विलक्षण राजनीतिक विचारधारा
तरुण विजय
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Tarun Vijay' new book -मेरी आस्था भारत
25th-December-2010
Tarun Vijay’s book on Atal Bihari Vajpayee- “My Faith is India”.
To have one, please contact on Email, i.e. tarun@tarunvijay.org
Media Clippings
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The Times Of India
25 December 2010
The man who turns foes into friends
Tarun Vijay
In times of hate and distrust flowing free in the Indian skies, Atal Bihari Vajpayee emerges as an icon of faith and harmony. He enters his 87th year today. Years of struggle, poetry, an all-encompassing politics, nationalism’s best foot forward — he stands out the tallest among all we see today.
He was my first editor. The paper I edited for almost two decades was shaped by his editorials and guidance. In 1948, when a young Atal Bihari was a pracharak, a dedicated full-time worker of the RSS, his mentor, Bhaurao Deoras, gave him the responsibility to edit Panchjanaya with Gyanendra Saxena. Atal Bihari wrote his best editorials and poems, while Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya supervised the whole affair and strengthened his ideological moorings. The first headline of the issue that was edited by Atal Bihari was “Jammu Kashmir se samjhauta nahin hone denge (we will not allow any compromise on Jammu & Kashmir)".
I was the 13th editor in that line. The golden jubilee of Panchjanya saw its first founding editor as the Prime Minister of India and naturally he was requested to head the committee that was formed under the patronage of Rajju Bhayya and Swami Satyamitranandji. He agreed and all our programmes were held at Panchvati, including the awards ceremonies. He was our first reader too, of all issues.
He would appreciate or severely criticize anything he liked or disliked. I remember, he was very happy to see our special issues on Kashmir and then once we did an annual number on the reformist Hindu resurgence expressed through Swminarayan, Bharat Mata Mandirs, allowing all castes into the sanctum sanctorum, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders like Ashok Singhal visiting Kashi’s Dom Raja (the head of the clan helping cremate dead bodies at cremation grounds, considered the "lowest" in the caste hierarchy) and sharing food with him. Atalji said that so much was happening among the Hindus in terms of walking in sync with the changing times, yet so less was reported; hence the special number must be widely circulated. He felt bad when on an issue of Swadeshi, we depicted Mother India being disrobed like Draupadi. The call came from the Prime Minister’s office. "Vijayji", as he would call me, "yeh kya chhap diya hai? Hum mar gayen hain kya? Bharat Mata ka aisa vidroop chitran kyon? (What have you published? Have we all died that Mother India is depicted in such a humiliating manner?)" And he hung up. That was a lesson we will never forget. He also forewarned us against launching personal attacks on any opposition leader, including Sonia Gandhi. Attack policies and programmes, but getting personal and petty should be avoided in media and politics. That was his advice.
He was against rhetorical noises and didn’t quite like demands for more slogans on Hindu pride in comparison with what Pakistan and Bangladesh do to minorities. His famous lines, in an interview with me, that any resurgence, born out of reaction, pushes you backwards, created a storm. He said: "Do say ‘Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain’" but add in the same breath, "Garv se kaho hum Bharatiya hain."
Atal Bihari Vajpayee still believes in using moderation, and not animosity, towards anyone and used a respectable language even for his worst political opponents. He was a master of using the art of understatement while expressing anger or displeasure. I remember when Maruti was being set up, he severely criticized Indira Gandhi and in his famous speech in Parliament, his one-liner "Beta car banata hai, ma bekaar banati hai (while the son makes cars, the mother creates unemployment)" became a hit. He fought against emergency’s draconian regime, suffered jail, and yet never hesitated to praise her on her achievement in the 1971 war. He is strong-willed. He never compromises. The way he did Pokharan II and withstood the pressures of western countries’ sanctions, his success in inspiring scientists to make an indigenous supercomputer, his leadership to have a grand Kargil victory and also, the first time in history, accorded due honours to martyrs and decorated soldiers show his mettle and grit. The highways connecting India’s nook and corner remain his best signature on India’s development radar. His trust in his colleagues, a legendary friendship with Advani, Narshimha Rao, Chandra Shekhar, is a story for another chapter. With victory in the Gujarat and Maharashtra state elections in March 1995, during the BJP session in Mumbai in November 1995, it was the then BJP President LK Advani who declared that Vajpayee would be the Prime Minister of India if the BJP won the next parliamentary elections in May 1996. That was prophetic indeed.
