By Dr. Jaipal Singh
Barack Obama Fallacy
The author would personally not like to say much about Barack Obama, or better known as Barack Hussein Obama II, a Democratic Party member and 44th president of the United States for two terms from 2009 to 2017, but his fallacious and farcical statement “if you do not protect the rights of ethnic minorities in India, then there is a strong possibility that India at some point starts pulling apart…” is certainly objectionable, and highly speculative and misplaced, whether he purportedly made it or out of sheer ignorance due to lack of adequate knowledge about India and its complex ethnic diversity despite his long years as president that inter alia included an official visit to India in January 2015 on invitation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend India's 66th Republic Day celebrations as the chief guest among other fixtures. A senior White House administration official later clarified that President Biden has enormous regard for the former president but he is a private citizen and there was no coordination with the White House on his comments on India.
Mr Obama's opportune conduct and public statement reminds this author of an Indian former Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari (July 2007 – August 2017), a former career diplomat having held many coveted posts and later inducted by the Congress Party in politics. Everything was okay with him till he held office as Vice-President but on the day of relinquishing office in 2017, he made a statement that there is an atmosphere of intolerance and insecurity for Muslims in the country. Ever since he has shared multiple platforms with such organizations as the PFI (Popular Front of India, now banned), IAMC, and so on, which under the garb of “civil rights organization” actually run radical Islamic agenda, some even having links with the jihadis and terrorist outfits. In addition to many past controversies, participating in a panel discussion organized by IAMC, he inter alia said that a new and imaginary cultural nationalism is evolving in India that wants to distinguish the basis of faith, give vent to intolerance, insinuate otherness, and promote disquiet and insecurity. While talking of nationalism, people like Hamid Ansari forget or ignore the bitter reality that many Indian Muslim leaders, maulanas and commoners openly hold that for them religion is first and not the nation.
One wonders if the influential people understand these realities and complexities that current Indian leadership has to account for while working for the inclusive growth of the country. Are they aware that numerous mini pockets have already emerged in various parts of India in seven decades after partition and independence where by virtue of being a majority population in the village or the city area, Muslims put strong resistance and objection to other communities, particularly Hindus, to their right to celebrate festivals, worship, or take out traditional ceremonial procession, etc. In two occasions in the recent past, the community people in the state of Tamil Nadu in certain areas had even approached the High Court to formally issue order to put ban on the worship and procession by minority Hindus citing own religious reasons. Few days back, responding to Mr Obama's remarks on the rights of Indian Muslims, Johnnie Moore, former Commissioner of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said that, in his view, the former President Barack Obama should spend his energy complimenting India more than criticizing India. He added that India is the most diverse country in human history; it is not a perfect country, but diversity is its strength. The author would like to add that this ethnic diversity is the product of the ancient Hindu cultural belief of the Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam (Entire world is one family) and, traditionally, India always welcomed persecuted people of different communities from all over world.
Journalist's Query on
Minorities Rights
During the joint press conference, officially only two questions were allowed to the journalists with the stipulation that one question each will be taken by the respective Indian prime minister and US president. Accepting a journalist's right to ask question, the author would not like to delve upon subsequent backlash for the purportedly asked question and reactions in favour and against Sabrina Siddiqui of the WSJ, but would certainly like to add that there are individual journalists, powerful media houses and journalists' associations in India and US, in fact everywhere; hence there was no express need for the White House administration to stand in support of the controversial journalist. The response of the Indian Prime Minister about the alleged discrimination against religious minorities, mainly Muslims, is summarized below. The author feels the same is suffice and it doesn't need further expansion or explanation.
Expressing surprise over some people's thought that the minorities during his regime were being discriminated against, Mr Modi responded, “Democracy is our spirit. Democracy runs in our veins. We live democracy…our government has taken the basic principles of democracy…we have always proved that democracy can deliver. And when I say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, gender. There is absolutely no space for discrimination. Our government runs on the fundamental principles of our Constitution and the basic foundation stone of my government has been ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas' (i.e. together we go for everyone's development, with everyone's trust and efforts).”
Concluding Note
A large number of NGOs and Civil Rights Organizations have been formed with ever increasing numbers in the democratic world to work for the social and political causes as well as human rights and freedom of speech and expression. Some of them are indeed working to achieve these noble causes but the bitter truth is that a large number of these organizations have been infiltrated and even hijacked by the interested and powerful religious institutions, including some state actors promoting a particular ideology, more commonly the left one, and working to promote their overt and covert agenda. In some cases, their agenda is run even by the radical and terrorist organization through proxy with no dearth of greedy people ready to fall for the power and money. When the politicians of certain ilk, so-called liberal-intellectuals and now some journalists also associate with these groups in a symbiotic relationship to promote and work for the mutual benefit and underlying agenda, they become a deadly combination and a force to reckon with. This is what the global ecosystem and their toolkit which is adversely impacting, both nationally and internationally, the developing and democratic countries like India and many others.
The Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's visit to US to muster foreign support for the change of regime at home on the fictitious allegations over the down-sliding of democratic institutions, victimization of minorities, stifling of freedom of expression and rising intolerance as also association with many so-called civil rights groups in US with their suspect credentials, linkages traced out to the radical/terrorist groups, is indeed a serious cause of concern, which may also serve as a bad precedence for future. Among the sixteen so-called civil rights groups, many of them have been visibly engaged in anti-India, anti-Modi and anti-Hindu campaign for the last many years. Many US lawmakers who wrote against Prime Minister Modi have a prior history of anti-India and/or anti-Modi bias for their personal or ideological reasons. Former President Obama has really surprised not only truly secular Indians but even rational thinking Americans. The author would avoid speculation but among a plethora of journalists and multiple crucial subjects of bilateral importance to talk about, the WSJ journalist's pick is indeed a thought-provoking matter. The crux of the matter and bottom-line is that the ongoing onslaught of anti-India anti-Modi ecosystem & toolkit is not likely to stop or slow down until the crucial parliamentary elections are held in 2024.
concluded
(Courtesy: Boloji. Com)
