By Dr. Sawraj Singh
Time magazine’s declaring the Indian Prime Minister an underachiever, in an article written by Krista Mahr, raises several questions.
The first: Does an American magazine have the right to judge a leader from any other country? How will America react if an Indian magazine such as India Today, declares Obama as a complete failure?
The second question: Do the criteria used for judgment represent American interests or the interests of Indian people? The third: Are relations between America and India similar to the relations between friends or between a master and slave?
An American magazine does not have the right to judge leaders of other countries unless it feels that America is the undeclared policeman of the world. An American magazine is not in a position of passing judgment on the leaders of other countries because it does not have a deep understanding of the culture, value system, and socio-economic conditions of other countries as well as priorities of other societies.
The criterion used to evaluate the performance of Dr. Manmohan Singh was the American interest rather than the interests of the Indian people. Dr. Manmohan Singh did not live up to the expectations of American monopoly capitalist class. They are unhappy because Dr. Manmohan Singh did not go far enough to implement so-called reforms which primarily serve the interests of the American multinational companies rather than the majority of Indian people. These reforms have taken away benefits which were given to the majority of the people and these resources were instead diverted to multinational companies and their Indian allies, the privileged elite. Already these reforms have widened the gap between the haves and have-nots in India. However, Americans feel that they did not go far enough.
How much more do they want to squeeze the deprived segments of Indian society, which have already been squeezed to the maximum?
Dr. Manmohan Singh has realized that if he follows American advice, then India risks complete anarchy and chaos, which can lead to almost complete breakdown of law and order. He has finally told the Americans that he has gone far enough and cannot follow their directions any more in this regard. This is the main reason for Time magazine to call him an underachiever.
The final question: Is America acting like a friend or a slave master? A friend tries to understand the problems and difficulties faced by the other friend and tries to help. However, a slave master tries to impose his viewpoint regardless of the consequences for the other side.
So far, America has acted more as a slave master than a friend. Moreover, America considers India as a potential adversary rather than a true friend. Along with the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, America always had the intention of disintegrating those countries. It has already disintegrated the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. India is the only one left out of the original trio. India should have no illusion that America remains firmly committed to its original intentions. It is true that America wants to play the India card against China. However, there is no change in the American policy of Balkanizing India. America has never forgiven India for its pro-Soviet tilt and its role in the Non-Aligned Movement. America feels that India can never be trusted because it can always tilt toward the Russia-China axis and can always revive its relations with countries such as Cuba to revive the Non-Aligned Movement.
Time magazine should have put President Obama instead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the cover page to receive the biggest underachiever award. Obama has completely failed to stop the racists, white supremacists, neo-fascists, neo-McCarthyists, and populists from inciting anti-minority and anti-immigrant sentiments in America. Obama has only provided a cover for these forces. They cleverly ask the minorities how can there be racism in America when we have a black President? The number of separate incidents of minorities, especially African Americans, who have been shot and killed by white police officers under the Obama administration is appalling. This is no coincidence.
Similarly, in foreign affairs, America has followed more aggressive anti-Third world policies and more pro-Third World War policies than even under President Bush. We can compare the brutality of Saddam Hussein’s murder to Gaddafi’s murder and the reality becomes obvious. The aggressive American policies in Asia and the blatant intervention in Asian affairs has surpassed President Bush’s policies with a very wide margin.
There was a recent survey in England which showed that Indians living there were more British in their outlook than the mainstream people. In my forty years of experience of living in America, I have found that many Indians are similarly more American than mainstream Americans. They end up supporting the most reactionary and extreme rightist policies of America. This misguided concept of patriotism does more harm than good to America. While these misguided patriots have unrealistic faith in American strength and America’s ability to handle any potential threat and challenge, America is sliding toward a race war and a Third World War abroad. The tragedy is that this time, America will not be able to win the war.
Instead of promoting Jingoist and chauvinistic policies, we should be preaching the virtues of restraint, moderation, tolerance, and peaceful coexistence. These are the virtues we learned from our eastern heritage and are the values which can save America.
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].
