If one thought that some Indian propagandists did not know what lessons to draw from the relative success and prosperity of Indians abroad, they seem to be even more clueless about certain aspects of India's internal political and social problems.
Indian nationalists have some favorite gripes and grievances about how a less nationalistic temper (read Hindu conservatism and religio-cultural fervor) of the average populace is responsible for the sorry state of affairs of the nation.
In this regard they accuse the state and its primary political forces, among other things of:
- Pseudo-secularism as the real stance and policy of the Indian government and most political parties as against the officially declared policy of secularism.
- Dangers of illegal immigrants, who are allegedly given a 'red carpet' welcome by flawed enforcement of law and corrupt political interests and how they are sabotaging the interests of the country.
Most people confuse the right, liberty or freedom to practice religion with secularism. That is a fundamental right and has nothing to do with secularism. which really means maintaining a distance from religion, or being indifferent to religious interests or better still a rejection of religion.
It also seems to be besides the point to these nationalists to check whether India really has any immigration policy at all!!. By immigration I don't mean the task of issuing visas, entry permits and work authorizations, but a comprehensive procedure and policy whereby persons of foreign origin can become lawful citizens of India. Countries like USA, Canada, Australia and NZ do have such a policy, though their relative merits may be debatable.
Since the google search for private sources of Indian Immigration policy information yielded no fruitful result I decided to check out official Indian website Bureau of Immigration, India and was hardly surprised to find no mention of anything close to an immigration policy in it.
In a country that has no proper immigration policy, but plenty of problems at the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh, should it surprise anybody but these nationalists, that India would have to deal with illegal immigrants.
The problem of illegal immigrants is a vexing and complicated one. India is not alone in this. So the crass exaggeration of the issue by Hindu nationalists will not help people in properly appreciating the issue or in contributing to any reasonable mitigation of the problem.
With that fore-note, I reproduce an article circulating on a Yahoo groups forum and which got forwarded to me by someone who thought that it made some great opinions or points about this issue.
As you will see, it is a very colorful article with multi-color bullet points. But it represents the lowest denominator of public intellectualism on political issues (I know this will sound snooty to many).
The errors and fallacies of this article are too numerous to really pinpoint and one does not know where to start debunking this.
Points 1 thru 3 are examples of false comparisons (apples vs oranges type) and atrocious economics at the very least.
Point 4 is a very poor dig at the system of reservation (affirmative action) in educational institutions for underprivileged and poor classes
One can understand the irony of Point no. 5, but India is not alone in the issues caused by deep inequality and the power abuse of elite classes.
Point 6 is again bad economics apart from invalid comparisons. To refresh the short memories and poor current affairs knowledge of the authors of the article, Organized Retail in India sells vegetables in AC rooms.
I don't understand what point 7 means
Point no. 9 sounds like a poor joke!!
The points in the article about how some countries deal with illegal entrants mostly quotes examples from countries with draconian rulers and repressive regimes. One really doubts whether anybody would want a democracy to deal with illegal entrants in such a horrible way.
The concluding parts of the article below are mostly uncivil and abusive and spare nobody, not even the average citizens. Only Hindu nationalists are spared the blame.
Pls read and laugh and if you can, spare a tear for the sad state of information, knowledge and discourse in Hindu nationalist forums.
Here below goes the article in all its 'splendor' of rainbow colors
INCREDIBLE INDIA i.e.BHARATH.
1. We live in a nation where Rice is Rs.40/- per kg and Sim Card is free.
2. Pizza reaches home faster than Ambulance and Police.
3. Car loan @ 5% but education loan @ 12%.
4. Students with 35% get into elite institutions thru quota system and those with 90% get out because of merit.
5. Where a millionaire can buy a cricket team instead of donating the money to any charity. 2 IPL teams are auctioned at 3300 crores and we are still a poor country where people starve for 2 square meals per day.
6. Where the footwear, we wear, are sold in AC showrooms, but vegetables, that we eat, are sold on the footpath.
7. Where everybody wants to be famous but nobody wants to follow the path to be famous.
8. Assembly complex buildings are getting ready within one year while public transport bridges alone take several years to be completed.
9. Where we make lemon juices with artificial flavours and dish wash liquids with real lemon.
Think about it!
If you cross the The North Korean border illegally, you get . . .12 years hard labour in an isolated prison .....
If you cross the Iranian border illegally, you get . . . detained indefinitely .....
If you cross the Afghan border illegally, you get . . . shot . . .
If you cross the Saudi Arabian border illegally, you get ..... jailed .....
If you cross the Chinese border illegally, you get .....kidnapped and may be never heard of - again ....
If you cross the Venezuelan border illegally, you get ..... branded as a spy and your fate sealed .....
If you cross the Cuban border illegally, you get ..... thrown into a political prison to rot .....
If you cross the British border illegally, you get ..... arrested, prosecuted, sent to prison and be deported after serving your sentence .....
Now ....
if you were to cross the Indian border illegally, you get .....
1. A ration card
2. A passport ( even more than one - if you please ! )
3. A driver's license
4. A voter identity card
5. Credit cards
6. A Haj subsidy
7. Job reservation
8. Special privileges for minorities
9. Government housing on subsidized rent
10. Loan to buy a house
11. Free education
12. Free health care
13. A lobbyist in New Delhi , with a bunch of media morons and a bigger bunch of human rights activists promoting your cause
14. The right to talk about secularism, which you have not heard about in your own country !
15. And of-course ..... voting rights to elect corrupt politicians who will promote your community for their selfish interest in securing your votes !!!
16. and right to fight election for MLA or MP
Hats off ..... to the .....
A. Corrupt and communal Indian politicians
B. The inefficient and corrupt Indian police force
C. The silly pseudo-secularists in India , who promote traitors staying here
D. The amazingly lenient Indian courts and legal system. That's why people like Afzal Guru are still alive,
E. WE self centered Indian citizens, who are not bothered about the dangers to our own country.
F. The illogically brainless human-rights activists, who think that terrorists deserve to be dealt with by archaic laws meant for an era, when human beings were human beings.
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