It is his charisma that created a sense of trust and bondage with all the neighbouring countries. His tenures as foreign minister and Prime Minister are remembered in the neighbourhood as the best and most amicable ones. If Pervez Musharraf had not aborted the peace process by removing Nawaz Sharif at pistol point, many believed Atal Bihari Vajpayee would have solved the Kashmir issue too.
This year while we were in Srinagar to observe Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s martyrdom day, the first time in the last 53 years, top Kashmiri leaders of all walks and ideologies, shared one common line: "If the government in Delhi had followed Atalji’s path, Kashmir won't have boiled over to this extent." His name, charisma and words, and his impromptu speech at Srinagar, still weave magic in the valley.
Kind and affectionate, he would bend the rules for a just cause. In 1995, when Parliament was stalled by the opposition, he was approached by the president of the National Federation of the Blind, Mr Roongta, to let the House run for a day so that the Disabilities Act could be passed. Mr Roongta reminisces, at that time Sushma Swaraj was also sitting in the committee room, and Atalji, without thinking twice told Sushmaji, let's have the House run just for this act and come back. The Disabilities Act was passed, benefiting millions of disabled citizens with Atalji’s support, and was also implemented in the best way in BJP-ruled states, especially in Rajasthan, under Vasundhara Raje’s governance.
He loved children. Ritwik, my son, got special attention and since he needed a care that would help him come up with confidence, he saw to it that he got admission to the best school specially designed for him.
He did have his share of brickbats. His best interviews by me, collected and published in a pictorial book being released today in Parliament House, contain his bleeding heart's pains and anguish, expressed in this line: "Apno ke vighnon ne ghera (I am hurt more by those who said they were mine)." But he emerged taller after each such instance. He never speaks a single line in criticism of even those who attack him ruthlessly.
That is the real "ajatshatru" (one who is without any enemies). Atalji, the man who turns foes into friends, still has that miracle in his name. May he live a hundred and more springs. Happy birthday, Atalji.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
जनसत्ता
12/December/2010
आरती करते हुए
तरुण विजय
The Times Of India
10/December/2010
Wen knows the address
Tarun Vijay
आरती करते हुए
तरुण विजय
The Times Of India
10/December/2010
Wen knows the address
Tarun Vijay
He smiled in the winter of Sichuan coolly and said: “So Mr Tarun Vijay, you say your democracy is better than what you call our autocracy?” I said, with a tinge of pride: “Yes, Mr Zhao.” “But how?” he asked. “Most of your parties are nothing but family fiefs. You may begin with the central one — nothing can happen in the Congress without the approval of one leader, that is, Sonia Gandhi, and no one can rise above a certain level in party hierarchy except her children. Right?” I said yes. “Then all other parties, except the Communists and the BJP, are run the same way. They are known by the names of their owners rather by their political beliefs. Political corruption in India is as bad as or perhaps worse than what we have in China. At least our people take bribes and deliver; your people take bribes and ditch. Our corrupt are honest, but you have dishonest even in corruption.”
I wanted to protest saying “no, no, we also deliver after taking money”, but something stopped me midway, and I kept listening to him.
He said that in China they have a single-party system but they have transparent elections and their inner-party forums are strong. They too can boast of leaders from common strata of society — no prince, no son or daughter rising high just because they happen to be the children of some leader. “And look at our collective will power — we have emerged,” he finally declared.
