FAILED AMERICAN DIPLOMACY IN INDIA, ARE LIKES OF WENDY DONIGER RESPONSIBLE?

Failure of American Diplomatic Strategies
Traced to Distorted Histories
by the Likes of Wendy Doniger
(An Indian Perspective)
Dr. Pramod V. Pathak



The biased history of Asia, South Asia and in particular of India, as written by the likes of Wendy Doniger, Paul Courtright and James Laine has made the American policy makers take distorted view of the region. The U.S. foreign policy stalwarts have committed mistakes on several occasions. Decades ago, they denied India access to a super computer. India’s “super computer boy,” Dr. Vijay Bhatkar, built it with the help of his colleagues without turning to the U.S. During the recent visit of the American President, Mr. Obama, in Nov. 2010, American policy makers and U.S. Foreign Service administrators again committed a number of blunders and botched the whole trip for President Obama. A person at the presidential level has to depend on the group of policy makers and get briefed in order to actually deliver speeches outlining and reflecting policy of the nation. In their task of backing up President Obama, the American bureaucracy has utterly failed and failed him too.

In the first place they asked for personal identities of the Chief Minister and Dy. Chief Minister of the Maharashtra State in Mumbai in their own home state. CM Ashok Chavan was like a dog lay biting dust at that time on account of Adarsh building scam at that time. He got a chance to show his one man upmanship by denying meeting. The consulate had to tender apologies to him. This was a fiasco for the U.S. Consulate. It is besides the point that both the Chief and Dy. Chief Ministers were axed just a few minutes after Obama left India. Earlier Americans had Indian Central Minister George Fernandes undress at their customs counter on the American soil and made ex-President of India Abdul Kalam to undergo personal screening without following diplomatic protocol. American consulate had the privilege to take a firm stand to ask for their credentials instead of treating them like ordinary citizens. No diplomats of such stature on planned diplomatic visits are processed through the Security in such manner at the port of entry.

The front line of the national economic daily, The Economic Times dated 4th Nov. read, “After drubbing at home, Obama won’t bring Diwali gifts for India”. It pointed to the mood of the nation. Under such circumstances letting retinue of more than three hundred business people to accompany the President was a great mistake. We anticipated that these people had come to India to squeeze our businesses and Industrialists, open up countrywide Malls and deprive the millions of middle level self employed Indian population and retailers of their jobs. Mr. President was out to purchase 50,000 jobs for Americans at our cost. At the end when the deals were finalized, these amounted to paltry $10 billion i.e. Rs 50000 Cr (The Times of India Dated 7th Nov. 2010). USA is reported to be spending around $1 billion/day on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. These days, antisocial Indian scamsters like Central Telecom Minister Raja, Suresh Kalamadi or erstwhile Chief Minister Madhu Koda indulge in petty corruption of that order. They could have bought what President Obama had to sell in one hour. Deals comprised mostly of the defense items. That means Americans will supply defense items free to Pakistan by way of unconditional aid of $1 billion for 7 years to wage proxy war on India and sell the same items to India at an added cost to subsidize their aid to Pakistan!! Most Indians would hate it. Then Obama showed meanness by not mentioning Pakistan in his address while occupying the suite in Hotel Taj where the Pakistan originated gory attack took place on 26/11. It created uproar in the Indian media. It was the biggest lapse on Obama’s part. Then he was grilled by anybody and everybody in public hearing. He had to back track on many occasions. Who was the American policy maker advising Obama to omit Pakistan from his Mumbai address? Was he brought up on the staple food of history written by likes of Wendy?

When in Delhi, Obama infuriated our most balanced, savvy and soft spoken Prime Minster Dr. Manmohan Singh to publicly chide Obama by saying, “We are not afraid of the K-word. - - - Indians are not in the business of stealing jobs. The outsourcing industry, I believe India has helped improve the productive capacity and productivity of American Industries” (The Times of India Dated 9th Nov. 2010). Is President Obama such an inept and immature politician to let such things happen? Or, was he briefed by inept officials?

Last, but not the least, was Obama’s visit to Humayun’s tomb. Who was Humayun? Son of an invader Babar; a failed prince; he took asylum in Iran for more than a decade and then he came back to India to acquire a small kingdom. His illustrious son Akbar made it into the Mughal Empire, but to be despised by hardcore Indian Muslims for being secular and honoring other religions of the day. Keeping in tune with the aspiration of emerging India, the American policy makers could have arranged his visit to the newly inaugurated magnificent Swaminarayan Temple – Aksharadhaam. It has become the new pride of India. Thus the Americans could have conveyed a message of appreciation to the majority people of India. Instead the American Administration preferred to bow to the wishes of the ruling Congress Govt. This UPA government has been pampering the Muslim minority at the cost of national interests. Did UPA Government suggest Obama to visit Humayun’s tomb? It no way does it come close to either Taj Mahal or Swaminarayan Temple in architectural grandeur.

Can USA ever make Pakistan a stable country where Punjabi Muslims are killing and persecuting Baluchis, Mohajirs and Sindhis, all their Muslim brothers? Can Punjabi Pakistan army, ISI, and Punjabi Mullahcrasy in Pakistan ever accept Kaffir (Non-believer) Governments, whether in India or in USA? Can USA ever achieve peace in Afghanistan or capture Osama bin Laden without dismembering Pakistan in four independent States of Punjab, Pakhtunistan, Sindh and Baluchistan? Can Americans prevent burning and destruction of fuel tankers and aid convoys sent to the forces deployed in Afghanistan without safe passage through Bolan Pass in independent Baluchistan? Century ago the British Army used it successfully. American policy makers refuse to learn from the past experiences of their “52nd” client state, UK. On the other hand, Obama advises us Indians that stable Pakistan is the need of India!!!! It has sent India a wrong signal. What are the Americans interested in? In helping India or aiding China and Pakistan?

Since WW II, Americans have not won a single war, be it in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, or now in Afghanistan. It is a failure of generations of American policy makers who must have read half-baked, falsifying histories of Indian subcontinent written by likes of Wendy Doniger, James Laine and Paul Courtright. God help America to come out of the morass by wising up to a correct understanding of the Indian and Asian affairs. It will mean that the American scholars will have to keep aside their age-old biases to write good history books giving accurate and unbiased information. Such knowledge will go a long way to not give room to wrong-headed foreign policy in South Asian Continent.