By Dr. Sawraj Singh
India recently took principled stands on two very important issues. India voted with the majority of the countries in the Security Council of the U.N. and against Israel and America. Out of 47 countries, America found itself completely isolated on the issue of Israel-Palestinian conflict. It was the only country which voted against the resolution criticizing Israel for its attack on Gaza. Countries including the members of the BRCIS voted in favor of the resolution. 17 countries, including America’s European allies, abstained, leaving America alone in the Israeli camp.
America and Israel were hoping that the BJP government will change India’s traditional pro-Palestinian stand and will tilt towards Israel. However, the BJP government has made it clear that it will stick to India’s traditional stand which supports the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
On Ukraine, India again took a stand different than America and the western countries. America and the western countries want to use the Ukraine issue to isolate and contain Russia. India refused to join such efforts. Prime Minister Modi met President Putin during the BRICS summit in Brazil and told him that the Indian people regard Russia as a time-tested and reliable friend on which they can count. Russia appreciates India’s stand on Ukraine as a principled and balanced stand. However, Ukraine, America and the western countries are not happy with the Indian stand. The Ambassador of Ukraine in India has expressed his government’s disappointment with the Indian government’s stand. The BJP government has decided to revive the traditional friendship of India with Russia and does not want to be a part of the American and European efforts to isolate and contain Russia.
These Indian stands are consistent with the long-standing Indian policy of non-alignment as well as supporting the legitimate rights and the just causes. India has realized that its future lies with the rising East and the fundamental interests of the Indian people are with the interests of the Asian people and the third world countries.
The American policies have become more self-centered, short-sighted, and more intolerant than before. I feel that the best interests of America and the American people will be served by accepting the multicultural reality of its society. I also feel that diversity is the biggest asset of America. However, America has chosen to go in the opposite direction. As American influence is declining over the world, the ultra-nationalist, extreme rightist, chauvinist, jingoist, populist, Zionist, racist and anti-immigrant forces are becoming stronger. If all of these forces have something common, that is, to be a patriotic American, you have to be white and share their philosophy. They do not think that diversity, whether racial or ideological, is America’s asset; rather its ability.
This intolerant and aggressive attitude is affecting America’s policies and actions. Instead of trying to fit in the emerging multipolar world, America is fighting it and is trying to maintain the outdated western-dominated unipolar world order. Instead of working with countries like Russia, India, and China to make the transition from a unipolar world order to a multipolar world smooth, it is trying to antagonize those countries and particularly is trying to contain Russia and China.
This short-sighted and intolerant policy is destroying many countries and is making the world more unstable and chaotic. Just look at Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Syria, and Ukraine. In Iraq, America is forced to ask its arch-rival and Axis of Evil member, Iran, for help against ISIS, whom America was supporting to get rid of Assad.
America has pushed Ukraine to a civil war. Instead of preventing tragedies like the Malaysian Airlines plane brought down by a missile, it is using the tragedy to discredit and defame Russia. One may ask, who allowed the plane to fly over an area which is not safe for passenger flights. All of the other Asian airlines have decided on their own not to fly over that area of Ukraine.
In the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, America has completely become a party in the conflict, shedding even any semblance of neutrality and impartiality. It is ironical that after adopting such a policy, America still wants to act like a peace-broker. The first condition for such a role is that both sides trust your neutrality and impartiality. Therefore, America has disqualified itself as a peacemaker in this conflict.
In trying to promote diversity, equality, and fairness, I became a victim myself. A conspiracy was hatched to silence me. The charges against me were as valid as the charges against Saddam Hussein for possessing weapons of mass destruction. I was practicing medicine in an area which is predominantly white and politically conservative. The FBI agents contacted my patients and openly incited racist and anti-minority feelings in them. Many resisted, but some fell victims to their propaganda. The attorney who spearheaded the legal attack against me died under very mysterious circumstances, leading me to believe that someone was afraid that his conscience may prick him and like Edward Snowden or Jon Perkins (author of Confessions of an Economic Hitman) he may blow the lid off the conspiracy.
Whether it is India or America, whoever will take principled stands will be better off in the end. I have tried to give the same message in both countries because both are multicultural countries. India gave the principle of unity in diversity to the world. This leads to tolerance and pluralism. Any stand which is compatible with this message is a principled stand for India. America is trying to impose uniformity rather than try to unite people. Uniformity is different than unity. Unity can only be achieved by taking principled stands. Opportunism can promote uniformity but cannot unite people.
Dr. Sawraj Singh, MD F.I.C.S. is the Chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and Chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice. He can be reached at [email protected].
