Khushwant Toor writes from Toronto

HAITI a small country in the Central America - Caribbean region was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010. In this latest natural calamity in the world the quake was powerful enough that it virtually flattened the entire capital city of Port-au-Prince including the Presidential Palace.

Preliminary reports on Jan. 13, 20100, estimated death toll from the quake to exceed 100,000 in the capital city alone. Thousands of injured people waited for care outside badly damaged hospitals, while an unknown number remained trapped inside collapsed buildings. Basic services like water and electricity were out, and Haitian President Rene Preval said his government needs help clearing streets so that rescuers can reach some of the hardest-hit areas.

Lack of infrastructure and governmental support and non-availability of heavy machinery led the people to dig through the rubble of leveled buildings with their hands. Many survivors trapped inside the collapsed buildings were seen punching out debris and bricks, and shouting for help and trying to squeeze themselves out through cracks in the structures.

The 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) southwest of Port-au-Prince. It was also felt strongly in neighboring eastern Cuba, more than 200 miles away across the North Atlantic Ocean. Geophysics scientists in North America estimate that the quake’s magnitude and geographical shallowness caused its power to match that of several nuclear bombs. About 3 million people -- one-third of Haiti's population -- were affected by the quake, the Red Cross said. About 10 million people most likely felt shaking from the earthquake.

U.S., Canada and other countries around the world sent relief and humanitarian groups to help victims of the Haiti earthquake. Though planes carrying aid began arriving Wednesday, humanitarian groups struggled to get the supplies to victims due to the poor roads and debris. There was no clear system for clearing debris, removing bodies and treating the injured, officials and journalists reported. Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Harper indicated that the Canadians might open a new immigration scheme to help migrate the displaced Haitians.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the United Nations plans to release $10 million in aid immediately, while the World Bank pledged another $100 million Wednesday afternoon.
President Obama promised a "swift, coordinated and aggressive" response from the United States. "The reports and images that we've seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching," Obama said.

Haiti, relatively a small country ranking 147 in area among the other countries in the world and now one of the poorest countries in the region plagued by political violence through out its history was once a French colony. The French ruled the country by taking over from the earlier Spanish settlers. During French rule, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, Haiti became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean through the heavy importation of African slaves. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted and after a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence in 1804.

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NDP MLA comes under attack from Sikh fundamentalists

Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

THE Surrey Fleetwood MLA, Jagrup Brar has come under attack from the Sikh fundamentalists for supporting the Hindu migrants in Punjab, India. Brar, who is currently visiting India, had said that the Punjabis should respect the migrants from the eastern parts of India. Being a Sikh himself from Punjab, he was reacting to the recent violence in the industrial city of Ludhiana, Punjab which was blamed on the migratory labourers.

Two migrant labourers had sustained bullet injuries while many were detained by the police after a mob blocked the national highway in protest against the police inaction to stop continued robberies early this month.

The labourers, most of whom are Hindus alleged that the police had refused to file a complaint when two of their fellow citizens were robbed by a local gang. Following these developments, a Sikh separatist group Dal Khalsa had sought restrictions on the migrant labourers. Dal Khalsa leader, Kanwapal Singh told this correspondent from India that Punjab being the only Sikh dominated region in India is threatened by the large scale migration from outside. ``Many other states in India are also protecting the interests of the local population then why the Sikh minority cannot protect its interest in its home state.’’ He also demanded that they should not have right to vote in Punjab. ``They enjoy dual voting right as they can vote both here and in their native provinces’’. He did not agree that the Dal Khalsa’s position is ``racist’’. He also blamed the migrants for crime in Punjab. On being why his views should not be considered racist as the White supremacists also accuse the immigrants for crime, he said, ``The Sikhs pose no threat to Canada. They don’t indulge in crimes like these people do’’.

Brar had said that much like the Punjabis and the Sikhs, who are treated respectfully in Canada, the Punjabis should also treat the migrants from the same country fairly. ``The Punjabis in Canada should particularly understand this issue more sensitively as our pioneers had endured similar racism and discrimination in the past’’.

