Fwd: Francois Gauthier rebuttal to Boston Globe's article

08-19-2002, 01:53 PM

>From: "Ashwini Kumar" <ashwini_kumarr@...>
>Subject: Francois Gauthier rebuttal to Boston Globe's article
>Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 22:08:20 -0400
>
>
>
>
>>>Does anyone know if the Boston Globe ever published this rebuttal?
>
>
>>>Dear Mr Greenway,
>>>
>>>To equate Hindu extremism with Muslim fundamentalism, as you do in your
>>>column published in the Opinion page of The Boston Globe on July 12, is
>>>highly unfair. There is no such thing as 'Hindu nationalists,' or 'Hindu
>>>fundamentalists,' since in the whole history of India, Hindus -- who let
>>>me remind you are 850 million in India today and constitute the
>>>overwhelming cultural and political majority of this country -- have not
>>>only shown that they are extremely tolerant of others, but Hinduism is
>>>probably the only religion in the world which never tried to convert
>>>others, or conquer other countries to propagate their own religion. The
>>>same is not true of Islam and Christianity.
>>>
>>>Again, equating Pakistan with India is an old British colonial policy,
>>>which helped them to divide and rule. By going to Islamabad, before
>>>reaching Delhi, visiting American and European officials are demeaning
>>>India. Would they dare first go to Taiwan, then travel to Beijing? The
>>>Chinese government would never allow it! We are putting on the same
>>>footing two nations which are entirely different: the first one, India,
>>>whatever its shortcomings and I am aware there are many -- is a
>>>superpower in the making, a vast country with a billion people and a
>>>democracy for more than fifty years. The other, Pakistan, whatever its
>>>own merits -- and it has many -- has little more than one tenth the
>>>population of India, is nearly bankrupt and has been under military
>>>dictators for half of its independence.
>>>
>>>You speak of a Hindu genocide on the Muslims in Gujarat, but you forget
>>>to mention that the rioting in Gujarat against Muslims was in reaction
>>>against the murder of 58 innocent people, 30 of them being women and
>>>children, who were burnt alive in a train by a Muslim mob, only because
>>>they were Hindus. In fact, Hindus have been for centuries at the
>>>receiving hand of Muslim extremism: some historians put at 25 millions
>>>the number of Hindus killed during 10 centuries of bloody Muslim
>>>invasions in India, a genocide probably unparalleled in world history.
>>>Today this persecution goes on: there were 400,000 Hindus in 1947 in the
>>>valley of Kashmir and barely a few hundred today. Thousands were killed
>>>in the late eighties by Islamic fundamentalists, trained, armed and
>>>financed by Pakistan and the rest fled the valley. Today Hindus have
>>>become refugees in their own country, a first on this planet.
>>>
>>>You also talk about the 'Hindu bomb.' But you should know that it is was
>>>Mr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir's father, who in 1971, after Pakistan
>>>lost the second war it initiated against India, realised that they could
>>>not win a conventional war against the Indian giant. He thus decided that
>>>Pakistan should have the nuclear bomb, which it did in the course of
>>>time, with the active help of China and North Korea, a fact which has
>>>been well documented by the CIA, but which is generally ignored by the
>>>American public. India was thus forced to acquire nuclear weapons, with a
>>>certain reluctance, as Indians have generally had a nonviolent bend of
>>>mind -- some have even termed it cowardly -- inherited from Buddhism and
>>>Gandhian philosophy.
>>>
>>>Today, President Pervez Musharraf, whatever his obsession about Kashmir,
>>>which is basically a revenge for the loss of Eastern Pakistan, now
>>>Bangladesh, thanks to India's support, is an intelligent man: he knows
>>>that if he does manage to drop one nuclear bomb on Delhi or Mumbai, there
>>>will be no more Pakistan worth the name, as all major Pakistani cities
>>>will be wiped off the face of the earth. Islam, which has made use of
>>>violence a near religious practice, understands the language of violence:
>>>see how it kept quiet when America showed its muscle after the September
>>>11 attack, or when the Allies invaded Iraq. Thus Musharraf is doing a
>>>nuclear blackmail on the world, which is unfortunately working, as so
>>>many nations have evacuated their nationals and so much pressure is
>>>brought upon on India by the US and the EC to negotiate on Kashmir.
>>>
>>>You must doubtlessly know that historically and geographically, Kashmir
>>>has always been part of India and that the calling of a referendum there
>>>would be a suicide for any Indian government, because the Muslim majority
>>>of the valley would automatically vote for a union with Pakistan. That in
>>>turn, would not only mean that Pakistan would have an immense strategic
>>>advantage on India, because of overlooking the Indian plains, but also
>>>that other Indian states, who are in a secessionist mood, might follow
>>>suit. Bear in mind also, that Indians do not understand why the West is
>>>giving lessons to India about Kashmir, when England battled thousands of
>>>miles away from their home soil to keep the Falkland islands -- which
>>>geographically belong more to the Argentineans than to the British -- or
>>>as France uses its armed might to retain Corsica, an island which has
>>>mixed French and Italian roots, or when your own country intervenes
>>>militarily in parts of the globe where you feel your interests are
>>>endangered!
>>>
>>>Finally, you show a lot of sympathy for Pakistan, which I understand, as
>>>the Pakistanis are very engaging and friendly people specially when you
>>>meet them in the United States. Nevertheless, you must be aware that not
>>>only has Pakistan sponsored bombings, murders and terror in India, but
>>>that it has exported terrorism all over the world: in Bosnia, Chechnya
>>>and even towards America, as the September 11 attacks have a Pakistan
>>>connection. By making Pakistan its frontline state, America is trying to
>>>fight terrorism with terrorism, which might not be such a good idea,
>>>given the problems encountered by the US in Pakistan, as well as the
>>>blank that American forces are drawing in Afghanistan. It is also a sign
>>>that India, a democratic, pro-Western nation, would be a much better bet
>>>for the US in its war on terrorism. Unfortunately, your article will
>>>certainly not help US policymakers to see the light.
>>>
>>>Yours sincerely,
>>>
>>>François Gautier
>>>
>>>The author, a French journalist based in New Delhi, is the South Asia
>>>correspondent for Ouest-France, the largest circulation French daily (1
>>>million copies) and LCI, France's 24 hour television news channel.
>>>
>>>Francois Gautier
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

__________________________________________________ _______________
Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail.
http://www.hotmail.com