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The Hindu American Foundation
(HAF) wrote a letter in response to a Wall Street article,'The Untouchables' on Wednesday, Sept 19, 2007 . The article used material which was poorly researched and religiously prejudiced.
Sept 19 , 2007
Dear Editor,
Regarding "The 'Untouchables' In India, 'Untouchables' Convert To Christianity --
and Face Extra Bias," by Yaroslav Trofimov, 9/19/2007:
Social discrimination and ostracism based on a caste-system is a historical
reality in India, just as racial prejudice is a historical and present day
reality in the United States, witness the Jena six incident. Such
discrimination demands attention and repudiation, but unfortunately your
reporter's foray into the issue in India was remarkable for its factual
errors and omissions. Indeed, the only thing that is evident from his
reporting is his clear implication that for the poor and downtrodden Hindus,
Christianity and Islam represent a means of salvation.
Caste discrimination is a social evil prevalent in much of Asia that
transcends all faiths, and right now converts to Christianity in India are
actively agitating against a casteist heiarchy in churches of every
denomination -- often reverting to their native religions frustrated by an
elusive "equality" despite conversion. A birth-based caste system where
"upper castes" are empowered to subjugate "lower castes" finds no mention in
the "revealed" Hindu scriptures, and nearly all modern Hindu institutions
not only reject casteism, but are actively working to eradicate its reach.
Hinduism is a non-proselytizing tradition, and Trofimov's article
unashamedly sings to the tune of the evangelist or the Islamist seeking to
exploit the Hindu ideals of tolerance and pluralism to reach their cosmic
quotas of the "saved." India's Christians and Muslims celebrate their
faiths openly and are prospering while the proportion of Hindus continues to
decline. To imply that they hide in India, as Christians do in China, is
patently false and misleading.
Whether affirmative action should be predicated on poverty, race or caste is
a matter for lively global debate--and the internal debate in India is
hobbled by vote bank considerations. In India, where the government is
proposing that nearly 75% of the population be identified as belonging to a
lower caste and entitled to reservations and quotas across the board, the
controversy is now a hydra bereft of rationality. The merits of this
argument demand the discerning analysis of the Wall Street Journal, and not
another illiberal conflation of Hinduism with caste and prejudice.
Sincerely,
Aseem R. Shukla, M.D.
Member, Board of Directors
Director, Media Relations
Hindu American Foundation
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