Yes, I did present a great picture of my nation, fast growth rate, and emphasized that the happiness index is not necessarily tagged to material prosperity. Half empty bellies too can struggle for greater freedom, feel happier than the rich, below-poverty-line people too have a yearning for democracy, they feel better with the power to shout and oust bad governments than the overfed rich in China without the power to vote for a party they like, and read about all the good and ugly happenings without a big party boss watching. And mind you, friend, a professor he was, in spite of the Chinese claims of great economic growth, your rural disparities may burst the bubble someday suddenly. Our growth is inclusive and powered by people’s entrepreneurship, not dependent on the state entirely. Yours is exclusive and driven by state control. It’s a big difference that will prove decisive soon.
Having said that I knew, in spite of the freedom we claim, we are yet to arrive. If there is no press censorship, there are pressures from Radias and political moneybags. The media is coloured. If the judiciary delivers, it also produces corrupt judges. And the most hated icons of our public life are politicians and compromising civil servants. Even in a basic thing like cleanliness, we are far behind. Not only ministries but the offices inside Parliament and its annexe need a review about their hygiene and cleanliness. The corridors stink, they are full of openly stocked old record files, and empty teapots and used meals thalis. Like a house deserted by the real owner but occupied by temporary careless tenants, our nation faces a situation where it’s difficult to say who owns India.
The Chinese are rising. Their confidence often enveloped in a touch of arrogance is immense. When we go on a China tour to attend their conferences and seminars, we are genuinely impressed. Clean, well-maintained roads, sparklingly modern airports, decently functioning railway stations and above all courteous behaviour. Their cities show that the nation is on the move. Their students show great acumen to learn newer subjects and their academics establish specialized universities in remote locations too, like more than a dozen music universities working in the realm of various musical streams.
We boast of our democratic prowess and show a well-deserved pride in it. But we can't explain why in spite of having a great democratic institution and having produced development-oriented leaders like Narendra Modi and Nitish Kumar and justifiably showcasing a young dynamic leadership emerging, which shows concern about the teeming millions, why are we still trapped in the imbroglios of 2G spectrum scandal, CWG scams, continue to put our feet backwards on Kashmir traitors, Maoists and NE insurgents. Why can't our leaders belonging to different parties and ideologies come together at least on the issues of national development and fight for a common national agenda? Why the ruling elite and the struggling opposition behave as sworn enemies of each other while each one claims to be serving the nation better than the other? The goals seem to be common — to serve the motherland. The paths and programmes may differ but do we have to have differences even in the goals of ridding India of corruption and terrorism? Crumbling edifices of leaders in every area of public service, media, industry, judiciary, administration, defence, policing, and of course politics show how vulnerable we have become in front of our sworn enemies. Even a Tata, in whom every Indian had great pride, is seen to be standing next to a Radia, vindicating uncomfortable questions put up in my last column.
So when Wen Jiabao arrives next week, what do we expect from this visit?
After Obama’s and Sarkozy’s, Wen's India tour beginning December 15 is a significant one. Despite our major differences on the border issue, despite China strengthening Pakistan's terror power and its increased activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, stapled visas to Indians from Kashmir, and refusal to receive our general commanding the northern frontiers, India has chosen the path of moving in areas of less differences or convergences while continuing to emphasize its known position on other issues of disagreement.
Chinese can't have a better situation than this. It doesn't harm its interests. It has already had what it wanted — Aksai Chin — and an overpowering military power reinforced by a vibrant and growing economy that makes Obama bend more than American ever wanted him to. China continues to claim Arunachal's 90,000 sq km and a cosy, military-based cooperation with Islamabad that results in more attacks on India putting our security under an increased threat. Pakistan's nukes are a Chinese gift of “brotherhood and a friendship”, which is described as “deeper than the sea and higher than the skies”. There are other known and oft-repeated areas of concern for India, like encirclement by China from Gwadar to Koko and its increased presence in Sri Lanka and Maldives.
