04-19-2007, 02:15 PM
Intresting letter to Asia Times I am posting in full to give context and highlight the Hindu narrative
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I would like to echo the words of the ethnic Indian in the article Malaysia's melting pot on the boil (Mar 24). <b>If I am a citizen of the country, can speak the language, educated in this country, why should I be discriminated against, [Jeff] Church [letter, Mar 27]? What business is it of yours what I do in my own home? If I choose to speak a different language at home, listen to different music or eat different foods, isn't that my business?</b> Once the music or food becomes popular in this country, then it's okay? <b>Most countries, including India and the US, make laws that benefit the minority</b>, and that's why the laws of Malaysia are so wrong. The readers of ATol might find this interesting, but I live in Chicago and I see this every day. I work downtown and I take the train, which goes north and south. The southbound trains are full of blacks and the [northbound] whites. This is not confined to Chicago but is common to every major [US] city. Blacks have been ghettoed in the country; they try to move to new places and whites immediately find new places to live. A young black teenager was recently sentenced to six years in prison for pushing a hall monitor at her school, while a white teenager who burned down a home received a stern warning! So much for assimilation! <b>Blacks have wised up. They now call themselves African-Americans. A look at photos of blacks in the '40s and now gives one a start. Blacks now wear different clothes (their suits are pink!), wear earrings [and] dreadlocks, even their names are totally different. But since they are considered Americans, they are simply "being themselves".</b> Newer ones are not so lucky. There was a huge ruckus over a Muslim senator who wanted to take his oath of office using a Koran instead of a Bible! Think of that! Does that make any sense, to harass a Muslim to take the oath using a book he does not consider holy? <b>In India, we have a Muslim president, [and] the prime minister is a Sikh. The chief of the armed forces is also a Sikh. One of the most respected industrial icons is a Parsi. To top it off, we gave the keys to the country to a Christian woman who was born in a foreign country! India has always welcomed total strangers but, unlike the US, never imposed any conditions. Mother India gave a home to Jews, Chinese, Bhutanese, Bohras, Parsis and countless others, but never asked them to give up their culture. Finally, I find it interesting that the Church constantly refers to diversity in a positive way. That's a bit strange, you can't have it both ways.</b>
Jayant Patel
Chicago, Illinois (Apr 2, '07)
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--> I would like to echo the words of the ethnic Indian in the article Malaysia's melting pot on the boil (Mar 24). <b>If I am a citizen of the country, can speak the language, educated in this country, why should I be discriminated against, [Jeff] Church [letter, Mar 27]? What business is it of yours what I do in my own home? If I choose to speak a different language at home, listen to different music or eat different foods, isn't that my business?</b> Once the music or food becomes popular in this country, then it's okay? <b>Most countries, including India and the US, make laws that benefit the minority</b>, and that's why the laws of Malaysia are so wrong. The readers of ATol might find this interesting, but I live in Chicago and I see this every day. I work downtown and I take the train, which goes north and south. The southbound trains are full of blacks and the [northbound] whites. This is not confined to Chicago but is common to every major [US] city. Blacks have been ghettoed in the country; they try to move to new places and whites immediately find new places to live. A young black teenager was recently sentenced to six years in prison for pushing a hall monitor at her school, while a white teenager who burned down a home received a stern warning! So much for assimilation! <b>Blacks have wised up. They now call themselves African-Americans. A look at photos of blacks in the '40s and now gives one a start. Blacks now wear different clothes (their suits are pink!), wear earrings [and] dreadlocks, even their names are totally different. But since they are considered Americans, they are simply "being themselves".</b> Newer ones are not so lucky. There was a huge ruckus over a Muslim senator who wanted to take his oath of office using a Koran instead of a Bible! Think of that! Does that make any sense, to harass a Muslim to take the oath using a book he does not consider holy? <b>In India, we have a Muslim president, [and] the prime minister is a Sikh. The chief of the armed forces is also a Sikh. One of the most respected industrial icons is a Parsi. To top it off, we gave the keys to the country to a Christian woman who was born in a foreign country! India has always welcomed total strangers but, unlike the US, never imposed any conditions. Mother India gave a home to Jews, Chinese, Bhutanese, Bohras, Parsis and countless others, but never asked them to give up their culture. Finally, I find it interesting that the Church constantly refers to diversity in a positive way. That's a bit strange, you can't have it both ways.</b>
Jayant Patel
Chicago, Illinois (Apr 2, '07)
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