Fwd: Francois Gauthier rebuttal to Boston Globe's article

[Guest guest]

>"Ashwini Kumar" <ashwini_kumarr

>Francois Gauthier rebuttal to Boston Globe's article

>Thu, 15 Aug 2002 22:08:20 -0400

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>>>Does anyone know if the Boston Globe ever published this rebuttal?

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>>>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

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