Another Dal Khalsa leader, Harcharanjit Singh Dhami had criticized Brar saying he cannot draw a parallel between the migrants in Punjab and the Punjabi immigrants in Canada. He had also accused Brar of making statements not based on facts. However, Brar declined to comment on Dhami’s views. ``Let the Dal Khalsa has its own opinion. Suffice is to say that we should learn to give others their rights too while seeking rights for ourselves’’.

Sarwan Singh, a freelance Punjabi writer from Toronto also came under attack for voicing similar views in a prominent Punjabi magazine published from Surrey. He had criticized the ``double standards’’ of the Punjabis on this issue. Harpreet Sekha, a Surrey based Punjabi story writer had authored a short fiction on this ``hypocrisy’’ in 2001.

Majority of the callers who participated in the talk shows on this subject at Radio India also flayed the position of the Dal Khalsa. The Indo Canadian Workers’ Association President, Surinder Sangha said, ``while on one hand we are asking for the apology of the Komagata Maru episode, but on the other we are discriminating against the poor migrant labourers, who are contributing to the development of Punjab’’.

Much like the Sikh immigrants, who started arriving in Canada at the beginning of the 20th century for economical reasons, the labourers from the Uttar Pradesh and Bihar continue to go to Punjab to earn higher wages. In Ludhiana alone one million migratory labourers reside. They not only work in the industries, but many of them are also employed as farm workers.

In 1914, the Komagata Maru ship full of Punjabi immigrants was forced to return under the discriminatory continuous journey law, for which the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper has apologized. While a campaign for ``full apology’’ in the Canadian parliament still continue, the systematic bigotry against the poor in India refuse to die. Apart from the Sikh radicals, the linguistic and regional chauvinists of Maharashtra have also spearheaded a campaign against the migrants from the eastern provinces.

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America unlikely to give up arrogance and embrace humility

Sawraj Singh

THE first decade of the twenty first century has just ended and the world has entered the second decade of the twenty first century. The west, particularly America, has suffered the worst economic recession since the great depression of the thirties. However, the west, particularly America, seems unwilling to give up arrogance and embrace humility. This recession cannot be truly called global because many Eastern countries were not as badly affected as the western countries and some of the eastern countries showed considerable growth during this period. China’s economy grew more than 9% last year and India’s economy also grew more than 6%. Therefore, instead of calling it a global recession, we can call it the western economic crisis.

Many people had hoped that this recession will lead to some introspection and change of attitude by America, the leading western country, and also the country which was one of the worst affected by this economic crisis. When Obama was elected as President, it seemed that America was willing to make some fundamental changes in its attitude. One of the changes Obama was advocating was a change from arrogance to humility. However, it seems that instead of Obama changing American attitudes, he has decided to change himself. President Bush’s era was when the arrogance reached its peak.

Obama wanted to change the attitudes of Bush’s era. He was trying to convince America that the time of exclusive American domination is over and we have to share power with the other countries, and to give up the unilateral approach and adopt a multilateral approach. Obama wanted to reach out to the Muslim world and try to convince them to give up the perception that America was anti-Islam. This feeling that America was against the Muslims became prevalent during Bush’s era. Obama also advocated a nonconfrontational approach toward China and emphasized cooperation with that country. However, both of these concepts have changed now. America finds itself in growing confrontation with the Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Yemen. Even a country such as Nigeria, with whom America always had good business relations, now feels that its relations with America are strained.

America seems to be deliberately provoking China. President Obama has decided to meet Dalai Lama, whom he initially did not meet. Similarly, America has decided to sell weapons to Taiwan, a move very strongly opposed by China. Taiwan and Tibet are the two most important issues for the Chinese. The Chinese are going to be very unhappy over these American moves. Therefore, a trade war between America and China may become unavoidable. Obama’s desire to cooperate with China will not be fulfilled.

