people preparing for the Hindu festival Ganesha Chaturthi, which is taking place now as well. It's strange to think that these things are happening at the same time in the same place. More proof of India's incredible complexity.
My parents and two aunts have been visiting us, and last Friday I took them into the Consulate for a quick tour. John took us around the consular section and explained what he does every day, part of which is interviewing visa applicants to try to determine whether they are going to the U.S. with peaceful intentions.
Security was a little tighter than usual because of the anniversary of September 11 and also because of the violence in Libya and Egypt. Nothing to worry about, though. We left the Consulate and did a couple of errands and were headed home when we got a call from John. The Consulate was being evacuated early in the afternoon, because our security team had reports that a few Muslims might march on the mission after Friday prayers.
Here's what things looked like a couple of hours later:
 |
| Photo from The Hindu, a local paper |
 |
| Photo from the Associated Press |
There have been protests of varying degrees of violence for the last few days, and the Consulate has remained closed to the public since Friday. Obviously, we're a bit shell-shocked, but we are safe. The violence has been limited to the area right around the Consulate so far, and our regional security team is doing a good job of keeping us informed about what's going on. The kids' school didn't close until today, and the closure is because of an unrelated national bandh that had been planned for a while.
Despite all the craziness, we've been able to be out and about as long as we avoid the areas right around the Consulate. That's one of the busiest areas of town, though, and the non-Muslim population here (majority Hindu) is not amused. The police are concerned that the upheaval will ignite Hindu/Muslim tensions, which are always simmering just under the surface calm in this part of the world. I spent some time reading comments on local news web sites, and I'd say a good 90 percent of the comments were anti-protesters, with varying degrees of religious intolerance thrown in.
I don't want to get all political, but speaking as someone in the thick of things (though things certainly aren't as thick here as they are in the Middle East), I'll tell you what bugs me:
1. Large groups of people with little education and little understanding of concepts like freedom of speech who are easily influenced by radical leaders. They resort to violence at the slightest provocation and end up proving their critics right. They make things dangerous for our military, our diplomatic force, and frankly for the entire world.
2. People who glory in provoking that first group by producing inflammatory films, cartoons or whatever. What can they possibly hope to prove?
3. People who think that second group has no responsibility at all for this mess. It's not spineless to avoid that kind of provocation; it's wise. There are infinitely better ways to try to make a difference in the world.
4. Armchair diplomats who get irate about real diplomats without the slightest understanding of what actually happens in embassies and consulates around the world.
This situation also gives me a list of things I love and appreciate:
1. The hard, dangerous work done by our military and civilian security forces around the world.
2. People who have the desire to perform the difficult and often dangerous work of diplomacy. They have a vision of the peaceful place the world can be.
3. Friends from all over the world -- Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and some who aren't religious at all -- who have made it a point to reach out to us to express their disappointment in what's happening.
4. All of the random people I've met while running errands and visiting places around Chennai who have made it clear that they disapprove of the protests and particularly of the violence.
Demonstrations continue, and we're not sure when things will settle down. We're praying things die down very soon.
Here's a slideshow from one local paper with images from the most recent demonstrations.
And here's a slideshow from the same paper with images of people preparing for the Hindu festival Ganesha Chaturthi, which is taking place now as well. It's strange to think that these things are happening at the same time in the same place. More proof of India's incredible complexity.
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