Obama, at the annual National Prayer Breakfast said, “India is a place where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion, been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage and their beliefs – acts of intolerance that would have shocked Gandhi, the person who helped to liberate that nation.”
I would request Obama to have a look at his own country whose native inhabitants are racists, prejudiced and leave no stone unturned in resorting to violence as an act to express their religious intolerance towards minorities. Yes, there are several instances of US propagating hate crimes to against people having different religious faiths.
In a recent incident, a 57 year old man hailing from India was beaten by a police personnel from Alabama who was just taking a stroll outside his house. His inability to converse in English landed him in trouble as he was traumatized by the policeman (who tossed him to the ground) to such an extent that he lay paralysed in the hospital. Of course, his family men filed a complaint against the policeman and a probe is going on.
This is not an isolated incident as there have been many such incidents earlier and are even happening today which can be termed as hate crimes. When I switched on the television, I was stunned to watch the news that in Washington, some miscreants had vandalized a Hindu temple defacing one of the walls with a hate message written on it.
This makes me wonder where we are heading to. On one hand, people are intelligent enough to find a way of reaching the moon whereas on the other hand, we can’t stand a person belonging to a different community practicing his religious faith.
The rampant gun culture in US, the frequent killing in schools and the treatment towards minorities show their naked face which Obama should think about before delivering such speeches. What if Modi points out these facts to him? I am sure he will take offence because after all, America is the Big Brother whom no one can preach but can only listen to. It is all about power games.
Therefore I have a question for Obama. How tolerant is US? US might be the most developed country in the world but are the minds of all Americans equally developed? US might be the home to some of the best universities in the world but what is the use of education if it does not teach a person to be communally sensitive? What is the purpose of walking in the most expensive street in the world when people around look at you with suspicion and contempt?
Just to inform you Mr. Obama, India inspite of being communally sensitive is home to people belonging to all religious faiths. If there have been instances of atrocities towards other communities, there have also been instances of unity in diversity in case of war, natural calamities and other adversities like terror attacks. So maybe we have won more points than your country in this regard, Mr. Obama.