So far the Chinese have simply ignored our protests and concerns and our noises have been essentially limited to address a domestic audience which is pathetically less knowledgeable about our immediate neighbour and more hooked to Europe and Vilayat.
Wen needs Indian support and cooperation for China’s economy, through more raw material to help its construction spree and for its highly accelerated knowledge pathway. He is bringing the biggest-ever business delegation with him. As reports say, Wen will be accompanied by Chinese trade minister and more than 200 businesspeople representing various sections of the Chinese industry. He needs business from India and he will get enough of it. He needs strategic relations with Pakistan where he would be going immediately from Delhi on a three-day tour, and he will get that too to his satisfaction. As news reports say, during his visit to Pakistan, the two countries are likely to finalize the modalities of their strategic dialogue, augmenting their close coordination in different fields including nuclear technology. He is not bothered, like Americans, what Pakistan is doing to us through its terror agents. He is also not concerned how Chinese help to Pakistan’s nuclear projects may result in a potential threat to India.
But, are our leaders concerned about it?
Wen knows the address where he has to reach. Do we have any address where we would like to arrive not only in our relations with China but also with Pakistan and our long-term security goals?
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
The Times Of India
24 November 2010
Hey, what's happening to
Tarun Vijay
"Oh God. So now what? What should I tell them? Tell me what should I tell them?"
Ran the line in the Open magazine exposing the wheeling-dealing between the corporate world and the most pious secular sirens of the noble industry — the fourth estate.
What after this?
Nothing. The media empire, the grand old houses of money and power protect each other. They have the platform to reach millions, but not a single one has tried to discuss it threadbare with the same savage ferocity they show in ripping apart their ideological opponents after having tasted a good French wine in a vineyard. They often use papers and channels for their political vendettas and abuse every other person they dislike without showing any civility. Then their outfits shut their doors for the other voices. No, the censorship is not by the state. It's by the media houses. They invite guests to their shows and use them to have their own "super Oprah" image projected at the cost of the other voices and other viewpoints. Look what they have done, which made Washington Post write this: "India's fiercely competitive and hungry free press has become the rising nation's watchdog, unearthing a long list of banking scandals, real-estate scams and most recently, extensive government corruption during the international Commonwealth Games. But in recent days, Indian journalists have been accused of wrongdoing, including having inappropriate conversations with a corporate lobbyist and acting more like power brokers in recordings released as part of an investigation into an audacious multibillion swindle — considered the biggest scandal to hit the new
That's what is happening to the land of all virtues and 9% growth rate. The nation which boasts of a great functional democracy, looks dwarfed before countries like
The fear of "revenge killings" is so deep that the politicians, otherwise so vocal in demanding a probe into many other scandals, are keeping their mouths shut, least a bruised journalist take on them at "an appropriate time".
Just see the grandeur of our scandals:
• Rs 1.71 lakh crore in 2G spectrum scam.
• A high court judge is charged with serious graft in
• Two most vocal sirens of "all that's good for secularism and vocal missionaries of anti-Hindutva brigade" are caught on tape discussing, perhaps, "spiritual aspects of politics and the ashram-life plans" of Rajaji and Radiaji, who might be a Bhakti movement poetess. Who knows, after a few weeks, these channels will prove that too.
• The Commonwealth loot is estimated to be anything between Rs 60,000 crore and Rs 80,000 crore.
• The Adarsh housing scam crossed all limits by insulting the memories of our Kargil martyrs.
• Karnataka is scandalized, more because of the moneybag politics. But that too, doesn't add to the glory of any of us.
We have an official voice of law and justice and all that is attached to it. He is called attorney general of
As columnist Vrinda Gopinath said: "Let's not hoodwink ourselves to believe that this morally pornographic journalism is objective, fair and exact. All of it stinks, in varying degrees of severity and phoniness."
