It is a very well drafted article on who is Indian? However the author misses a point here. He criticises the love showered on the people of indian origin than criticising the attitude of people towards fellow Indians....
I feel very pity only about the last para in the article where he said that the shopkeeper ran away without bothering about him. It reminded me of the recent accident I had when I visited India. A car cam from nowhere and we tried to avoid collision but it brushed my right leg. Our bike was about to skid but my bro balanced it miraculously. If he had not balanced it i would have been a history. But when i was checking out my leg this car driver just came in front said sorry from his seat and speeded away, I could not even take his car number. and no other commuter stopped by. Its a real pity that we dont care about eachother and when the same thing happens to us we may curse others for not helping....
So Is it more important to know who is Indian or is it more important to help a person from a human point of view?
Hi Raja, Ethnic Indians in Malaysia are categorized and discriminated by the state. It is natural that they identify themselves as Indians. Ethnic Indians in real democracies dont face a problem of this magnitude
RE:Re
by on Dec 08, 2007 11:21 AM Permalink
Dear Mr. Menon, As the author states in his second paragraph, Ethnic Indians are being categorized and discriminated by the state in India. What do they identify themselves as?
RE:Very Good
by Rajesh Ramachander on Dec 08, 2007 08:44 AM Permalink
I find the article also emotional and tending towards rhetorics. The author wants India to be a pacifist state that would not care for its diaspora's discrimination anywhere in the world
RE:Very Good
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:53 AM Permalink
It is Indias interest not to interfere. Ofcouse the Prime minister has expressed his concern. Not much can be done beyond that. India does not have a leverage on Malayia and for that matter India does not have a leverage on any country in the world. One has to be strong like US or Russia or China to have a say in the International community.
RE:Very Good
by Rajesh Ramachander on Dec 08, 2007 09:04 AM Permalink
We should not interfere but at the same time not hesitate to raise this issue diplomatically. Given current world polity, US or Russia is more likely to listen to India than favor Malaysia.
Malaysian India's are facing a state level discrimination. If India remains silent it will only stand to loose respect.
RE:Very Good
by Vijay Warrier on Dec 08, 2007 10:33 AM Permalink
Just to bring to your attention i have been in South East Asia for a quite while with an IT job, born in India and transferred with a job to this country......
I have been iteracting with the Tamils of South East asian origins for a quite while.
It is very well known that if you ask about the origins of so called Tamil-Indian, they disown India and neither wish to related. I fully agree with them that it is the right for them to show their respect to their own country.
But then why should we interfere. What they are facing is their own problems and if so we wish it to be handled diplomatically then it should be the same as any other race facing attrocities or crimes being committed by...
The whole issue should be viewed as Human rights voilation, rather India trying woo a particular community because they were all Indians.
RE:Very Good
by Rajesh Ramachander on Dec 08, 2007 08:32 PM Permalink
That is surprising to generalize. I too have a few Tamil friends of Malaysian origin. During my stay in Malaysia, I found them to be proud of their origins from India. Even though they are third generation they still maintain ties with their relatives in India. Mind it these are not economically weak folks but well educated Malaysian Tamils. Their love of tamil would make us feel ashamed as we ourselves do not show similar respects.
RE:Very Good
by Rajesh Ramachander on Dec 08, 2007 08:32 PM Permalink
That is surprising to generalize. I too have a few Tamil friends of Malaysian origin. During my stay in Malaysia, I found them to be proud of their origins from India. Even though they are third generation they still maintain ties with their relatives in India. Mind it these are not economically weak folks but well educated Malaysian Tamils. Their love of tamil would make us feel ashamed as we ourselves do not show similar respects.
RE:Very Good
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 09:08 AM Permalink
Well what you are saying can become an embarrassment in the UN for India. For every issue India raises about the minorities in Malaysia, the malays will raise two issues that will be even more serious violation of minority rights in India. So its better not to open a Pandoras box.
RE:Very Good
by Rajesh Ramachander on Dec 08, 2007 09:22 AM Permalink
Well don't feel embarrassed...there are professionals (foreign service) to take care of this. All that is needed is political will.
RE:Very Good
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:39 AM Permalink
No we are not fools. Ofcourse most Indians can see very clearly when they are used as means to attain cheap political objectives. The only thing is the use your vote wisely.
I agree 100% with the author. We have a zillion problems of our own - Nandigram, naxalites, terrorism, displaced Kashmiri pandits and many more. Why waste time, money and effort on people who have left India a century ago apart from expressing a concern over possible human (not Indian) rights violation. If Malaysian government chooses to treat long time immigrants differently, it is their immaturity and mistake.
There is nothing called as "Real Indian"..wake up my friend! We are a bunch of inferior slaves who took more than 200 years to get our freedom at the cost of horrifying partition, and still look towards the west under crisis situation. We take false pride in talking about "Unity in diversity" where in reality its the other way round. We are proud of the fact that we haven't attacked any country in past 2000 years inspite of being attacked so many times. Our celebrities crave for attention from western media whereas the hollywood celebrities care a damn about our celebrities...remember Richard Gere spontaneously answering "who is Shah Rukh!" in one of the indian talk shows. Our movies are made for non resident indians and thus the domestic market is in real slump. So all the examples in your article are justified in a way. All we know is to walk around with some illusionary pride and arrogance of being indian..god knows for what reason. Time to think beyond these problems.
