India's Racism In A Foreign Mask

An Indian-origin Baroness, Shreela Falther [Mrs. Gary Denis Flather] accuses Pakistani & Bangladeshi families in UK of producing more children to get state benefits. She defends large Indian families by saying they don't count because they're educating their kids. No, really, that's what she said.

What she is doing is to show a red cloth to the British right wing bull. In other words, it is okay for British Indian families - the largest Asian migrant community - to continue milking the government for child benefits because these families are educating their children. The Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are not, according to the Indian-born baroness.

I highlight this story because it represents a trend. More and more Indian-origin migrants are being quietly recruited by Indian government to serve Indian objectives where possible. New Delhi has shown special interest in recruiting Indian migrants sitting in positions of influence in their adopted homelands. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the United States, where Indian-origin journalists, Congressional aides, and TV anchors are already part of a loose network linked to Indian government lobbyists in DC. The Indians have picked this bright idea from none other than AIPAC, the formidable pro-Israel lobby group.

This is why you see more and more influential Indian-origin migrants in influential countries raising issues that serve the Indian government. For example, these prominent Indians would attack Pakistan, highlight dangers from 'Islamic terrorism', underplay Kashmir genocide, downplay high rates of girl infanticide in India, etc.

In this example, the Baroness is playing to the British rightwing by suggesting economic threats from Pakistani- and Bangladeshi-origin migrants. What she doesn't say is that her community of Indian-origin Brits stand to benefit if the other two migrant communities are downsized. This is a serious conflict of interest. But at least she's working for the interests of a friendly foreign government. Is there a law in England against that?

I am glad that I am not the only one who has noticed Indian-born Mrs. Flather's racism. In fact, that's the exact word that came to the mind of a British blogger, Suzanne Cameron-Blackie, when she heard the baroness's tirade.

Why Conquer India, Again?

Some young Pakistanis marking the International Kashmir Solidarity Day today got carried away. I noticed some of them circulated emails and wrote posts saying they don't want to stop at Kashmir but want to seize the rest of what is known today as India, was known during Muslim rule as Hindustan, and as Bharat when the Indians ruled themselves.

I didn't want to spoil the joy of anyone, especially this year when all signs indicate that Pakistan and Pakistanis are marking the Kashmir Solidarity Day with a vigor not seen in at least a decade. [You must read the analysis in that link. It's a must read for those following relations between Pakistan and India.]

So when a very good friend posted a remark about conquering India on my Facebook page, this is how I answered, hoping to make some of the young Turks understand that what Pakistani medieval warriors like Shahab al-Din Ghauri and Qutb al-Din Aybak did was great, but that seizing India nowadays may not be such a great idea. Here is how I said it:

"Of all the lands conquered by Muslims, the Indian conquest was the most useless. Everywhere else, the new land and people added to the richness of the Muslim empire and civilization. Except Bharat. That was a black hole where Muslims went in ... and never came out. Muslim rule in Bharat was detached from the rest of the Islamic world. No interaction, no contacts, no nothing. Muslim Bharat was another world, never reacting to critical points in history in Palestine, Arabia, Turkey and Andalusia. The only thing we benefited from havng our ancesotrs conquer Bharat is to learn the ritualistic Mehndi wedding functions, invent Qawwali, the art of practicing religion by singing, and create two religious schools called Barelvi and Deobandi that no one else in the entire Islamic world knows about, understands or has any interest in.

Defeat Bharat. Fine. Delhi is a city created and established by Muslims before the Brits occupied it and handed it over to native Indians, so take that too. Fine. But the rest of India? I think I will pass."

Interesting, isn't it? Light, but full of real history.