SPECIAL ISSUE

November 20, 1999 : Think before you support...

Dear Readers:

The president of the United States is the most popular and powerful person in the world. He is expected to be a learned and knowledgeable person. His grasp of affairs of the US vis-à-vis the world is supposed to be sharp. In fact, he is supposed to be a political wizard, a master planner, a good economist, and above all, a great diplomat and a great strategist of world affairs. He is the President of the largest democracy in the world. He should be a thorough statesman.

But what we have seen in George W. Bush, the Republican frontrunner for the Presidential nomination, mocks the high standards expected of a person to hold the highest political office in the world. How hollow has been his knowledge about the hottest topics in current world affairs has been exposed. It has yet to be known how much he has been informed of most of domestic affairs.

The person, who wants to be the President of the US, does not know the name of the Prime Minister of India, the biggest democracy in the world. The country has been so much in the news that no average individual can miss the happenings there. The whole world watched its orderly conducts of the biggest general elections recently. The world-admired India’s rest-raint in the face of the most provocative aggression on its north-west frontiers be its neighboring country. India’s mature nuclear policy and its stand on the most controversial CTBT is always a subject of discussion at all international forums.

Bush is equally ignorant of what has been happening in Islamic Pakistan. He dose not know the name of the general who heads the county and how he has come to power. Bush does not know the difference between a coup and an election. He says the “new Pakistani general has just been elected.” He then fumbles and corrects himself by saying “not elected, this guy took over office.” But how? Bush does not know! What is more obnoxious is that Bush expects “this guy (the general) is going to bring stability to the country and I think that’s good news for the subcontinent.” Obviously, Bush does not know the difference between an election and a coup; and he feels that the coup would bring good not only to that country, but the whole subcontinent.

If this is the maturity of a candidate who aspires to be the President of the Largest democracy, is it difficult to comprehend the type of administration he will establish and the policies he will formulate?

The average Indian in this country is better informed than an average American about the affairs of India and the world. An average American citizen may not bother about Bush’s knowledge of the world affairs. But definitely it should be the matter of concern to all Indians in this country. The Republican Party’s policy towards India is well known to every Indian. One year ahead of the Presidential elections, Bush has made obvious his knowledge of India, and his expectations from the Army rule in Pakistan.

Do Indians need any more explanations about what kind of foreign policy Bush will pursue towards India if he is elected? Many Indian community leaders here are rising as well as contributing, huge campaign funds for Bush. What has happened to their wisdom and maturity? The writing is clear on the wall. They should forthwith stop raising and contributing funds for the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, if they are for the future of India, their Motherland.

Sincerely,

Prashant Shah
Editor & Publisher