Shameless U.S. Politicians Disturbed by Human Rights Abuses in China, But Not in India
The U.S. ignores the disturbing despotic events in India, because its main objective is to earn from the Indian markets.
By Rakesh Raman
The dishonest politicians in the U.S. keep raising concerns over human rights violations in China. But they turn a blind eye to the similar crimes and abuses in India.
In a statement released on May 28, the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken expressed dismay over the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and her team’s visit to China to assess the human rights situation there.
The U.S. statement said that China’s conditions imposed on Ms Bachelet’s visit did not enable an independent assessment of the human rights environment in China, including in Xinjiang, where genocide and crimes against humanity are ongoing.
But Blinken has not said even a word about the open genocides calls being given against Muslims in India by the hoodlums who masquerade as Hindu nationalists and enjoy a tacit support from prime minister (PM) Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in different states.
Blinken and other politicians in the Biden Administration have also been ignoring the repeated recommendations of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) which has reported a number of religious freedom violations in India.
In its recommendations, USCIRF has been urging the U.S. government to designate India as a “country of particular concern,” or CPC, for engaging in and tolerating systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). But the U.S. politicians – who follow double standards – ignore the USCIRF advice on India while they are repeatedly cursing China for the same crimes.
The U.S. Department of State itself in its annual country reports on human rights practices released on April 12, 2022 has reported extreme corruption and human rights violations in India. But Blinken deliberately forgets to acknowledge the findings of his own department about the crimes happening in India under the Modi government.
There are multiple other international reports that highlight human rights violations, attacks on press freedom, and crimes against humanity in India. But the corrupt U.S. politicians refuse to take any action against the Modi government. Rather, they shamelessly hobnob with Modi and invite him to events where he is formally welcomed.
The U.S. ignores the disturbing despotic events in India, because its main objective is to earn from the Indian markets. Actually, the U.S. has been arm-twisting the Modi government to fulfill its commercial interests. The immediate imperative for the U.S. is to reduce its trade deficit with India which – according to the October 2020 figures from the U.S. Trade Representative – was $28.8 billion in 2019.
The modus operandi of the U.S. leaders is to subtly intimidate Modi with the accusations of corruption and human rights violations, and then force him to buy American products or services worth billions of dollars.
Although the U.S. politicians keep blaming the Modi government for its dictatorial policies, they never take any punitive action against Modi and his accomplices – bureaucrats and ministers – in the Indian government.
The main objective of the cunning U.S. politicians is not to protect democratic values anywhere in the world, but they are largely driven by their commercial interests. They put artificial pressure on the Modi government to sell U.S. products and services in the Indian market.
As Modi yields to veiled threats against his autocratic actions, he is lavishly spending public money to keep the U.S. and other critical leaders pleased. The U.S. duplicity is visible in the fact that instead of imposing sanctions on the Modi government, the Biden Administration is expanding its trade relations with India despite rampant corruption and human rights violations by Modi and his colleagues.
Since Modi is a weak and illiterate politician who is being criticized by global leaders for human rights violations in India, he mostly succumbs to the international pressure. While India’s priority is to spend money on Indians who are almost buried under inflation and unemployment inflicted by the Modi regime, PM Modi wastes huge public money to import defense gear and other products which are not required in India.
This is a kind of bribe by Modi to the U.S. so that the Biden Administration should not impose sanctions on Modi and his colleagues. But if the U.S. can sanction equally authoritarian nations such as Cuba, China, Russia, and North Korea, it should have the same policy to punish India.
Earlier, Modi was banned from entering the U.S. for his alleged involvement in the 2002 Gujarat massacre in which thousands of Muslims were murdered. Now again the U.S. leaders must impose strict sanctions on Modi and his close associates in order to live up to the U.S. promise of protecting democracy in all parts of the world.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
He has also launched the “Power Play: Lok Sabha Election 2024 in India” editorial section to cover the news, events, and other developments related to the upcoming election.