The trends of relative decline of the west and rise of the East can be seen from things like the world’s tallest buildings, quality of airports, and the services provided by the airlines. The Empire state building was built in 1931 and was the world’s tallest building until 1972, when the twin towers, also in New York, became the tallest buildings in the world. In 1974, the Willis tower in Chicago became the tallest building in the world. After that, the tallest buildings in the world have shifted to the East. In 1998, the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia became the tallest building of the world. In 2004, Taiwan built a building in Taipei which had the tallest antenna in the world. In 2008, a building in Shanghai became the tallest building and in 2010 the Burj Khalifa became the tallest building of the world.

The airports in the Asian countries are now providing better services then the airports in the western countries and in the past several years, the Asian airports have been given the Best Airport of the Year award. Similarly, the quality of services provided by the Asian airlines is becoming better than the services provided by the western airlines. Singapore Airlines has been awarded as the best airline many times. Even the differences between the Asian airline hostesses and their American counterparts are becoming quite noticeable. Generally, the Asian hostesses are younger, slimmer, more brightly dressed, and appear to be more enthusiastic to serve. These were observations made by a friend’s European wife.

Why cannot the West see these obvious changes and trends? The most likely answer is that arrogance and ignorance like each other’s company. The arrogance does not let the west see what is obvious. Many people may wonder how can the west be ignorant when it is going through an “Information Age;” the computers and the internet have flooded us with information.
Information, however, does not automatically become knowledge and knowledge does not automatically become wisdom. Therefore, having more information will not necessarily make you wiser or more knowledgeable. For information to become knowledge, it has to first be absorbed. Without absorption, all of the information will not do you any good. You can die of thirst while being surrounded by ocean water; similarly, you can remain ignorant when you are flooded by information which you cannot absorb.

We have to apply and put the knowledge to experience so that it can transform into wisdom. The Eastern philosophy understood and stressed the difference between information, knowledge, and wisdom. Therefore, the East has always emphasized the relationship of knowledge and humility.

The west has always promoted individualism, while the East has emphasized collectivism. Wisdom is the result of collective experience. In my humble opinion, Guru Granth Sahib can be considered the essence of the Eastern collective wisdom. Guru Granth Sahib has called arrogance the worst disease affecting mankind and humility the greatest virtue of man. Guru Granth Sahib advocates that all suffering is the result of ignorance and knowledge (“enlightenment”) will end suffering. Ignorance leads to failure to understand one’s true self and limits one’s existence to a narrow self. Such a self-centered person becomes selfish, greedy, and oppressive. On the other hand, a really knowledgeable person understands that his existence is a part of the whole. One’s awareness is a part of universal consciousness and cosmic awareness. Such a person will become sharing, concerned, and compassionate.

[Sawraj Singh M.D. F.I.C.S. Chairman, Washington State Network for Human Rights]

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Gandhi’s descendant questions Modi’s Gandhianism

Gurpreet Singh

THE descendant of Mahatma Gandhi, who was in New Delhi to attend the eighth Parvasi Bhartiya Divas says that Gujarat Chief Minister’s views on Gandhianism are in complete contrast to what is being done in that state of India.

While addressing the gathering of the people of Indian origin at the event that was attended by nearly 1,000 delegates from different parts of the world, the Gujarat Chief Minister, Narinder Modi had said that his state is influenced by the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi.

Ela Gandhi, who came all the way from South Africa to attend the event told this correspondent that she finds Modi’s views in contrast to what his government is doing in that part of the country. ``They have removed Gandhiji from the syllabus of the schools and yet he says that we are going along Gandhian ideas. I would like to know how he can say on one hand that he Gandhiji and on the other hand removes him from the school syllabus?’’. Gandhi, who is known as the father of Indian nation and an international peace icon, was born in Gujarat that witnessed anti Muslim pogrom in 2002. The violence was blamed on the Modi’s BJP government, which is also accused of saffronizing the school history.

