Turkey - Two lifestyles was the heading of a article i read in the morning today . Immediately the numerous discussions I have had for the past 1 year with my lab mates one Turkish and one Iranian came flooding back to me .

Both Turkey and Iran are Islamic states but no where else can you find such stark contrasts in how the same religion is being followed by 2 different nations . The turkish lead processions in their country when they found out that there were chances of a fundamentalist becoming the president . People took to streets bcoz they feared that their secularism was being jeopardized ....people resent a woman wearing a scarf bcoz they think it a threat to their ideas of secularism and modernity

And then on the other end stands iran , where the moral police are enforcing women to wear head scarfs bcoz they believe that unless religion is not imposed on ppl they may go wrong . Secularism is unheard of in these areas . Boys cannot talk to girls , alcohol is banned . The government has taken it on themselves to teach the people how to lead lives which are the proper muslim way of life .

Two sides of the same coin you can say , on one hand people are afraid that their govt may become fundamentalist , on the other hand the govt believes that fundamentalism is the only way .

To end on the rite note ..i like this quote which one of the guys in Turkey said

" Some people worry Turkey is in danger, but I think people who are used to modern life will never return to the age of ignorance "

This quote stands true for a lot of fundamentalist groups in India too , who believe that globalization of India is destroying us and our culture .







http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6596933.stm