Offer to build free homes in Gujarat 8-11-2001

11, August 2001                     Offer to build free homes in Gujarat         

Recent articles in the Indian media announced the Janvikas's, a nonprofit NGO organization, generous offer to rebuild homes of earthquake victims in Gujarat free of cost provided the victims demonstrate their opposition to the caste system by drinking water from the home of a Dalit. The refusal of the vast majority of victims exposes the deeply ingrained caste prejudice that prevails in 'modern' India.

The hostility and violence displayed by high caste Hindus to Dalits is a serious blight to our national character and puts in serious doubt that we have progressed spiritually. The silence of our religious leaders speaks volumes of their complicity in this national scandal. Hordes of 'religious' leaders who grace the pages of the Indian press remain silent and lack the courage to condemn this insidious behavior. We have ceased to become a nation of spiritual free thinkers. We perpetuate the prejudices of our forefathers and willingly cast our minds in a strait jacket of misguided thinking.

Would God have created the Dalits to be abused and ill-treated by their higher caste brethren? Does anybody truly believe that God sanctions such behavior? Then pray why do we remain silence? Why do we not cast the caste system to the rubbish heap of history? That is where it belongs. It is time to discard the excess caste baggage that many of us still carry.

I hope some of our religious leaders who read this letter will rise to the occasion and urge their devotees to respect all people, especially our Dalit brothers and sisters. Failure to do so will only encourage more of these oppressed people to embrace Christianity.

Finally, I applaud Navsarjan Martin Macwan and Gagan Sethi of Janvikas for having the courage to swim against the tide of popular custom and reach out to 'the children of God.'

Middle East Bullies 7-12-2001

12, July 2001                Middle East Bullies
The Middle East bullies are at it again! "Israeli tanks and bulldozers destroyed 10 buildings in Gaza" - only a few hours after bulldozers leveled 14 Palestinian homes under construction in the Palestinian refugee camp of Shuafat on the edge of Jerusalem. What does the Israeli government hope to accomplish by this wanton show of force? Predictably, the Palestinians reacted with increasing foreboding, anger, despair, and smoldering resentment It appears that Sharon is ratcheting up the attacks on the Palestinians in the hope of provoking a strong reaction. This will then give him reason for an all-out attack on the Palestinian Authority.

The obvious tilt of the US Administration in favor of the Israelis has only added to the anger of the Palestinians who no longer see the US acting as an honest broker. The Israeli people are suffering from a collective amnesia. Forgotten are the hard lessons of history. Forgotten are the centuries of persecution. The victims of aggression have become the aggressors. The Israelis, who have for centuries yearned for their homeland, finally accomplished their dream by displacing the Palestinians from their land by force. They should understand that the Palestinians share their desire for peace and a land they can call their own.

It is time that for our government to halt its billions of aid to the Israelis and behave as an honest broker.

Plight of Indian Farmers 5-18-2001

18, May 2001             Plight of Indian Farmers

Global economic liberalization has wrought havoc to Indian farmers. 250,000 farmers have committed suicide in the past 16 years – a staggering one suicide every 30 minutes.

Government statistics understate the number of suicides by ignoring whole categories such as Dalits, the so called lower cast farmers, Adivasi’s, tribal community farmers and still others that do not hold land titles.

Sadly, the much touted green revolution has largely disappeared. Indian farmers are no longer protected by agricultural subsidies but must compete with giant foreign agri-businesses who enjoy heavy government subsidies in their own countries. Genetically modified (GM) seed suppliers, such as Monsanto, are systematically eroding Indian farmer’s ability to survive. The GM seeds are genetically programmed to die at the end of each harvest season and must be constantly replenished. Thus, Indian farmers are forever beholden to the monopolistic price demands of their suppliers. The cottonseed industry is a classic example of the predatory practices of multinational corporations. Organic, sustainable farming has been abandoned in favor of more modern farming methods.  Water, the life blood of farming, is becoming scarcer forcing farmers to dig deeper and deeper tube wells at increasing costs.

Smita Narula, faculty director of the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice at NYU, has rightfully stated that the basic human rights of farmers must be honored by providing them with the basic commodities of their trade at reasonable costs. 

One can only imagine the uproar in the US and other western countries if their farmers were subjected to cheaper imported agricultural products. Most western countries, Japan and China have tight controls and offer heavy subsidies to protect their farmers.

The absence of affordable rural credit exposes the farmers to the clutches of loan sharks who exact crippling interest rates which can never be repaid. Desperate farmers have turned to growing cash rich drought resistant poppy to survive. Many have fallen victim to drug abuse while others have ingested pesticides to end their lives. This is national outrage and must be remedied.