Author: Arindam Banerji
Publication: IndiaCause.com
Date: May 10, 2003
URL: http://www.indiacause.com/NL_030510.htm
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Summary: Everyday in the Bay area,
Indian speakers are feted by large crowds of Indians and Pakistanis, for
claiming how bad India is? How the Hindus are killing all the Muslims?
Association of words like genocide, fascist and fundamentalist with India
are common. Not a word on the Islamic terrorism that kills thousands every
year, not a word on state support for it, not a word on the complete ethnic
cleansing that has happened in the rest of South Asia (3% minorities in
Pakistan, down from 20%) - no, that would offend our Pakistani friends.
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Arindam Banerji, the author of this
article, took the usual route of going from the IITs, through a Ph.D in
the US, to finally working in sundry research labs. Currently, he is a
scientist of some repute, you know the kind whose ideas actually get used
by people, and an entrepreneur, with, he says, not much success. Some day,
he says, he'll go back to India, but for now, as time permits, he is a
writer and political thinker on South Asian geo-political issues.
WHY HAS IT BECOME SO COOL TO HATE
INDIA?
Saturday morning, last week was
a bad one for me - the first thing I read, was an article from Dilip D'Souza.
He pontificated,
"Then what do we say about those
who might plot against the obscenity that blights their land, as Stauffenberg
did, who fight to free India of it? Are they patriots? If so, what if they
welcomed a force from abroad that toppled this hypothetical regime, as
many Iraqis did? Are they still patriots?" - rediff.com
I was stunned. D'Souza a recognized
and very visible journalist, was insinuating and subtly recommending a
foreign invasion of India to get rid of the current government; pretty
much like the US did in Iraq. Let's be sure of one thing- I will die defending
D'Souza's right to criticize, fight legally against, decry or vote out
of office the current Indian government - but, calling for foreign invasion??
Now, that's beyond hate.
All this, when I was just beginning
to get over the fact that after the Indo-Pakistani thaw had been announced,
Praful Bidwai gleefully announced that India "must give up its inalienable
right to Kashmir". No word on strategic goals for India, nothing about
not rewarding terrorism.
When did this happen? Leading journalists,
openly publishing anti-India, hate-India propaganda in Indian dailies,
and not a word is said - not a single editorial, no public criticism, nothing?
When did it become so cool to hate India?
Before we sink into the rhetoric
of calling me a scoundrel for bringing up the patriotism issue, let us
look at what's really happening.
Blame India first
Immediately, after the Nadimarg
massacre of 24 Indians, including women and children, Farzana Versey wrote
a scathing article, criticizing the Kashmiri Pandits, blaming them for
leaving the valley - essentially the they-asked-for-it point-of-view. Times
of India editorials and Kuldeep Nayar came out and blamed the Government
of India. Mind you, not a word - not one word, criticizing either the Pakistani
generals or the LeT. Akhila Raman blamed India directly and of course,
a columnist in Greater Kashmir blamed the Pandits for it all.
All these people, subtly yet completely
undermined the case the GOI was trying to build in international media
on the persistent and genocidal nature of Pakistani terrorism. In essence,
these Indians equated the victims with the perpetrators, and made the case
on behalf of Pakistan. After all, nobody in international media would cast
any doubt on "Indian" writers, when they place the blame on GOI and the
Pandits for such a heinous massacre.
The jury had declared their verdict
- the ever-so erudite Hafeez Sayeed who postulated "Killing Hindus is the
way to move forward" came out looking lily-white, while 4-year old Suraj,
who died in his mother's arms was found guilty - he was an Indian, you
see.
Remember, the Chitisingpora incident
where 35 Sikhs were killed - some Indian journalists even those writing
in international publications, declared that the GOI was to blame. It took
an American, Bobby Bearak of NYTimes to chase the whole thing down and
visit the home of one of the perpetrators in Pakistan.
No matter what happens and how it
happens, it is India that is at fault, Indians are responsible. Journalists
tell me that they must remain balanced. That word again?
The whole balance thing - never
allow any good news on India
This balance thing, happens not
just about the Hindu-Muslim issue or India-Pakistan issues. Let me give
you another example from a different area - Mr. Vishal Thapar's article
on the LCA/Tejas in the Hindustan Times. As you may have heard about the
LCA was renamed to Tejas, yesterday. Here is how it was projected in one
of the most widely distributed national newspapers in India:
"For those ecstatic at the projection
of the Tejas' , this all means that the 'Made in India' tag as a symbol
of indigenous capability, a sobering thought. Its engine is American, its
avionics a combination of French, Israeli and Swedish components, and its
carbon composite wings Italian.
Given that the three basic components
of an aircraft are the engine, airframe and avionics, 'swadeshi' pride
gets a dose of reality."
