10-26-2005, 06:46 PM
US Dalit hearing simply scandalous
Sandhya Jain
Organizer
23 October 2005
Successive Indian governments have failed to protest Americaâs propensity to
misuse human rights issues for politically motivated calumny against nations it
seeks to undermine to serve its foreign policy objectives. Shamefully, large
sections of the Indian elite also betrays unseemly desperation to report
against the nation to US human rights committees, usually as quid pro quo for
funds for their agenda-driven NGOs.
Yet, even by the standards of its normally invasive diplomacy, the US Congressâ
decision to appoint a sub-committee on âIndia's Unfinished Agenda: Equality and
Justice for 200 Million Victims of the Caste System,â is simply scandalous. Not
only does it construe a gross interference in our internal affairs, it is also
an attempt to influence the Indian Supreme Court hearing on reservation rights
for Dalit converts to religions like Christianity, which admit that they
discriminate against Dalit adherents!
In these circumstances, the silence of the Indian government, remote-controlled
by the Roman Catholic Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, is disturbing. So is the
silence of major political parties, especially those that claim a special
affinity for Dalits. In fact, the Indian political spectrum as a whole would do
well to evolve a consensus on the issue of external interest in India, if the
country is serious about being considered as a candidate for the Security
Council. In this regard, it would be instructive to see how the Chinese
government gives America tit-for-tat in the matter of its highly slanted human
rights reports.
Actually, America has much to hide regarding its human rights record,
particularly vis-Ã -vis the Native American population (what is left after the
genocide by White Settlers) and the former slaves imported from Africa. The
shocking delay in providing relief to Katrina hurricane victims hardly needs
recalling.
China, however, does not stomach Americaâs supercilious ways. When the US
Congressional-Executive Commission on China recently released its annual
report, Beijing condemned it as âwanton interferenceâ in its internal affairs
and presented its own report on the human rights situation in USA. The document
is voluminous (the Chinese are thorough), but even a few cursory examples
suffice to show how self-respecting nations protect their honour. The âHuman
Rights Record of the United States in 2004,â released by China's State Council
on 3 March 2005, shows the dark side of the Statue of Liberty.
China points out that American society is notorious for rampant violent crimes,
and that there is little security of life and liberty in that country. It cites
a report of the US Department of Justice (29 November 2004) that in 2003,
citizens aged 12 years and above experienced about 24 million victimizations.
Giving statistics of several cities, China said America has the largest number
of gun owners and gun violence increasingly takes a toll of innocent lives.
About 31,000 Americans are killed and 75,000 wounded by firearms each year,
which means more than 80 people are shot dead each day. Police violence is an
equally serious problem.
China has made a fascinating observation! In the past decade America
spent US $ 7 billion annually to build new jails and prisons. California got
one college and 21 new prisons after 1984! This is because jails are a
lucrative business, with a combined staff of more than 530,000, they are the
second largest employer in America after General Motors. There are over 100
private prisons in 27 states and 18 private prison companies. As a result, the
value of goods and services created by inmates surged from $ 400 million in
1980 to $ 1.1 billion in 1994.
As for jail conditions, in many states inmates are routinely stripped
in front of others before being moved to a new prison. Male inmates are often
made to wear women's pink underwear as a form of humiliation. New inmates are
frequently beaten and sometimes made to crawl. The conditions of women
prisoners are naturally worse. Sexual harassment is common. New York Times
reported last October that at least 13% of inmates are sexually assaulted in
prison (12 October 2004).
The Chinese government has made a detailed analysis of the political
manipulation by the rich in the electoral process, the astronomical costs of
elections, and the resultant favours to corporations as a result of election
funding. Most poignant among the flaws in the US election system is the newly
adopted Help America Vote Act of 2004, which requires voters to produce a
series of documents such as a stable residence and thus effectively
disenfranchises thousands of homeless people. America refuses to ratify the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights and is home to
poverty, hunger and homelessness, in spite of being the worldâs richest
country. From 1970 to 2000 (adjusted for inflation), average incomes of the
bottom 90% stagnated but those of the top 10% experienced an increase of nearly
90% (The Baltimore Sun, 6 July 2004).
Racial discrimination is of course very deeply ingrained and Black murder
victims are five times White victims; Blacks affected by AIDS are ten times
Whites (National Urban League, 24 March 2004). The number of Black people
living in poverty is three times that of the Whites. Apartheid is still rampant
in schools (Schools and Lives Are Still Separate, The Washington Post, May 17,
2004).
The situation of American women and children is hardly reassuring.
FBI Crime Statistics show that in 2003, there were 93,233 rape cases; virtually
63.2 in every 100,000 women are victims of assault. The number of abused women
treated at First Aid Centers exceeds one million every year. More than 1,500
women in the US are killed every year by their husbands, lovers or roommates;
nearly 78% American women are physically victimized at least once in their
lifetime. Sex crimes are on the rise in military as well. Women soldiers have
been raped or sexually harassed in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and
other military bases.
As for children, every year nearly 400,000 children in the US are forced to
engage in prostitution or other sexual dealings on the streets (The USA Today,
27 February 2004). Then, there are scandals about clergymen molesting children.
Actually, the list is endless.
