Gurpreet Singh writes from Vancouver

THE electoral system and the current assembly polls in India have once again exposed the impotency of the country’s political leadership. A series of incidents have revealed to what extent the Indian leaders can go to appease religious extremists and regressive forces. Although one can understand the compulsion of the religion-based communalist and theocratic political parties like the BJP or the Akali Dal, the Congress and the leftists also disappointed the secular and progressive forces.

The Salman Rushdie episode is the most recent case where the ruling Congress party has shown its weakness by failing to provide security and assurance to the renowned writer who could not attend the recently-concluded Jaipur Literature Festival in India. At the bottom of the issue is Rushdie’s controversial novel Satanic Verses which had enraged the Muslim fundamentalists. The so-called secular Congress government had promptly banned it to pacify the anger within India back then. This time with an eye on the assembly polls in various states with a sizeable Muslim population, the government could not assure him freedom at the festival that faced disruption from the Islamic extremists. Surprisingly, Rushdie has visited India on earlier occasions and so, how a new threat perception arose, remains a mystery.

If this was not enough India’s Overseas Affairs Minister went a step further by criticizing a US comedian Jay Leno who made a satirical remark about the Golden Temple. Such enthusiasm on part of a Congress-led government cannot be seen in isolation when Punjab was also heading for the assembly elections. While the Congress government continues to shield those involved in the anti-Sikh pogrom of 1984, it went overboard to appease the Sikh voters for a silly remark. A few years ago, the Congress party also tried to nail Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for cracking a joke on the first Sikh Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. If Congress really cares for the minorities it should rather punish the guilty of the 1984 violence instead of showing hollow concern over idiotic comments.

Likewise, the Congress-led government did not let an opportunity of appeasing the Hindu fundamentalists too when the issue of the proposed ban on Bhagvad Gita in Russia rocked the Indian parliament. The Congress tried to intervene in the matter as if India is a Hindu state.

Being a bourgeois political party, the Congress has compromised many a times, but the leftists too showed their cowardice in Punjab. The towering leader of the Communist Party of India, Hardev Arshi also went to the controversial Dera Sacha Sauda for votes. This was despite the fact that the Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim was accused of exploiting women and being involved in the murder of a local journalist. The Dera is also blamed for promoting superstition something the communists are supposed to challenge.

It was the progressive Indian rationalists or the Taraksheels who first raised their voice against these incidents while the Communists also opposed the Dera activities. Yet, Arhsi visited the Dera for votes like any other political candidate. Arshi’s action has brought disgrace to the legacy of the leftist scholars like Paash and Jaimal Padha who were murdered by the Sikh fundamentalists during terrorism.

This kind of vote politics and pandering will give further legitimacy to the forces that are opposed to free thinking. One can argue that the politicians cannot be blamed because people have a faith in religion and sects, but, they should show spine and statesmanship if India needs to develop in accordance with the scientific ideals of the first and one of the most modernist Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru. There should be absolutely no compromise with religious goons and those indulging in moral policing. A very strong and clear message must be sent to such forces that they have no license to muzzle a free voice. A free expression cannot really wipe out any religion but religious madness has certainly wiped out many a human lives.

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My struggles against racial discrimination and racist conspiracy

Sawraj Singh

MY family and I have become victims of racial discrimination and racist conspiracy because we were vocal minorities, and our views came in direct conflict with the prevailing dominant American and western thinking at this time. To me, it appears that America and the other western capitalist countries are thinking of starting a new world war to preserve the status quo in the world and that is to preserve the American hegemony and the western domination and to maintain the present unipolar world order based upon these.

They want to make India the arena of the Third World War and we have been strong advocates of multiculturalism, pluralism, and a multipolar world order based upon these principles.

I feel that a vast majority of white doctors in America hold extreme rightist views. Therefore, the medical profession as a whole, and the state agencies dealing with health care, seem to be influenced by such views and have a racially-prejudiced outlook. I feel that because of these factors, they conspired and incited people to bring charges against me and terrorised us so that we could not make an adequate defense. Their main intention was to discourage me from exposing their racist and discriminatory policies, and at the higher level, the plans and intrigues of starting a Third World War. However, I have decided to devote myself to the cause of exposing the real designs of America and other capitalist countries, so that their plans and intrigues to push the world to the most destructive Third World War do not work.

Even though it appears that the State Licensing Board and the state agencies such as the Department of Social Health & Services (DSHS) are selectively going after minority physicians, yet, no study has been conducted to prove or disprove that. When there were repeated charges against the police departments that they are more likely to issue tickets to minorities, then some studies were done in some states and the charges proved correct in many cases. Even a simple thing like the racial breakdown of doctors against whom adverse actions have been taken has not been published. While I have experienced this myself, it has been felt by other physicians from the minority community that some white physicians bad mouth them in front of patients and, sometimes, openly incite the patients to file lawsuits against them.

It also appears that some attorneys feel that minority physicians who are particularly working in a very large white population are sitting ducks (easy targets) because white juries and white judges will be more sympathetic to white patients rather than minority physicians. I am not aware of a single case in the state of Washington where a physician was investigated by the Ethics Committee or was charged by the state for inciting racial hatred. How long will it take to address the problem of racism in the medical profession?

For the last several years, I have been engaged in the struggle against racism, racial prejudice, and discrimination by promoting the concepts of multiculturalism and diversity. I am planning to write a book to expose the racist conspiracy which was hatched against us. However, in this article, I will briefly discuss the types of activities in which we were engaged and which made us the targets of racists.

An African-American boy was mercilessly beaten by white police officers. We took the case and brought the media to publicise the case. The police publicly apologised and settled the case.

A group of Mexican women went to a restaurant and were not served and were made to wait while white customers who came after them were served. We took the case with the restaurant. The restaurant publicly apologised to the Mexican community and invited the entire community in the neighborhood to an all expenses-paid dinner.

Our efforts resulted in the Police Department starting a cultural sensitivity course for the police officers.

We were hosts to an annual Diversity Day and opened our farmhouse and property for hundreds of people belonging to different cultures together and served them food as well as provided entertainment and tried to educate people about the merits of accepting, tolerating, and celebrating diversity. We also celebrated Humanity Day in one of the Gurudwara Sahibs (Sikh temple) in the Seattle area on the birthday of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion. We invited and honoured people belonging to different religions and communities. Guru Nanak was a great advocate of dialogue between different religions and philosophies and of the principles of universal concern and universal welfare.

Not only did we receive a lot of coverage from the media, but our efforts were also appreciated by the authorities such as the Governor of the state of Washington and the President of the country.

However, as the priority of the American capitalists changed, we came in the way of their goal, which is to start a Third World War in order to weaken their main adversary, China, and their potential adversary, India. What can be better than making the two fight each other? The more I tried to expose this strategy, the more I and my family became victims of racial discrimination and racist conspiracy. Regardless of what happens, I will continue the struggle against inequality, unfairness, injustice, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and exploitation.

[The writer is an MD, FICS and chairman of the Washington State Network for Human Rights and chairman of the Central Washington Coalition for Social Justice]

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