Yesterday the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken yet again donned the role of the torch-bearer of human rights or its abuses around the world. The irony was, as he spoke, the U.S. President Joe Biden was paying a visit to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, where 19 students and two staff were gunned down in a frenzy of intolerance towards minorities. Because the unharmed George Floyd was black, he was pinned down and killed by cops two years ago.
On May 14, 2022, a mass shooting occurred in Buffalo, New York, United States, at a Tops Friendly Markets store, a supermarket in the East Side neighbourhood. Ten Black people were killed, and three other people were injured.
The Buffalo gunman emulated the 28-year-old anti-Muslim terrorist who massacred 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, three years ago. He live-streamed the killings of the shoppers because they were Black.
The U.S. Government is helpless against an obnoxiously strong gun lobby, which has succeeded in waving the 2nd Amendment and the right to own guns by one and all. It is, therefore, not surprising that it may be difficult to buy a can of beer without an ID or a strip of paracetamol without a prescription. However, an underage can buy a military-grade assault rifle without trouble.
The U.S. must constantly remember its history, which came into being after destroying millions of local Indian tribes. It had enslaved almost the whole continent of Africa, bought and sold men and women like one would do cattle until the other day. More recently, the torture stories of prisoners from Guantanamo prison do not elevate the status of the U.S. as a moral guardian against human rights abuses. The U.S. has been a silent spectator of the Chinese atrocities imprisoning a million Uighurs, fearing trade reprisals.
I do not deny that there are hardcore Hindu outfits like Ram Sene, Bajrang dal etc., who periodically give acerbic and inflammatory statements. But they are mostly reactive against onslaughts on Hinduism, its temples and gods from a few militant minority groups like the PFI and cross-border outfits. The report does not whisper even as a passing reference to the target killings of Hindus, minorities in Kashmir.
The annual report by the state department, also known as the International Religious Freedom Report on violations of human rights, is selective and targeted at sitting ducks like India to drive a hard bargain in the tumultuous situation of a need to build an anti-Russian stand in the region.
India’s foreign minister Jaishankar responded later by saying that India too has its views about human rights in the U.S.
Press persons are gunned down by the dozens for mocking or doing a caricature of the Prophet in an increasingly religiously intolerant world. Artists in India enjoy the freedom to depict Hindu gods and goddesses in the nude, write objectionable material, etc. If most Indians silently steer clear of these provocations, many also cherish these as part of secularism. If the offended react, immediately a rejoinder comes from the U.S. State department and none less than the Secretary himself.
India cherishes its diversity and is the true melting pot of every religion. The country must not be branded as an abuser of human rights for the statements or actions of a minuscule few imbeciles. I hope the U.S. State Secretary installs mirrors in his office to watch his true form and style.
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide Voix
0 Comments
Well narrated
Thank you