Siva:
I found the "double standard" so frustrating that I have sent the following letter to Washington Post, NYT, and ABC News. I am in the process of sending it to Times, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, and NBC.
Any suggestions?
Rational
Dear Editor:
I consider the Washington Post as a source of truth and am very fond of your newspaper.
I am very offended, though, when you report India as "Hindu India." India is secular by constitution as well as practice. Indian law and practice prohibit any political party from seeking votes in an election based on appeals to religion. The Indian Election Commission is very strict and absolutely independent in enforcing the constitution and out-laws the political party that seeks votes by appealing to religion. Indeed, the Election Commission is dreaded by many politicians including Prime Ministerial candidates that have a tendency of over-promising the electorate. The Election Commission monitors such illegal as well as unethical acts by video-taping candidates' speeches and suing the candidates who transgress the letter and the spirit of Indian constitution.
Factually, India is proud to have, as citizens, 120 million Muslims (3rd or 4th largest Muslim population in the world), the largest Bahai population and large populations of Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs. While the majority of Indian population is Hindu, India is not Hindu India. Calling Pakistan as a Muslim state is correct because this country is run by the Islamic law. The media should never brand India as Hindu India. I find your news reports, editorials and opinion articles that refer to India as Hindu India very offensive. This is as offensive as calling the USA as Christian USA.
The historical Hindu-Muslim rivalry stems from the British design to split British India, against the wishes of many including Mahtma Gandhi. The British conspired with Jinnah, who was initially opposed to a division of India, to engineer the partition. After India and Pakistan were created, the US began arming Pakistan to contain India. India did not want to approach the communist Soviets, except for stopping incursions from Pakistan and China that waged four wars against India. Subsequently, the US developed blinkers when China supplied nuclear and missile technology to Pakistan. India never initiated any war with either Pakistan or China. Given the past four wars Pakistan and China waged against India, Indians, comprising one-sixth of the human race, had to develop defense capabilities to thwart future attacks from the neighbors, with a history of aggression against India.
There is a temptation by the Western media to remain oblivious of historical facts and create sensation by branding the South Asian crisis as a rivalry between Hindus and Muslims. This should be avoided as a responsible editorial policy. |
