Your article is a a move which will make people aware of the injustice done on Indians in America. Which I myself is not sure why left unnoticed. Indians have tolearn to stand up and fight ...if they don't then history will repaest itself.
Thanks for throwing light on such a sensitive matter
This is a good article. I was very happy that the author was highlighting inicidents of racism against Indians. There are a few thing that I feel are worth discussing though: SAHMAT, Teesta Setalvad et al may not have raised a finger against these incidents, but then neither do they file pile petitions and Pils in defense of Muslims or Christians in the US ( in fact they can't). Expecting them to take up the cause of Indians abroad may be correct, but am not entirely convinced by this argument. Human Rights Watch has issued notices asking for hate crimes against Sikhs to end, particularly in the aftermath of their being mistaken for Arabs. It has also asked for justice for missing persons in Punjab. It is constantly issuing notices in defence of Tibetan and Burmese Buddhists and is a vocal critic of China.It could certainly do MORE but to say that only Muslims or Christians are defended is fallacious. It is not just the fault of leftists that everyone is not uniformly represented. What about us defending ALL?
following your suggestion I read the article in LA Times.
a) Khem Singh was convicted of sexually molesting two Sikh children whom he was giving private lessons.
b) For whatever reason he had tried to argue his case himself and was duly convicted as he did not have clear command of what he was saying.
c) Did Khem Singh die because he was Sikh/Indian? Certainly no. Molestation/torture and even death happen with disturbing regularity in American prisons and recently a Caucasian convicted molester also met a gruesome fate in Boston. The American prison system has flaws that are far larger than anybody's race.
d) If Khem Singh had family and if he was also respected by atleast part of Sikh community in his town in California, couldn't they represent his requirements to the prison authorities? It really seems a simple thing to say: this man is vegetarian, please provide him the correct diet. The fault if any lies with Khem Singh's immediate society or maybe there was a reason they didn't come near him.
e) Rajeev S is obsessed with seeing himself and his society as the victim, and should get over it if he is to make any sense of the world at all.
RE:Khem Singh
by Varun Shekhar on Mar 24, 2004 11:07 AM
The issue Rajeev is rasing is that there is almost no coverage of oppression/discrimination against those ethnic Indians who are of Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist etc background. Particularly by organizations that usually raise a furor when a Moslem or Christian faces any similar trouble. Come to think of it, it's very hard to recall the American media talking about attacks on Indians or blatant discrimination against them.
The author presents facts about the incidents of brutality in the US which are alas! a real eye-opener.
But I would appreciate if we are more just in our convictions. I have a question to ask, by citing the the incidents of attrocities in the US, why are attempts being made to defend the Godhra rioters? Can't we condemn brutality and lawlessness anywhere and everywhere?
Why do we want to defend a rapist or a killer. just because he is a hindu. Will the author answer my question as to can we have a better society by saving a rapist or a killer just becasue he belongs to a particular religion?
all those who torture innocent people around the world will certainly undergo a life in purgatory. that is the law of nature. as you sow so shall you reap, says all religious scriptures.the justice will come , in its own time;lets have no doubts about that.my only imploration to hindus is to uphold our tradition of humanity for all faiths and have the utmost trust in god almighty. surrender yourself at HIS hallowed feet and let HIM be your saviour.
Do you know the fact that more than 100 people are in jail in Marad case? while no body is in jail in Best Bakery Case! Still you are worried about the publicity Best Bakery case got. It got that publicity just because justice was denied, but that is not the case in Marad.
Rajeev that was a good one. You are right, but I have a problem with your problem. All along your problem seems to be Muslims and Islam. The way you put the case of Khem Singh, along with that of Mody and Aulja, it appears that you are building a case against Muslims and Islam. Are Muslims or their faith to blame coz someone like Mathew or Azmi or Setalvad or even Dayal failed to rake up the murders of Mody and Aulja or even the shameful Marad riot? I fully agree with you that rioters of Marad should be treated on par with those of Navrangpura or Sarkhej (though I cant say that Narendra Modi and AK Anthony played similar roles when riots were taking place), but then why blame Muslims for it? Even in someone's death and misery you find a chance to instigate thoughts of the vulnerable masses. You might be anti Marxist, but vouch by Marx's dictum about 'Religion being the Opium...' You are pumping in more of the opium. You have raised the right questions, but targetted the wrong group. It would be better if you limited urself to taking the mask off the pseudo-secular groups rather use their shoulder to fire nasty salvos at Muslims.
