Mission to America

N Divakar

The prime minister’s U S sojourn has been widely appreciated simply for the fact that American president expressed his support to India politically, economically as well as militarilly in case of need. Considering the present day atmosphere of globalisation and a unipolar world under U S hegemony, it is not a great task for any head of a country, to win over the friendly hands of America, provided the latter is satisfied with all its conditions including complete opening up of the economy to U S multinational corporations.

In this respect Atal Behari Vajpayee had no qualms in prostrating before Mr Clinton, just to win a point over Kashmir vis-a-vis Pakistan. Of course the begging bowl Vajpayee had carried along was filled and the main keys of Indian economy were promptly handed over to the modern Colombus, to enable him conquer India and make it a heaven, for T N Cs.

Despite this prostrations and total subjugation the US Congress did not lift the sanctions imposed on India after the Pokhran nuclear test and US president did not declare Pakistan a terrorist state. Both these decisions of US Congress are subject to India signing  C T B T and Indian prime minister agreed, in principle, to signing CTBT after, arriving at a consensus back home. Once again Vajpayee should stand before Sonia Gandhi for arriving at a consensus on CTBT as he had done while passing Patents Bill and Irda Bill earlier. Vajpayee has virtually hit the last nail in the coffin by declaring and assuring his American friends that economic reforms would be speeded up, come what may.

The saffronite swadeshis back home are totally silent, beyond anyone’s imagination. The reasons are not far to seek. Their long cherished dream of an American friendship has come true. With American arms around their shoulders, the saffron forces would be more enthused to carry on their fascist agenda of course under the garb of democracy. And history has proved that America has always stood by racism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, despoitsm dictatorship, all in the name of democracy and world peace. So it would not be a surprise if one finds the international police under the baton of the Uncle Sam, joining hands with the cultural police of India, the saffron gang.

Besides his total prostration, Prime Minister Vajpayee heading a stable government, a horse stable at it, proved his real credentials while addressing a gathering of Hindu Saints of Viswa Hindu Parishad’s US (VHP) branch. By calling himself primarily a Swayam Sevak Vajpayee, though revealed his heart out, opened a pandoras box, leaving his secular (?) partners of NDA dumbfounded and also facing the wrath of ever alert opposition parties and the liberal intelligentsia back home. But before any damage being done to his NDA government, the prime minister was back to his senses, and rejected the statement as a misinterpretation of the press. Poor media folk, henceforth they should undergo a rigorous training on how to interprete the language of the politicians especially of the saffronites.

To please his secular friends and prove his liberalism, Vajpayee clarified the next day that what he meant by his statement was that he considers himself to be primarily a swayam sevak of the country. Only one word country was required to be added to change the whole context of the drama. Be that as it may, Vajpayee’s refutation of his statement enraged the saffronites as the RSS leaders castigated him for his dilly dallying. And to escape the wrath of his parent organisation Vajpayee again stated ‘‘my right to be a swayam sevak cannot be snatched away by any one’’.

And the hidden agenda of the sangh parivar, suppressed behind the liberal garb of the prime minister, also come out in the open during the meet, when answering a question from a saint about building of Ram temple in Ayodhya, he said, ‘‘Once we are in a majority on our own we will build India of our dreams’’. This statement was also camouflaged with nationalist rhetorics to please NDA’s secular partners.

The Discovery Theory

In this unipolar world under U S hegemony and globalised atmosphere, USA finds India as the largest market where it can invest and reap maximum profits due to the availability of cheap, skilled labour and also abundant natural resources. And the successive Indian government since 1991 have allowed the international finance capitals to have its sway over the country’s economy. It is this motive which made Clinton to say that India’s success is America’s success, which must have chilled the spines of the Indian premier to, in turn say eloquently that the American leader has rediscovered India. At the farewell banquet hosted at the end of Vajpayee’s U S visit, Clinton also dedicated a Mahathma Gandhi Memorial in Washington. While speaking on that occasion, the liberal prime minister told the gathering —‘‘The people of India will always value this memorial in Washington. Being in the heart of your capital it remains a profound symbol of the values of our two societies’’.

The Indian prime minister representing a Secular-Democratic-Sovereign constitution of the world’s largest democracy, and at the same time representing a party which strains its every nerve to speak about cultural nationalism, Indianness-Hindutva and the glorious Indian heritage, suddenly found more moral virtues in the American Society, which boasts of having largest percentage of single parent children and whose president was censured in the court for having illicit affair with a woman. What is more the liberal prime minister has no qualms in finding a subtle relation between the two societies and tragically with Mahatma Gandhi as a metaphor.

As if this is not enough, the prime minister went on to find more virtues and morals in the American society on par with Indian making Mahatma Gandhi a symbol of the virtues of the two societies, what a pity? Vajpayee should have borne one simple fact in mind, that the great Mahatma Gandhi threw away his barrister’s profession and plunged in to India’s freedom struggle not out of romanticism but inspired by the struggles of the blacks in South Africa against the Apartheid regime of the British and enraged by the British colonialism’s onslaught against the helpless blacks. One should also bear in mind the stark reality that the same America which speaks of Democracy and world peace, was a covert supporter of Apartheid regime in South Africa.