``People have proved that he has removed chunk of information on Gandhiji. If my information is wrong then he has to tell me that its wrong.’’ Ela Gandhi was asked what she thinks about the anti Muslim pogrom and the Modi’s participation in a ceremony of ``shastra puja’’(weapon worship) as Gandhi believed in non violence.

Modi was seeking foreign investment in his state and had listed the achievements of his government in terms of progress and development. ``I can see that he has done a lot of good work. I would like to look at the good and not the evil, but while doing so one cannot overlook the fact that may its bit of misinterpretation’’, said Ela Gandhi.

Parvasi Bhartiya Divas is also linked to the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa. A big portrait of Gandhi greeted the participants at the dais, where Modi was sitting.

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Poseurs and Pragmatists: Wars of the Space Age

Dr. Amrik Singh writes from Sacramento

NORWEGIAN Nobel Peace committee applied a different yardstick to award 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. It was more for the possibilities and prospects of peace in the nuclear-armed, terror-ridden and fiscally-starved world than for any accomplishments in these areas. Diplomacy in the 21st century is no more a play of tricks, but a commitment to high ideals of integrity, honesty and humanity. The lack of the same in the last two centuries brought much manmade havoc on humankind. Agent provocateurs, secret societies and pseudo divines only made this planet more vulnerable to devastation. Unethical standards in the shape of scientifically proven policies were more to control one kind with the other. Warfare is no more the same old strategic advantage. The meanings of heroism and patriotism have changed and compel a point of departure from old immorality of conflicting times.

Only a ‘no strike principle’ can save the planet from impending nuclear annihilation. Who can instill such a moral responsibility even in ones who are ready to blow themselves up for their heavenly dreams? Who can stir the conscience of invisible terrorist mentors in administrative set-ups, religious orders and welfare clubs who thrive on people’s money and hog media attention for their facade of diplomatic acumen? Maybe, no one, but if there is a possibility, it can be the US president.

While accepting the honor, President Obama measured up to verbal expectations in his highly analytical speech. He divested himself from all hangovers that he had used in his famous speeches before and after assuming the office. He realized it was necessary to distinguish the rhetoric from reality. War has been a determining factor for making or unmaking of nations. Regardless of horrors, “just war” as a last resort are waged against evils. Fighting nation enter treaties to protect human rights, end genocide and secure liberty in the hope of establishing “imperatives of just peace.”

During primaries, Obama referred to Martin Luther King, Jr. as his hero for he fought a battle for civil rights through peaceful means. Since it has some connections with Gandhi’s much-hyped struggle for Untouchables of India, Obama made frequent references to both King and Gandhi. But while accepting Nobel Peace Prize, he disassociated from both Gandhi and King by clearly making a statement that they could not be his leaders in his fight against terrorism. To submit to terrorism and allow terrorists to annihilate all symbols of life and liberty with the hope that they will renounce violence themselves one day sounds totally unrealistic. Unchecked Hitler would have left a different world than the one that we see today. Baruch Spinoza rightly puts that peace is not an absence of war, it is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence and justice. According to Malcolm X “you can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has freedom”

Arthur Koestler’s essay “Mahatma Gandhi - Yogi and Commissar: A Re-valuation” provides profound insights into Bapu’s “Himalyan inconsistencies” in advising Jews to become sacrificial goats to Hitler’s ire. Even when Hitler had six million gas victims, Gandhi advised that the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher’s knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs---it would have roused the world and the people of Germany. When asked how he would meet the atom bomb with the non-violence, Gandhi said he would bare his chest to the pilot who would change his mind in throwing the bomb. Koestler points out that the Indian establishment attempted not only to suppress Gandhi’s last experiment of sleeping with Manu, but a conspiracy of silence rules the roost to wipe out all inconsistencies of Gandhi’s character. Koestler terms Gandhi as the greatest “anachronism” of twentieth century and emphasizes, “It is equally pleasant but futile to argue with intellectuals who adhere to the Gandhi cult and pay a lip service to a philosophy easy to eulogize and impossible to realize.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. went to India in 1959. He wanted to get inspiration from Gandhi’s life for civil rights movement. That Gandhi lived a life full of contradictions, that British invested in his making, that he grabbed Dalit baton forcibly from Dr. BR Ambedkar, that he got the role of a Mahtma only when Krishna Murti had rejected Annie Besant’s offer, that he was the creation of the Theosophical Society are altogether points of a different story. For deification of Gandhi, the role of Ambedkar, Sikh and Muslim freedom fighters had to be not only driven underground, but also to be discredited. For making the relevance of non-violence with Vedic overtones, theatre of violence has to be established. Similarly for testing his abstinence from sex, a sexual scenario has to be masqueraded with young women.

