Report on Hindu/India-bashing program in New York

	Report on Hindu/India-bashing program in New York
	By: Narain Kataria, USAApril 18, 2003 On March 25, 2003, a program titled "India and Pakistan: Culture and Society", was organized in New York. Three notorious people with leftist leanings, Arvind Rajagopal, Anupama Rao, and Syed Nauman Naqvi, addressed the meeting. Of these, two Anupama Rao and Arvind Rajagopal are confirmed communists They had been touted as a cross-disciplinary group of balanced experts on India and Pakistan. In fact, none of them showed deep knowledge of the subject, and all of them were exceedingly partisan and biased. The meeting was designed to degrade Hinduism, create hatred about Hindu heritage in the younger generation by denying their glorious past. The further intent seemed to be to spread canards about Hindu organizations with a view to isolate them and tarnish India's image in USA. Anupama Rao shamelessly and deliberately postulated that in India minorities, women and Dalits are being tortured. She mischievously tried to create the impression that upper caste Hindus have plans to torture lower caste Hindus. Syed Nauman Naqvi, instead of talking about cross-border terrorism, proxy war, attack on Kashmir Legislative Assembly/Indian Parliament with a view to kill or take Indian leaders hostage, rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Pakistan, Islamic terrorism, ethnic cleansing of Hindus and Sikhs from Pakistan and Kashmir, maliciously indulged in the pastime of Hindu bashing and said that Vedas had been composed in Central Asia. Arvind Rajagopal did not say a word about 58 innocent Hindus who were burnt alive at Godhra by Indian Muslims in collusion with ISI of Pakistan. He never uttered a word as to how 350 innocent Hindus were blown to bits in Mumbai in 1993 by Islamists. Instead, Rajagopal dwelt on the dead issue of Babri structure and lashed out at Hindu nationalists. None of these prejudiced speakers made any mention about the thousands of Indian soldiers and 60,000 Indian citizens murdered by Kashmiri and Pakistani Muslims. . Ten highly educated, informed, and assertive colleagues, and I attended the meeting. The organizers noticed our presence and felt uneasy at the thought of being exposed. Since they were working against the country of their origin, guilt consciousness was clearly visible on their faces. We could see the embarrassment in their eyes. They felt that their lies, distortion, and shallow knowledge would be exposed in front of their innocent students and the puppet masters who were manipulating them behind the scenes. They wanted to wriggle out of the discomforting quagmire in a hurry. Hence, they allowed only two questions. One of my colleagues Veena Shetty challenged the false assertion by Anupama Rao that minorities, women, and Dalits are being persecuted. Ms. Shetty said that there have been three Chief Ministers in India from minority community - Abdul Rahman Antulay in Maharashtra, Gafoor in Bihar and Anwara Tamur in Assam. Mayawati is Chief Minister in U.P. There have been three Muslim Presidents of India and one Chief Justice of India. India is the only country where Muslims are given subsidy to go to Haj. One Muslim is the richest man in India. Under the circumstances, your argument is based on false assumption and smacks of ignoble intent. There was a hush for a moment in the hall. This question left Anupama Rao in red. She tried to overcome her treacherous propensities and with a great difficulty wriggled out of it by giving unconvincing reply. Anupama Rao also made another statement that it was not clear who set the train on fire which burned alive 50+ Hindu women and children in Godhra. She again weakly slumped in her seat when Nagendra Rao vigorously challenged this blatant and malicious falsehood. Mr. Arvind Patel asked Syed Naqvi, whether he knew the name of the person who had codified the Vedas. Poor Naqvi felt nervous at his bogus scholarship and apologetically said no. Mr. Patel informed him that it was Maharishi Veda Vyas who had codified and divided the Vedas into four. Again, there was a flutter in hall and Naqvi's credibility was damaged. After the meeting was over, I complained to the Moderator, Leonard Lopate, that this panel was highly biased against Hindus and India. It would have been better, had some Hindu leader been put on the panel. He told me that Anupama Rao and Rajagopal are Hindus. I told him that they had Hindu sounding names but in fact they were really not Hindus, but communists who publicly disowned their Hindu origin. They fall in the category succinctly described by Lord Macaulay that British education in India would produce Indians, who would look like Indians but be Englishmen in thought and deed with a contempt for their own culture and heritage. Mr. Lopate who was approached by several others with the same complaint then beat a hasty retreat and immediately disappeared from the scene through a side door. The meeting was held in the assembly hall of Riverside Church. There were about 70 -80 attendees, most of whom seemed to be naïve and gullible. The quality of the sound system was so poor that, at times, it was difficult to understand to hear what the panelists were saying. After 9/11, there has been spurt in anti-India/Hindu activities at the campus. On March 23, 2003, a lecture was organized at Emory University in which a self-hating Hindu Professor Ashutosh Varshney under the façade of scholarship, ridiculed India/Hindus. While 70-80% Americans support President Bush on the issue of Islamic terrorism, some Communist Professors who have sneaked in this country by submitting false information to Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) are working hand in glove with Islamic extremists. FBI, INS and IB should keep track of these professors and find out the their sinister motive behind pro-Pakistan/Islam activities. This meeting has given credence to the widespread view prevalent in the New York area that some leftist/communist professors at Columbia University are acting at the instance of, and in tandem with, anti-Indian forces. This bunch of mischievous people whose vision is still guided by their past in India as members of the Communist Party of India/CPI(M) are doing more harm to India than its avowed enemies because of their cunningness, and their perfidious nature. Do you wish to reach IndiaCause readers? Write @ IndiaCause Copyright and Disclaimer: The author is solely responsible for the contents of the opinion/column/letter. IndiaCause does not represent or endorse the accuracy, completeness or reliability of any opinion, statement, appeal, advice or any other information in the article. Our readers are free to forward this page URL to anyone. 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