Before using Mahatma Gandhi as a symbol of Indo-American friednship, one has to accept the fact that while the Mahatma was an apostle of peace, non-violence and democracy, U S A is just the opposite as it was the first and last country to use nuclear bomb against humanity and it is the only country to use chemical weapons, in Vietnam and Nicaragua. Mahatma stood for individual’s self respect and national  independence, both of which were an anathema to the Uncle Sam, which has over the years established its own puppet dictatorship in many Latin American countries like Peru, Nicaragua, Gautamela, Panama, Colombia etc. In the name of world peace and democracy and in pursuing its anti-communist offensive, the American establishment has always encouraged sponsored terrorism and dictatorships. It is not a matter of secret that democracy in Pakistan also suffered due to America’s imperialist policies and the Pentagan’s arms supply.

Terrroism

If today the American president expresses concern over the Taliban’s terrorism in Afghanistan and says that India and U S face the same problem of Islamic terrorism, for which the Indian prime minister gladby applauds, one should remind the Uncle Sam that it is the same American governments which nurtured and trained the Talibans with Pakistan as a base, to end the communist backed rule of Nazibulla in Afghanistan. And today if Pakistan, with its economy in a shambles, could boast of nuclear weapons, it is the same Pentagan along with China, which supplied arms and amunition to Pakistan since its formation to counter Soviet influence in South Asia in the heydays of cold war. It is a great tragedy for an Indian prime minister, to shower praises on American imperialism just for a few dollars.

One does wonder whether it is the prime minister of India, a country which fought against the imperialist designs of America a country which acted as a catalyst for non-Aliegned movement during the Nehru-Tito-Naser era, a country which stood for the welfare of third world and G-77 countries against the onslaught of G-7 countries and  a country which was seen as a saviour by poorer countries against American imperialism, who was  evlogising the Uncle Sam, finding more democratic and moral values than it meets the eye, in the U S establishment?

In his farewell address Vajpayee said, ‘‘The light that radiates about our two nations is of our respective struggles for freedom, for liberty, for individual excellency and enterprise. This brought the countries together as two great democracies’’. No doubt both India and USA fought British colonialism to achieve their freedom. But the present American establishment in no way depicts the same democratic values of the revolutionary phase, rather it has colonised so many small nations by using its military and ecnomic might. India is the latest nation to be colonised by the global finance capital under the US hegemony. Prime minister should be aware that Indian freedom struggle was more inspired by Russian, French and Chinese revolutions and of course by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent path. Speaking from a contemporary view point, India’s struggle for freedom does in no way seem similar with American independence, as America was overtly and covertly supportive of British colonialism throughout the world.

Prime Minister was very much pleased to hear from Clinton that both India and U S A face the same problem of terrorism. But the spread of terrorism across the globe during the past 50 years has been a handi work of America’s imperialist designs. The frankensteins created by them are up against them now. And Vajpayee was very much sure that Clinton would declare Pakistan a terrorist State. But that was not to be. One thing the recent history has taught us is that America has no permanent friend. Its friendly hands may turn into deadly weapons at any point of time. This simple truth should be borne in mind by the Indian government.

Final Surrender

The irony of the entire episode is that both leaders, holding the key buttons of nuclear war heads, were speaking eloquently about world peace. And the U S Vice president was more attracted towards the poet in Vajpayee. But the same Vajpayee who writes in his poem ‘‘Never let me climb so high that I cannot bend down to embrace another human’’ also was the proudest man on earth when Budha smiled  for the second time, in the year 1988 when India conducted nuclear tests. How can a humanist poet feel elated over nuclear weapons, the wrost enemy of mankind, the destroyer of human civilization, the sign of the military might of the powers that be? It is the same humanist poet who till today has not denounced his mentor Golwalker who adored Adoff Hitler for his crimes against the Jews. It is the same humanist poet who was a silent spectator to the murderous attacks against the minorities in India, by the goons of his parent organisation, the RSS. And it is the same humanist poet who, instead of condemning the act of burning alive of Graham Stains and his two kids, called for a debate on conversions. And it is the same humanist prime minister who defends the actions of his parent organisation as acts of cultural nationalism, while in reality they are acts of terrorism.

With all these prostrations and subjugations the Indian prime  minister was all at odds while addressing the UN assembly. Though the media is all praise for his address Vajpayee failed to evaluate India’s efforts for world peace over the year. Except for Pakistan bashing centering around Kashmir, he had nothing to offer. Nothing more could be expected from a prime minister, who is proud of heading a nuclear state. The words ‘World peace’’ would be a misnomer here. And by harming upon the Kashmir issue throughout his speech, the Indian prime minister missed great opportunity to put forth India’s other concerns on economic and political fronts. And the American president was quick to affirm his intervention to solve the Kashmir dispute, though, facing stil opposition from Indian government, the American president retracted his statement.

There is no point in rejoicing at the ‘‘Breakthrough’’ or ‘‘Great Success’’ of Indian prime minister’s US visit, as it was more out of compulsion that US has embraced India. Facing the threat of Islamic fundmentalism, the American establishment has found a new naturally in India, ruled by a hindu rightwing party supposedly facing the threat of terrorism. But India as a secular democratic country with a highly pluralistc society finds the fascist rule of saffronites more dangerous than Taliban’s.

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