Sandhya Jain
Organizer
23 October 2005
Successive Indian governments have failed to protest Americaâs propensity to
misuse human rights issues for politically motivated calumny against nations it
seeks to undermine to serve its foreign policy objectives. Shamefully, large
sections of the Indian elite also betrays unseemly desperation to report
against the nation to US human rights committees, usually as quid pro quo for
funds for their agenda-driven NGOs.
Yet, even by the standards of its normally invasive diplomacy, the US Congressâ
decision to appoint a sub-committee on âIndia's Unfinished Agenda: Equality and
Justice for 200 Million Victims of the Caste System,â is simply scandalous. Not
only does it construe a gross interference in our internal affairs, it is also
an attempt to influence the Indian Supreme Court hearing on reservation rights
for Dalit converts to religions like Christianity, which admit that they
discriminate against Dalit adherents!
In these circumstances, the silence of the Indian government, remote-controlled
by the Roman Catholic Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, is disturbing. So is the
silence of major political parties, especially those that claim a special
affinity for Dalits. In fact, the Indian political spectrum as a whole would do
well to evolve a consensus on the issue of external interest in India, if the
country is serious about being considered as a candidate for the Security
Council. In this regard, it would be instructive to see how the Chinese
government gives America tit-for-tat in the matter of its highly slanted human
rights reports.
Actually, America has much to hide regarding its human rights record,
particularly vis-Ã -vis the Native American population (what is left after the
genocide by White Settlers) and the former slaves imported from Africa. The
shocking delay in providing relief to Katrina hurricane victims hardly needs
recalling.
China, however, does not stomach Americaâs supercilious ways. When the US
Congressional-Executive Commission on China recently released its annual
report, Beijing condemned it as âwanton interferenceâ in its internal affairs
and presented its own report on the human rights situation in USA. The document
is voluminous (the Chinese are thorough), but even a few cursory examples
suffice to show how self-respecting nations protect their honour. The âHuman
Rights Record of the United States in 2004,â released by China's State Council
on 3 March 2005, shows the dark side of the Statue of Liberty.
China points out that American society is notorious for rampant violent crimes,
and that there is little security of life and liberty in that country. It cites
a report of the US Department of Justice (29 November 2004) that in 2003,
citizens aged 12 years and above experienced about 24 million victimizations.
Giving statistics of several cities, China said America has the largest number
of gun owners and gun violence increasingly takes a toll of innocent lives.
About 31,000 Americans are killed and 75,000 wounded by firearms each year,
which means more than 80 people are shot dead each day. Police violence is an
equally serious problem.
China has made a fascinating observation! In the past decade America
spent US $ 7 billion annually to build new jails and prisons. California got
one college and 21 new prisons after 1984! This is because jails are a
lucrative business, with a combined staff of more than 530,000, they are the
second largest employer in America after General Motors. There are over 100
private prisons in 27 states and 18 private prison companies. As a result, the
value of goods and services created by inmates surged from $ 400 million in
1980 to $ 1.1 billion in 1994.
As for jail conditions, in many states inmates are routinely stripped
in front of others before being moved to a new prison. Male inmates are often
made to wear women's pink underwear as a form of humiliation. New inmates are
frequently beaten and sometimes made to crawl. The conditions of women
prisoners are naturally worse. Sexual harassment is common. New York Times
reported last October that at least 13% of inmates are sexually assaulted in
prison (12 October 2004).
The Chinese government has made a detailed analysis of the political
manipulation by the rich in the electoral process, the astronomical costs of
elections, and the resultant favours to corporations as a result of election
funding. Most poignant among the flaws in the US election system is the newly
adopted Help America Vote Act of 2004, which requires voters to produce a
series of documents such as a stable residence and thus effectively
disenfranchises thousands of homeless people. America refuses to ratify the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights and is home to
poverty, hunger and homelessness, in spite of being the worldâs richest
country. From 1970 to 2000 (adjusted for inflation), average incomes of the
bottom 90% stagnated but those of the top 10% experienced an increase of nearly
90% (The Baltimore Sun, 6 July 2004).
Racial discrimination is of course very deeply ingrained and Black murder
victims are five times White victims; Blacks affected by AIDS are ten times
Whites (National Urban League, 24 March 2004). The number of Black people
living in poverty is three times that of the Whites. Apartheid is still rampant
in schools (Schools and Lives Are Still Separate, The Washington Post, May 17,
2004).
The situation of American women and children is hardly reassuring.
FBI Crime Statistics show that in 2003, there were 93,233 rape cases; virtually
63.2 in every 100,000 women are victims of assault. The number of abused women
treated at First Aid Centers exceeds one million every year. More than 1,500
women in the US are killed every year by their husbands, lovers or roommates;
nearly 78% American women are physically victimized at least once in their
lifetime. Sex crimes are on the rise in military as well. Women soldiers have
been raped or sexually harassed in Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, and
other military bases.
As for children, every year nearly 400,000 children in the US are forced to
engage in prostitution or other sexual dealings on the streets (The USA Today,
27 February 2004). Then, there are scandals about clergymen molesting children.
Actually, the list is endless.