| NEW
DELHI (UCAN) -- Christopher Joseph, deputy editor in the UCAN India office in New
Delhi, wrote this commentary on India's May 11 and 13 nuclear tests, for the May 29 issue
of ASIA FOCUS. The day that India test-fired its nuclear weapons, I spoke with a
cycle rickshaw puller, one of India's more than 480 million illiterate people, about the
country's "great achievement."
"Hamein kya fayada hai (What good is it
for me)?" he asked.
I told him that the government had declared the
successful test a matter of national pride, the opposition parties had welcomed it and the
media were celebrating India's becoming a global power.
"Will onions be cheaper tomorrow?" he
asked.
On my way home, I saw people distributing
sweets to celebrate. The last time I saw such happenings was when the pro-Hindu Bharatiya
Janata party (BJP, Indian people's party) formed a national government in March, and
before that, when India won a cricket match against Pakistan.
All these "successes" seem to make
the proponents of Hindu cultural nationalism ecstatic. But they somehow forget some 600
million Indians who do not have even one meal a day.
[.....]
When the media hail it as a matter of national
pride, I am forced to ask: Whose pride are they speaking about? Of the rickshaw puller? Of
parents of the hundreds of children who die daily without medicine?
What of India's 14 million child workers? Of
the farmers who commit suicide because of crop failure and debt? Of the tribals who die of
hunger every year?
[...]
Answers could come from India's modern
history. Ever since Indian independence in 1947, politically motivated Hindus have used
negative tactics to promote their vilified idea of "one nation and one culture."
Ignorant of true Hindu philosophy and
paupers in Indian spirituality, they systematically cultivated an anti-Muslim feeling. The
beauty of Hinduism was not theirs to offer. What they have in plenty are lies, myths and
fabricated stories against Muslims and other non-Hindus.
[...]
For complete artlicle, please click here
[GHEN Note : While 92% Indians of
all religions supported the nuclear tests, this opinion was expressed]
|