This is an
An
An
An India whose citizens, politicians and industrialists and administrators, stash a whopping Rs 70 lakh crore rupees in Swiss banks and the government, in spite of an assurance by the Swiss government, feels reluctant to ratify a treaty signed with the Swiss which would enable us to get the list of black-money stashers and maybe get the money back.
A nation where the terrorists facing charges of killing innocent patriotic Indians are offered lucrative comforts of money and jobs if they simply say "I surrender", thus humiliating and insulting the families of the martyred soldiers and citizens who often get less than what the killers of their sons and daughters would get.
A nation where looters become members of the ruling class and whistleblowers turn to be schemers asking the corporate agent "Tell me what should I tell them?"
Let the people tell these "elite" that they would be assigned to the dustbin.
The Times Of India
07 November, 2010
Congrats, Mr Tata, but what have you done to rid
Tarun Vijay
In times of precipitated hate for one another among us Indians and the top court passing shocking insinuations against the Prime Minister’s office for virtually avoiding an inconvenient reply on the biggest loot of
I have read and distributed several copies of the book by Will Durant to friends about the loot that the British made. But the present regime and the political leaders of various parties shame the worst of the British looters. When a vibrant and youthful Barrack Obama interacted with our students, a Class X student of our tribal school (ititi.org), Dorjey, asked: Why can't our Prime Minister talk like this?
People who are 80-plus rule
The Tatas, who produce salt and railway engines and cars and solar power stations, could have refused a paltry Rs 15 crore bribe to a poor Indian minister and still survived. But the main "aparadh", or sin, that such highly placed, successful and respected icons of
Merely putting up a hundred profit-making ventures and spreading wings globally is not enough. Those who did it, whether the Tatas, Mittals, Azim Premjis or Ambanis, did it with the help of the people and the human resources produced by the same system that they call corrupt. What have the glitterati and the rich done to change the face of an
Whether they are the Tatas or the Gandhi-era Birlas or other magnates of our industrial empires, they have proved the words of Swami Vivekananda that the rich can do no good to the nation. It’s only the poor, the middle class and the struggling masses who bring change in society and are ready to sacrifice their lives for the good of many.
The rich and the influential have always supported the status quo. The first stone to disturb the static pond was thrown by a shepherd, a common man.
Ratan Tata may not get huge crowds of politicians to cheer him. His official press release, a kind of apology for what he said in Dehradun, is evidence to it. Political prudence requires compromises. The Tata office needed that.
But, for God’s sake, what did he do to help
What's that? And what has the Tata empire, in spite of its refusal to bribe a minister, done to nourish that ethos?
Those who take bribes and put hurdles in the path of an honest Tata are surely destined to go to the dustbin of history. Nobody is ever going to remember them as rememberables. A rich person is remembered because he helped millions, and not because he earned a lot.
The Tatas have surely made our heads rise high by refusing to bribe a minister to get their work done. But they are citizens of a country where the common man has to give bribes to get a residential certificate or a caste certificate.
The
But please go to your town and ask the patwari, the juniour enginner, the lekhpal, the minicipal councillor, the MLA, the MP, the most honouranle people in society, and get the figures of the bribe they take to get things done.
The tragedy that has occurred in
Sixty-six people died in that building collapse.
Isn’t it a case of murder of those 66 people by the authorities responsible for sanctioning further construction on a dilapidated structure?
What have the Tatas, the Bajajes or the Mittals done to help stem the rot?
What about the Indian who survives on dal-roti and a little bit of culture? The
I am sorry, a great-sounding Tata or a self-assured Bajaj or Birlas have done hardly anything mentionable in that direction.