RE:Ghar ki Murgi dal baraabar
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:17 AM Permalink
We should be proud of being Indian. Ofcourse we should be. But at the same time we should be open to accept the Global cultures. The world is coming on one platform and we should not resist the good influences.
RE:Ghar ki Murgi dal baraabar
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:32 AM Permalink
Who is to decide what is good or bad western influence? When there is erosion with in it is normal to succumb to external influences.
RE:Ghar ki Murgi dal baraabar
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:38 AM Permalink
Let people decide for themselves. No one has the right to tell other what they should or they should not do in their personal lives. For. e.g. you can be a very good person believing that Ram existed and I get be equally good denying that. Its a matter of personal choice.
RE:Ghar ki Murgi dal baraabar
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:50 AM Permalink
Why are you being the judge. You are underestimating the masses of India. Which means you have no respect for India as India does not mean a piece of land. it means its masses.
when Taslima wrote something against islam lot agitation by muslim and the CM sent her other states, and the same CM says Lord Ram is a fiction charector by writers, he cared about muslims sentiments about islam but he never cared about hindus sentiment about Ram, what ever he (Lord Ram) there is big faith on him and peple feel he is a God so he should respect people feelings, what kind of double standards this, are we hindus more tolerant? or we dont belive Ram as God?
RE:double standards
by Bandhu on Dec 08, 2007 10:04 AM Permalink
Hi Pranav, This is just an example you gave, but in India many things are against Hindus and their sentiments. Still many of us dont' question, posing we are most tolerent and decent people in the world. Because of this we have lost identity in the world. Politicians produce thestatements just to gain the votes. They are very much clear that 'Hindus have very late wakening people, so talk more about Minorities and gain votes. Even Human rights commision wont care at Hindus. becase we are so weak, dont defend and hesitate to speakout. Not only politicians,you can see here only (in this column) how Hindus quarrel/argus each other.
RE:double standards
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:13 AM Permalink
Buddhadeb was wrong is saying what he said because he is representing a state. his personal opinions should reflect the one that is of the masses. Having said that I think everyone should have the choice to deny religion. Personally on a person to person basis I might agree with Buddhadeb but he is should not talk in his personal capacity, he should talk for the masses.
RE:double standards
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:20 AM Permalink
The problem with atheist and communist is that they take for granted that every action of theirs is for the masses. Where as in reality everything is based on their selfish motives only. India does not need imports of doctrine from west such as communism. India has enough experience , toleration, judgement which has been handed over thousands of years. WB is suffering from massive disease of communism
RE:double standards
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:22 AM Permalink
See not everything happens for the best in democracy but you should learn to respect peoples verdict in WB.
RE:double standards
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:29 AM Permalink
We certainly are paying respects and reaping the rubbish from this system. Democracy is not a silver bullet but only an alternative with lesser evil.
RE:double standards
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:36 AM Permalink
So you want to bring in military rule in India ? Its very sad to that you do not respect the democratic system of India.
Firstly, I am not picking up on anyone. I am also an Indian. This is my general view. An indian think only about themselves. They will not care about others. Go back into History. Mughals invaded India. Indians don't have unity. They don't stand up united. They are selfish. They see only about there interests. Take another example of British rule. It started of with a bunch of british people, called East India Company. They also realised how things work in India. So they started Divide & Rule policy. The system in India is like that. May be the huge population is also one of the reason. Currently, Politicians are biggest threat to India. They will go to any level for there profit. Whether it is a blast in temple or mosque OR any communal riots etc.
I think, things will surely change, but may take some time. Current Younger generation has a major role to play for that.
RE:The Problem is our Attitude is like that...
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:12 AM Permalink
Don't worry, the younger generation seem to be too busy adopting western culture, ethos and morals. There may be some benefits but at a great cost. It is not unity that is the reason for the current situation. It is a lack of awareness, pride and assertiveness about our culture. We are slowly becoming insensitive to everything around us to the point where everyone have started taking us Indians for granted.
RE:The Problem is our Attitude is like that...
by indian atheist on Dec 08, 2007 08:15 AM Permalink
what you call westernization is Globalisation. I dont really mind if you go to work on a horse wearing a Dhoti but most would prefer to wear a shirt and a tie.
RE:The Problem is our Attitude is like that...
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:24 AM Permalink
Globalization is just a by product of westernization. One can wear dhothi and still be westernized. While not all of westernization is evil at the same time not all it is beneficial too. BTW, wearing a shirt and tie really sucks given our weather. Dhothi is breezy and kewl too :-)
RE:The Problem is our Attitude is like that...
by on Dec 08, 2007 08:36 AM Permalink
I am not sure if you have choice to dress in Dhothi to a corporate office in India.