In spite, of the fact, that a simple
internet search, would have given Mr. Thapar access to all possible details
on LCA - he either chose not to do so or prefers to remain balanced. So,
let us take each of his facts one by one.
What he did not tell you was the
GE engine is a test engine, to be replaced soon by an India's Kaveri. Another
fact, the most advanced fourth generation fighter called Grippen, also
uses the same GE engine, but nobody calls the Swedish Grippen non- indigenous.
It also turns out that the new fifth generation aircraft from the US (F/A22)
uses Israeli avionics. Truth is, that apart from a few measly displays,
almost everything else in the LCA's avionics- Mission Computers, Radar,
Display Processors, Avionics LRU's, databus associated control equipment
-is Indian[Nitin, BRF]. The composite wing technology was co-developed
with the Italians - in fact, some of the associated software was sold by
INDIA to Airbus.
No mention of the most-advanced
Fly-by-Wire technology in a fourth-generation aircraft, no mention of the
sale to Airbus - simply the balanced approach to hide India's accomplishments.
Remember, the Americans cherish
their flights to the moon, in spite of the fact, that many of the leading
scientists were Nazi Germany's rocket scientists. They cherish their jet
aircraft which was helped tremendously by Nazi German designs of jet aircraft.
So, why was it so important for
us to sound balanced - was it important enough to hide the facts and true
achievements? Note - not a single clarification issued by the Hindustan
Times either. It is fair to point out however, that the Hindu carried a
much more positive article on LCA on the next day.
Of course, not to be left behind
the ever so-prolific India hater, Praful Bidwai writes:
"India . . . ranked 54th of 55
countries in an IT survey by International Data Corp. Its score is 871,
compared with China's 915, or the US's 5041. (The highest is Sweden's 5062,
the lowest Pakistan's 719.) The penetration of Indian households by PCs
is under one-fifth the world average. Today, it stands at three machines
per 1000 people."
Probably true - but, no mention
of the fact that the Indians are designing some of the most advanced routers
in the world, they are at the fore-front of telematics technology and developed
the first products on web services, which has now become a $50B technology.
So, why the lack of balance on this issue? Would not serve our purpose
to make India look good, would it, now.
Protest and you get called Names
Everybody has heard about the Bangladeshi
infiltration into India. Most people do not know that large parts of the
border areas are now run, owned and practically ruled by Bangladeshis.
I have nothing against Bangladeshis - but, when they come to my country,
ethnically cleanse Indians out of large areas, happily help the ISI and
demand sovereignty for areas that they are squatting on, I have a problem.
However, the fact that I have said the above, labels me a Hindu Fascist
and supremacist. Never mind, that in the last 17 years in the US, I've
never visited a temple - never, mind that I've probably spent more time
in a catholic church in my life-time than a Hindu temple - I'm still a
fascist.
The recommendations from the Farooquis,
Pamelas and Bidwais is very clear - let the flow of Bangladeshis continue.
Imply they, that there is nothing wrong in the steady arabization of most
of the border areas and even secession is fine - whatever happens, we must
not listen to the fascists. I'm sorry this is not OK with me - I'm concerned
about the great Indian culture - the one that includes Syrian Christians,
Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Muslims, as much as it does Hindus. Unfortunately,
we become fascists for trying to stem the tide of Bangladeshi Taliban from
entering our country, the same people who for long had an "enemy property
act", essentially treating minorities as enemies.
Not only, will many news dailies
prevent the publication of anything that is strongly pro-India or happens
to protest anti-India activities; but, the name calling against the pro-India
crowd definitely gets published. All of you must have heard about the slanderous
IDRF campaign, but how many of you got to read the excellent de-bunking
done by the Friends of India - very, very few. This seems to happen more
and more frequently these days -
· protest against subsuming
India within groups and academic departments that call themselves South
Asian (not Indian) - you're a fanatic
· protest against Romila
Thapar's writings - you're a Hindu supremacist
· protest against stopping
charity to innocent Indian kids through false and unproven allegations
- you're RSS, VHP or worse
Openly anti-India activities
Kamal Mitra Chenoy, a professor
from JNU, actually testified before the USCIRF on Gujarat, with the sole
purpose of having sanctions declared on India. While, what happened in
Gujarat was vile and reprehensible, how does it make sense to help other
countries declare sanctions on India? Who does it hurt most? As a Friend
of India member wrote,
"In other words, here was an Indian
zealously participating in a charade meant to impose hardship on his own
country, collaborating with a wing of a government that his own comrades
are given to routinely denouncing as "imperialist" and hegemonist."