For them, investment is good only if it pays rich dividends to their companies. And not necessarily to
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Times Of India
07 November, 2010
Obama’s Indian Diwali
Tarun Vijay
The Obamas arrived on the auspicious occasion of Diwali. And Michelle stole our hearts with her simple 'Rang De Basanti' gesture. Welcome a most extraordinary couple that India loves to listen to. Since the day he gave his first speech, as Democratic presidential candidate from an elaborate, columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple, he has been my personal favourite, for the simple reason that he broke the arrogance of a racist electorate. My brother, a professor of IT at Michigan, would tell stories about Obama's simple demeanours, how once he helped a woman he did not know at airport with a hundred-dollar bill, how he was raised, his Muslim connection and his faith in American values. Obama's America, which shows how people of different ethnicities are becoming governors, gives hope to a world that thrives on diversity. Compare it to the BJP's slogan of "Justice to all, appeasement of none". This example shows how vote bank politics is not for the 21st-century India too.
I don't want him to give us grants, neither would I request him to do anything special for India. We will take care of our concerns, God willing and surely the day is not far when a strong Indian leadership will emerge matching the Indian people's strength and pride, replacing the present 'Khandaani Raj antics'. I love him for what he is and want him to serve the American cause sincerely, for which the American people have elected him, and help democracies and pluralism prosper, even at the cost of his re-election.
I am sure he has been briefed by his aides that Diwali means Rama's return to Ayodhya after the annihilation of the demons and the freeing of Janaki from the clutches of Ravana.
Will he be able to forge an alliance with Rama’s India to free Mother Earth from the clutches of terrorism? Does that form part of his American dream or his business in India?
No. He is here on an economic mission. Taking India together to fight terror may form part of his speech but doesn't form part of his immediate action plan. America fights the threats of terror on its own shoulders, using others as instruments to achieve American goals. They provide protection to the biggest supporters of terrorism in the world, the Saudis, with marines and dollars and lavishly overfeed Pakistan's dictators to the delight of the Taliban. He is not obliged, quite legitimately, to bother himself the terror anxieties of others.
Still, as two great and functional democracies, India and the United States must be seen standing together and exuding confidence of a distinct world view, based on protecting pluralism and peoples’ will. His Mumbai visit and stay at the Taj, even if primarily guided by the death of unfortunate Americans in the 26/11 attack, helps India, and his statement on 26/11 has soothed Indian feelings. We must not confuse American interests with the Indian ones. And we can’t expect the US to fight an Indian war. As I had said earlier also, an Indian war needs Indian shoulders. Everything else will follow if we take this as our basic departure point for any negotiation. Take him as a Rhodes Scholar visiting an Indian university. He will speak words of wisdom and praise our culture. But his aides are different.
They should have taken Obama to the Akshardham temple in New Delhi, the most marvellous icon of a contemporary, upwardly mobile Indian’s spiritual dreams. No, that’s not on his list. He would like us to sign the CTBT, have no nuclear ambitions in spite of being encircled by two non-friendly nuclear powers. His list of business includes seeking greater market access for US companies in the retail and financial services sectors, and greater technology protection for energy companies.
White House economic aide Michael Froman said India was a "tremendous" market for the export of American goods and services. It was a source of investment back into the United States and together these could support the creation of American jobs. US exports have grown fourfold over the past seven years to hit $17 billion a year. Services exports have tripled in the same period to $10 billion a year. Indian companies supported 57,000 US jobs, the second-fastest growing investors in the United States.
As Kishore Biyani, CEO of India’s largest retailer, Future Group, says: "There are a lot of interdependencies in this globalized world, India can get a lot and India can give a lot.” But does India understand and does it have the will to ‘get a lot’ in an era when Indian entrepreneurship is resisted through Obama’s ‘Buffalo to Bangalore’ speeches and outsourcing is sought to be curtailed. Obama’s American interests must synchronize with India’s Indian interests. We will have to think twice before we say ‘yes’ to a surefire item on the American president’s economic agenda regarding the opening up of India’s much-vaunted retail sector, where the likes of Walmart are clamouring for freeing multibrand direct retail to foreign investors.
