Media Watch Narad: Obama too, Inclined Towards Modi

Obama too, Inclined Towards Modi

Intro: President Obama does not share Hillary Clinton’s confrontational approach with India and her preference for Sonia Gandhi. Infact he is looking to establish a pragmatic partnership with India under the leadership of Narendra Modi

What's gone wrong with US and British thinking in high circles? This thought has become a worrisome one ever since an article on the Godhra riots and subsequent events appeared in a British journal, The Economist ( April 12) which is the epitome of gutter journalism. According to the article there was a rampage against Muslims in Gujarat in which at least 1,000 people were slaughtered in an “orgy of murder and rape” in Ahmedabad. This was, according to the journal because Narendra Modi “shamelessly whipped up Hindus against Muslims”.

Ram Jethmalani was shocked that The Economist read the world over “for its erudition, analysis, presentation of diverse points of view, lack of bias and intelligent reporting” should stoop so low. Jethmalani stated that what the journal said “are almost a verbatim reproduction of the tired Goebelsian broken record repeated ad nauseam by Congress spokespersons.” “The ususal false propaganda” he said, “unsubstantiated accusations without evidence or perceptional accusation deemed conclusive without debate, explanation or break-up, smacked of prejudice”. He pointed out that “neither the Nanavati Commission, nor the Supreme Court appointed Special Investigative Team was inconclusive because evidence was lost or willfully destroyed”.

Jethmalani reminded The Economist of the gruesome well-documented history of Hindu-Muslim riots since the beginning of British rule “across the length and breadth of India” with no “apology” coming from the British. Britain was using double standards he said, in the matter of communalism considering the titles the British Queen has, such as ‘Defender of the Faith, Supreme Governor of the Church of England’ and of Margaret Thatcher extolling Christian values or David Cameron saying that “United Kingdom is a Christian country and we should not be afraid of saying so.” Jethmalani added: “Substitute UK with India and the word ‘Christian’ with ‘Hindu’ and watch the ‘secular’ explosion of double standards in the western world and in the divisive Congress Party.” That is logical and strong enough repudiation of British journalistic and state-wise double standards. But what comes as a greater shock is the United States’ behaviour vis Godhra and the resultant riots. It was at a time when Hillary Clinton was US Secretary of State. It would appear that the Americans felt that Muslims have been killed en masse and their dead bodies buried in an unmarked grave! It sounds hilarious but for the very seriousness of the charge.

Hillary Clinton was apparently determined to “expose” Modi as some kind of criminal. So what did she do? The US Government could not officially demand an open search for mass graves, so she resorted to a dirty trick so familiar in US official circles. And that was to pay NGOs based primarily in the Netherlands, Denmark and the Scandinavian countries to cheat India and Gujarat.

This has been exposed by MD Nalapat, also in The Guardian. Some of the NGO’s in the past had been funded to protest against the Kudankulam nuclear plants in Tamil Nadu. This time, according to Nalapat, “several expert teams in the guise of NGO’s were sent to Gujarat to try and find mass graves!” The purpose was to then take the matter to the office of the United Nations Commission of Human Rights in Geneva as “an example of genocide”! Apparently in 2004 some bones were discovered in a Gujarat field by one of the search teams and there was much excitement, but these were later found to be buffalo bones

According to Nalapat who quotes an American official, “no evidence whatsoever of mass grave was uncovered in Gujarat despite six years of clandestine searching for them by undercover experts posing as representatives of NGOs. Obviously American officials think that they can commit large scale murder as in My Lai in Vietnam and get away with it. What should one do in the circumstances? Charge the US Government with unlawful activities? Take Hillary Clinton to the International Court of Justice or better still order her to appear before an Indian court and face the consequences? She had cheated India and was attempting to give India – and Modi – a bad name.

(The writer is senior columnist and former editor of Illustrated Weekly)