Canvassing for anti-India acts are
the norm now. The Indian Muslim Council, in the US, very rightfully concerned
about what happened in Gujarat, is openly courting and canvassing congressmen
and congressional staffers on "Hindu fanaticism". Very thoughtful, but
how do we expect the US Congressmen to help? Take action against India!!
Mind you - I'm happy to join their
protests in front of the Indian embassy, if they spend an equal amount
of time, protesting the killing of twice as many Indians (as killed in
Gujarat) every year by Islamic terrorists. Or, will they please tell their
US legislators, that India actually has minorities, but minorities have
for the most part vanished in the rest of South Asia (Bangladesh has gone
from 33% to 7%). Will they please tell, the Americans that from negligible
numbers, Andamans now have 60% Christians? Why not present the whole picture
- who does it help not to do so?
Everyday in the Bay area, Indian
speakers are feted by large crowds of Indians and Pakistanis, for claiming
how bad India is? How the Hindus are killing all the Muslims? Association
of words like genocide, fascist and fundamentalist with India are common.
Not a word on the Islamic terrorism that kills thousands every year, not
a word on state support for it, not a word on the complete ethnic cleansing
that has happened in the rest of South Asia (3% minorities in Pakistan,
down from 20%) - no, that would offend our Pakistani friends.
Our own, Arundhati Roy, who feels
compelled to go all over the world and announce that "India is an artificial
state", recently along with some other anti-India stalwarts attended a
meeting to remember Marxist-Leninist separatist Naxals. Mind you, these
are the same Naxals who recommend partitioning the country and happily
extort and kill innocent Indian citizens. The Bidwais, Pandeys and Roys
had to honor them, but, would they ever visit the families of soldiers
who died at Kargill? Nope, and nobody called them on it - no protests,
no editorial scolding.
Our politicians outdo all this.
While Congress and the left encourage anti-India elements to settle in
India, the right has proposed sundry localized sun-of-the-soil theories.
All this just to win a few votes. Who does this hurt? You, me and India.
I'm not suggesting that all Indian politicians become honest - that would
be a stupid expectation. But, where is our press? Where are the national
scolds, which are handed out so readily when we dare to kill a terrorist
or two, without reading them their rights? Never surprises me that, more
people jumped up to help the professor who facilitated the Parliament attack;
than ever did to help the Sikh widows of the 1984 riots.
National Lack of Confidence
I'm keenly aware of the impact of
history on national psyche and attitudes - let's face it, at least in the
recent centuries, we Indians have been raped, massacred and indoctrinated
with gay abandon. But, history in itself is not an acceptable excuse -
where are our leaders? Leadership means breaking the mold - not just our
politicians, but our managing editors and our news outlet owners - they
just standby, they don't feel the need to direct their ire.
I have come to believe that our
educational institutions have a role here. Passing through the IITs, nobody
ingrained in me or my friends, the arrogance to believe that we could do
intellectual work better than the best in the world. Result - we all end
up believing, like Mr. Vishal Thapar above, that Indians cannot do the
kinds of things that the Anglo-Saxons can - how could they? Other educational
institutions are worse - try holding a pro-India, anti-Pakistan program
in JNU - chances are you'll get beaten up. Writes Vrin Parker, an American
who has spent time in India,
"After having been forced to learn
a lot misinformation about India in American schools I became fed up .
I began my own research and soon discovered that it was the Indians themselves
. who are at the root of all the nonsense taught about Hindus in the West."
Acceptance as Normal
It isn't what D'Souza said that
has surprised me - it is that this has become accepted behavior in India.
Nobody protests, when Arundhati makes up stories that make the Gujarat
incidents much worse than they actually were (and they were bad enough),
nobody blinks when Bidwais of the world spew their anti-India venom day
in and day out, nobody cries foul when anti-India groups are feted by prominent/respected
Indians within India and nobody editorializes when Indians go around canvassing
foreign governments to take actions against India and Indians.
When did this happen? When did it
become so acceptable to hate-India openly?
Please do not get me wrong - we
Indians have our faults. Our caste-system, our riots, corruption, fundamentalism,
most of our politicians, extreme poverty and our apathy to all this. Protest
against all this, change it, elect someone else, expose it, and write about
it - that's all patriotic. But asking for foreign invasion, supporting
secessionists, canvassing for US sanctions, inviting arabized Bangladeshis
into India, absolving Pakistani terrorism or minimizing Hindu deaths is
NOT - it's anti-India.
Remember, that there is a lot of
good - ask the Tibetians who have taken refuge in India, ask the Chakma
Buddhists, ask the Bangladeshi Hindus, ask the Pakistani Hindus, ask the
Afghans who're being treated and taught by Indians, ask the CEOs of the
top five technology corporations in the world and ask the Bangladeshis
who remember. Let's not hide all this or minimize it, but let's not be
satisfied with it, either.