Hence when GK Pillai, the most famous Home Secretary we have ever had, reiterated for the 12th time that the US didn’t share information on Headley, he only exposed New Delhi’s actual position in Washington. Those who matter get their share of information and dollars without asking. Those who don’t are treated to mouthwatering dinners and seen off. It’s demeaning to see Indians asking for American help, complaining that the US should have done much more for us and demanding to have the US tell Pakistan to behave. Obama speaks from his strength and India must speak from her own power points. The help we receive from the US and especially from Israel in the form of intelligence inputs has to be deciphered and utilized professionally. Mumbai’s 26/11 exposed our own unpreparedness. In an era of an obliging media, it’s easily forgotten that the Congress was so shaken post-26/11 that it had to dismiss the home minister and the state’s chief minister. It had no answers to the agitating wives of Karkare and Kamte. The 26/11tragedy could become possible because police were less equipped, because there was no coordination between the intelligence agencies and the ground-level executioners and the supposed fighters. The neta-type use of the khaki, the paucity of bulletproof jackets and the poor quality of weapons and training remain significant factors that has nothing to do what the US administration did or didn’t do. In fact, hIndia has gone down in the world esteem rapidly under the present UPA governance. In this age and time, when the US chose a different path by electing Obama, leadership is still stuck in family fiefdoms and projecting a king overshadowing all the democratic norms and practices we boast of in Central Hall’s subsidized food mart. Our security priorities are mired in vote-bank politics and Kashmir’s fate is not guided by the unanimous resolution passed by the Indian parliament but by foreign policy considerations of a third country. Like a baby nation born out of the clutches of an Idi Amin, we are nauseatingly deep in the muddy waters of CWG and 2G spectrum corruption scandals and tolerating anti-national rhetoric in the national capital for superficial political gains with abysmally delayed milestones in infrastructure building. We are still in the middle of addressing basic issues like providing safe water to Indian villages and helping 40% of the population earn more than Rs 20 per day with a little bit of literacy too. That’s us today, talking to a US president with truckloads of request and complaints.
And we think we will be talking to Obama like the Chinese, with our heads held high on our shoulders?
Obama’s India visit shouldn’t be seen in the light of ‘not sharing Headley information’ or the reverses Democrats suffered on the eve of his departure for Mumbai. His first priority is the United States and he is trying to prove that he is as good and strong as Lincoln or Martin Luther King.
India was never his priority and will never be. He spoke in Cairo and his Assalamu Alaikum drew world attention. He went to China and his bending a bit too much drew flak back home. He is standing firm on his permission to build a mosque at Ground Zero. His foreign policy is in shatters and his Asian message is yet to be understood. He has great respect for India and its ancient wisdom that was shining in his first statement on this visit. But economy and strategy are different matters and here India gets his anxieties and a will to exploit our market. And also to use our region to increase his influence and have American interests protected in Central Asia and Islamic countries. So he will use Kashmir, Islamabad, and Kabul and so on. He will continue giving dollars and training to Pakistan’s Taliban in uniform, the devilish army, in spite of Indian worries and a democracy under threat from an avowedly Islamic state. He will never shut the American market for China, the biggest economic support for a one-party dictatorship of communists hungry for global supremacy.
Still, all said and done, of all the presidents of the United States, he stands out as one of the most elegant, transparent and honest leaders his country has ever produced. He is liked in India not because we think he will donate a few million dollars to us, but because Indians like men of character and wisdom, even if they fail electorally in public life and get defeated politically. His speeches reflect his mind and his heart. He is the CEO of the United States of America, hence that’s his first priority and if we do not get as much attention as China gets, he is not to be blamed. Ask your leaders in New Delhi what they did when China was building its military and economic strength.
Obama is disliked in a section in the US for racist reasons too and that factor also gets him our sympathies.
As a man of wisdom and straightforward heart that loves India, he is welcome. The rest is a ruthless race for business.
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