{"id":858,"date":"2017-05-02T09:33:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-02T09:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/?p=858"},"modified":"2017-05-02T11:36:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-02T11:36:32","slug":"india-should-set-an-example-for-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/india-should-set-an-example-for-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"India should set an example for the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Jay Prabhakar <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

01 May 2017<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The Rohingya people are native to Myanmar. They practice Islam and, presumably for that reason, are treated as subhuman by the ultra-nationalist Buddhist junta. The government of Myanmar has been using systematic\u00a0rape and other gruesome methods to torment this minority. By some measures, this is the most persecuted people in the world right now.<\/p>\n

With dwindling options, these poor souls are running for their lives to Bangladesh, a country just as impoverished as Myanmar and one that doesn\u2019t want them either. The local Bangladeshis are beginning to revolt against these refugees, claiming they are taking away local jobs. Sound familiar? Businesses that are developing the as-yet pristine beaches along the Bay of Bengal, want the government to get rid of these \u201cannoyances\u201d, so that they can get on with the business of making the beaches a global tourist destination.<\/p>\n

Recently, a Rohingya village, in an act of desperation, mounted an attack on a police station. The government retaliated mercilessly, separating the women from the men and children and gang-raping the women for hours. When the villagers eventually fled to the Bangladesh border, they were assaulted by more troops. Women who put up any protest were brutally killed as an example to the rest, who then mutely suffered the humiliation meted out to them by the Burmese soldiers for a second time.<\/p>\n

Balkanization is rampant around the world, fuelled by the unsustainable increase in Humankind\u2019s population. As our numbers grow, the relative size of the economic pie shrinks. People look at anyone who are not like themselves, as threats. They see their jobs taken by these \u201cothers\u201d and, perhaps justifiably, want them gone.<\/p>\n

Such thinking is evident in India. Bangaloreans distrust the Biharis, who come there for construction jobs. Mumbai is for Mumbaiyyas \u2013 drive out the \u201cSouthies\u201d. Similar sentiments flourish in the rest of the country. PM Narendra Modi\u2019s appointment of Aditya Nath Yogi as the CM of UP is perhaps a preview of India\u2019s formal swivel towards sectarianism, away from secularism. This despite the fact that the preamble to the Indian constitution includes the word \u201cSecular\u201d.<\/p>\n

We in the US have become inured to the background \u201cnoise\u201d of such abuses around the world. We have \u201ccrisis fatigue\u201d, we claim. Our current president was elected on a platform of self-interest and isolationism. America First is still the slogan. America\u2019s refusal to accept our share of the world\u2019s unfortunate \u2013 notwithstanding the words at the base of Lady Liberty \u2013 has set a bad example for the rest of the world. Strong-men (and women) of all stripe are coming out of the woodwork, across the globe.<\/p>\n

One of the guiding tenets of Hinduism \u2013 whose proponents staunchly proclaim that it is a Philosophy, not a Religion \u2013 is inclusivity. The adoption of Savarkar\u2019s \u201cHindutva\u201d by the BJP has made India overtly nationalistic and proud of it, comparable to the US\u2019s recent blatant xenophobia.<\/p>\n

India shares a substantial border with Myanmar. She aspires to be a dominant power in her neighborhood. Wouldn\u2019t it be a shining example for all of Southeast Asia and perhaps the world, if India were to step up to the plate and address this horrendous inhumanity? Perhaps accept a few thousand of these hapless souls into our warm Hindu hearts, even though they are Muslim? Of course, they must be carefully vetted and there will be logistical issues. India has done this before, with the Tibetans. It seems imperative that India must do something for the Rohingya, if only to re-introduce the world to the meaning of compassion.<\/p>\n

(Jay Prabhakar<\/strong>\u00a0is a consultant in robotics and automation and is the president of Bedford Controls, Inc. He lives in New Hampshire)<\/em><\/p>\n

[Source: INDIA NEW ENGLAND NEWS]\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Jay Prabhakar 01 May 2017 The Rohingya people are native to Myanmar. They practice Islam and, presumably for that reason, are treated as subhuman by the ultra-nationalist Buddhist junta. The government of Myanmar has been using systematic\u00a0rape and other gruesome methods to torment this minority. By some measures, this is the most persecuted people in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":878,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,4,17,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":893,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858\/revisions\/893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arakanwatch.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}