'Racism exists everywhere'

The rioters did not belong to a single community. They belonged to second-generation immigrant-French youth (irrespective of colour, religion or origins) who are disgruntled with the whole situation.

The justice system is quite embarrassed as to what to do (for example) with a 14-year-old kid caught for arson.

There were similar riots in other parts of Europe too but on a smaller scale. I spoke to a Danish girl who talked of events in her country.

Racism does exist in France -- it exists everywhere. In fact we were called 'Madrasis' and lived through a more virulent form of racism in Delhi where I was a kid. We were subjected to unwelcome remarks on our food habits, our way of living and dressing.

In some ways this was more distressing than what I lived in France as an adult. Again Indians have very little lessons to teach the others -- as in India racism is also institutionalised in the form of the caste system.

When I talk of Marxism, I do not think of the kind that existed in Eastern Europe -- I know what it means because my wife is Polish and I have met a few Soviet dissidents who have been in the gulags (labour camps).

I am thinking of a world where people live in harmony and partake in all the wealth of the world without one community exploiting the other and without any speculation and without wars with people dying to show that their god is stronger than the enemy's god.

Give this a thought.

Professor Narayanaswami Ranganathan