| Activism: Follow-up to USCIRF | |||
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By: Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD October 26, 2005 Views expressed here are author’s own and not of this website. Full disclaimer is at the bottom. 
FeedbackNote to the readers: This column is a follow-up to my earlier one: Religious apartheid in India and American policy response. We now have an opportunity to influence American policy-making regarding India. I urge the readers to write (no more than two pages) to the following official of USCIRF. Please focus on religious apartheid practice in India by Christian missionaries and Islamic jihad in India. Question USCIRF’s ignorance and inability to address human rights of over 800 million Hindus in India and urge swift corrective steps.
Joseph R. Crapa ----------------------------------------------------------- Dear Mr. Crapa I am writing to congratulate you and the rest of USCIRF staff for continuing to promote our vision of human rights and religious freedom abroad. Along these lines, I would like to bring to your attention activities at USCIRF that have raised the perception of violating our constitutional separation of Church and State. I recently sent a letter USCIRF’s Commissioner Bansal in which I pointed out institutionalized and constitution-based religious apartheid practiced by Christian and Muslim minorities in India that has affected about 800 million people in India. I also pointed out how USCIRF appears to be unaware of this practice. I am yet to receive a response from the Commissioner. Religious apartheid practice is a modern, non-violent and efficient way of conducting religious genocide. The world may have seen the last of racial apartheid in minority white-ruled South Africa, but not a form of minority religious apartheid in world’s largest democratic nation. I have been in touch with Ms. Patricia Carley of USCIRF. Her verbal response was: “my view was NOT one of widely subscribed view”. I sent her a letter requesting her to comment on NEW legal and statistical basis of religious discrimination in India I had provided to her. She is yet to respond. I am enclosing this letter to Ms. Carley in the end. If USCIRF is open to mostly “widely subscribed views” how is it going to be open to new ideas and paradigm shifts? In other words, how credible are its reports?
Where does the USCIRF really stand with regard to the above issues? Simultaneously, I am launching a campaign with my readership; USCIRF can expect to receive similar letters of concern from many citizens. I have established a long track-record of data analysis and publishing on these issues. I am well-known in Indian American community and in certain circles in India. Unfortunately, neither my readers nor I know USCIRF’s viewpoint due to its silence. Religious apartheid issues are getting increasing coverage in India and with Diaspora abroad. Unless America recognizes this quickly and takes measures, negative feelings of America will likely grow among close to one billion Hindus. Poll after poll conducted in India shows wide admiration and support for America – a rarity in that part of the world. This support mostly comes from majority Hindus and is now under jeopardy! My interests are not just India-centric. I have also published extensively how America could defeat radical Islam and ensure a better future for our children (“The Art of War on Terror”: http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1062.html). The strategy of properly identifying the enemy articulated in my analysis and through by my many letters published in Washington Times has been firmly embraced for the first time by President Bush in the speech to National Endowment for Democracy. This speech is considered by many indicating a paradigm shift in American policy outlook. By establishing a dialogue with a person like me you now have a chance to take corrective measures. I request you to arrange for a meeting between myself, you, Mr. Ted Stahnke and Ms. Patricia Carley to discuss these issues in detail. If my perception is wrong in anyway, such a meeting will give an opportunity to resolve them. I can then write another analysis pointing out to my readers how USCIRF plans to address these issues. This can be a win-win situation for American interests and for the cause of human rights and religious freedom. I look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely Moorthy S Muthuswamy PhD --------------------------------------------------------- The e-mail letter I had sent to Ms. Patricia Carley on October 4, 2005 Dear Ms. Carley Thank you for having a detailed telephone conversation with me on Monday. I am glad you brought to my attention the 2001 report by USCIRF. I scrutinized all available reports at your website from 2000 to 2005. The 2001 report does indeed address some of my concerns, but not the core underlying issues. You had told me in our conversation that my letter to Commissioner Bansal portrays one view -- that majority Hindus in India are being constitutionally and institutionally discriminated against -- but my view is not necessarily a widely subscribed or an accepted view of religious freedom-related issues in India. But I am sure as an analyst you should be open to looking at new evidence and make up your mind accordingly! Let me start with an analogy: the conventional wisdom at one point was that the earth was flat. But new evidence eventually paved the way for the prevailing and verified view that the Earth was more close to being round – certainly not flat. In my letter addressed to Commissioner Bansal (which you had read, apparently) I had uncovered brand new evidence that was not discussed in any of web-available USCIRF reports (2000-2005). This verifiable new evidence deserves careful scrutiny as I claim it projects a view of India that is vastly different from a widely subscribed view you and many others appear to share. In fact, it points to massive religious apartheid practices in India USCIRF doesn’t even seem to be aware of. A closer scrutiny of USCIRF reports appear to show, USCIRF was neither aware of this angle nor it tried to acquire evidence to ascertain this angle. Let me summarize this new evidence for you: 1) Legal angle: Article 30 of Indian constitution gives preference to minorities that are not given to majority Hindus, especially in setting up and administering educational institutions. This does not appear to be discussed in any of web-available USCIRF reports (2000-2005). This aspect of Indian constitution violates human rights and religious freedom. 2) Apartheid statistics: I sent you verifiable new data on minority faculty employment percentages in institutions administered by them in India. These are typically several-fold over and above their population percentages, both locally and nationally. These discriminatory practices are in violation of human rights and religious freedom. I have also pointed out in my analysis how this apartheid practices in India have undermined democracy, created instabilities and conflicts. Once again to the best of my knowledge, from the past reports, there appear to be no evidence of USCIRF either trying to acquire this type of data or has analyzed its implications. My Conclusion: The above two points imply constitution-based and institutionalized religious apartheid/discrimination practiced in India. As the Associate Director for Policy at USCIRF specializing in India (among others), do you agree that the evidence I have presented above is not even similarly covered in USCIRF reports and do you accept this as the evidence of religious apartheid/discrimination practiced in India? If you feel otherwise, what are the reasons? If you agree with my conclusion then USCIRF has to address the issue of religious apartheid in India for the first time. The recommendation I had made in my letter to Commissioner Bansal does just that. I would much appreciate your answer.
Sincerely, Do you wish to reach our readers?
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by: Moorthy Muthuswamy PhD Internet Civilization September 21, 2005 Apartheid in India: Letter to Condi Rice August 30, 2004 Igniting Hindu fight back June 19, 2005 Discrimination by Indian minorities May 08, 2005 Is Sikhism destined for dustbin of history? April 13, 2005 USA undermining religious freedom? April 06, 2005 Inside story of Modi’s visa revoke March 20, 2005 A Hindu Movement Born February 28, 2005 Muslim Reservation = Jihad December 20, 2004 How were Srilankan Hindus United? December 08, 2004 Time to Revamp Indian Democracy? November 15, 2004 Dynamics of Proselytizing September 26, 2004 How can India Defeat Militant Islam? August 30, 2004 The Art of War on Terror August 12, 2004 What are India’s national security interests? June 08, 2004 Congress-led coalition: a stooge of Islamists? May 19, 2004 Citizens’ role in India’s war on terror May 14, 2004 Mandate for Indo-Pak peace settlement April 18, 2004 When are India and Pakistan ready for peace? March 21, 2004 American Policy Advice in South Asia: Fatal Flaws February 02, 2004 Prithiviraj, Again? January 21, 2004 India’s Future: Trend should be a Friend January 18, 2004 Soft Borders with Pakistan: A Certain Suicide January 01, 2004 A New Paradigm: Civilization through Wealth Creation December 28, 2003
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