Gandhi is known to have got inspiration from Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy. But Tolstoy was critical of Gandhi's style of politics. Tolstoy wrote a “Letter to a Hindu” (1908). It was a reply to Tarak Nath Dass who was the Editor of Free Hindustan. Tolstoy castigates Indians in the following words. “A commercial company enslaved a nation comprising two hundred millions. Tell this to a man free from superstition and he will fail to grasp what these words mean. What does it mean that thirty thousand men, not athletes but rather weak and ordinary people, have subdued two hundred millions vigorous, clever, capable, freedom loving people? Don’t the figures make it clear that it is not the English who have enslaved the Indians, but the Indians who have enslaved themselves?-----"
“If the people of India are enslaved by violence it is only because they themselves lived and have lived by violence, and don’t recognize the eternal law of love inherent in humanity.” Tolstoy’s oblique references to Indians for supporting violence of the British against their own people is obvious. It was so discomfitting for Gandhi that he urged readers not to believe in everything Tolstoy said in "Letter to a Hindu." Gandhi mentioned it in his introduction to Tolstoy's letter.

Two books :Gandhi: Behind the Mask of Divinity by G.B. Singh and Gandhi: Under Cross-Examination by G.B. Singh and Tim Watson examine Gandhi’s masked divinity. Their research has questioned many premises of Gandhian philosophy. They claim that his entire philosophy is based on a ‘lie,’ the lie that was needed by the British to steady their shaky foundation and that more suited to lay the foundation of Indian nationalism.

According to Dr. BR Ambedkar, most movements that Gandhi pioneered turned out violent. On 28 December 1931, when Gandhi came back from Round Table Conference, depressed classes welcomed him with “Our Charge sheet against Gandhi and Congress” “Enough of patronizing attitude and lip sympathy. We ask for justice and fair play.” Depressed classes came with black flags. This led to a clash that killed forty people on both sides. Ambedkar writes, “For the first time Mr. Gandhi was made aware that there could be black flags even against him. When he was asked about it later in the day, he said he was not angry, the Untouchables being the flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone. This is of course the Mahatmic way of concealing the truth.” George Orwell in his reaction to Tolstoy’s criticism of Shakespeare characterized Tolstoy – and other would-be saints like Gandhi – as forbiddingly inhuman in their attitudes.”

The world accepted Gandhi as he became synonym for peace, non violence and civil rights. But it was more for rhetorical purposes than adapting non-violence in social and political discourses. In the Indian context, non-violent poseur inspired non-alignment on the one hand and an alignment with former Soviet Union on the other. It helped India in International image making and at the same time rejecting any offers of mediation in their disputes. Nelson Mandela was snubbed once when he suggested resolving Kashmir issue. Similarly, many other countries have to eat humble pie, when they offered to mediate in disputed territory. Despite ritualistic vows to non-violence and civil rights, flagrant violation of citizenship rights takes place unchecked ever since India got freedom. India has smartly dodged any International pressure to sign NPT and ratify UN Convention Against Torture. According to bureaucratic circles such contradictions only establish India’s unique position in world affairs.

President Obama was honest enough to make it clear to the Nobel Prize Committee that though he used King and Gandhi in his speeches as the guiding North Star, yet they can’t be his leaders to deal with the reality that is more complex, intractable and challenging.

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