04-29-2005, 06:18 PM
Moornam on Sulekha made this comment on above column..
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In the early nineties, a series of documentaries about "child labour in India" came out in the west. Some desis (do they crave so much for attention?) started gushing over the issue, wiping their tears, tch tch, kuch karna chahiye, the west must do something. Sandeep Pandey of Asha fame was all over the place. Do something. Fix the problem. Poor children. Chacha Nehru ke bachche.
Well - the west did something. They banned all carpet and embroidery imports from India. Little was known about the fact that the biggest beneficiary of this ban was Pakistan, whose exports in this area surged. Later, it came to light that it was Pakistan who produced these documentaries. Now Sandeep Pandey has moved on to cause destruction someplace else. Of course, child-labour still persists in India.
The same happened with documentaries in late 90's involving environment degradation in TamilNadu due to shrimp harvesting. A Norwegian shrimp company was behind this documentary - got the imports from India stopped, and bagged the contract.
Fool me once...
Shedding ignorance should not be termed as cynicism.
M. Nam <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->In the early nineties, a series of documentaries about "child labour in India" came out in the west. Some desis (do they crave so much for attention?) started gushing over the issue, wiping their tears, tch tch, kuch karna chahiye, the west must do something. Sandeep Pandey of Asha fame was all over the place. Do something. Fix the problem. Poor children. Chacha Nehru ke bachche.
Well - the west did something. They banned all carpet and embroidery imports from India. Little was known about the fact that the biggest beneficiary of this ban was Pakistan, whose exports in this area surged. Later, it came to light that it was Pakistan who produced these documentaries. Now Sandeep Pandey has moved on to cause destruction someplace else. Of course, child-labour still persists in India.
The same happened with documentaries in late 90's involving environment degradation in TamilNadu due to shrimp harvesting. A Norwegian shrimp company was behind this documentary - got the imports from India stopped, and bagged the contract.
Fool me once...
Shedding ignorance should not be termed as cynicism.
M. Nam <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->