[Note from the Hindu Vivek Kendra: For Haniffa it is important that he hides the true agenda of the sponsors of the Deshpande trip. Prabudoss only takes up issues relating to Christians while Kawaja is interested only in Muslim issues. Their guise of secularism is authenticated by the media. But then that is practice of secularism for you.]
It may have been her first visit to US, but it did not make the dimunitive disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and peace activist Nirmala Deshpande pull her punches. Deshpande, 74, pointed to the lack of a strong reaction from US Govt to the sectarian carnage in Gujarat last year, which she said was state sponsored. She lamented the victims had not seen justice either through the police or judicial systems.
At the State Deptt, Deshpande - known for her campaigns covering thousands of miles with the likes of freedom fighter Vinova Bhave- met with Diana Barnes, Foreign Affairs Officer, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, Labor. At the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, she met with Patricia Carley, a senior policy analyst. She met with staffers of the hierarchy of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans, addressed a community meeting at University of Maryland and interacted with the media.
The tour takes her to New York, Boston, Detroit, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Toronto. Deshpande held a two hour meeting with Ambassador Lalit Mansingh at his office and with John Ackerly, President and senior member of the Washington based International Campaign for Tibet.
While expressing optimism that what happened in Gujarat would not be allowed to recur in other states, Deshpande alleged that the state government , far from improving the lot of victims of the carnage last year, sabotaged their efforts. "Even today the government is not helping the victims and not allowing others. Let alone rehabilitation they are not even giving justice."
"The state govt is trying to see nothing hapeens, no justice to the victims. The police refused to register first information reports in 90 percent of the cases. So there is no evidence. Even if there is evidence, the Gujarat govt is trying to destroy it.", she charged. "The Gujarat govt is still on that route. A lot needs to be done to set things right."
She said the govt retained power because " the secular movement was divided. We are in the field working with people and the people are slowly realizing something was wrong." She said part of her trip would be to convince non-resident Indians and the Indian-American community not to contribute to the extremist groups. "We would like to make our friends aware of the reality and those who subscribe to these views that if you really love India, you should not do anything that would harm India. What these people are doing in Gujarat and trying to do in other states will harm India in a very big way."
The Gandhian spoke of peace efforts in Jammu & Kashmir, "and I have been heartened by the response I got from the people of Kashmir, particularly the youth." "Whenever I meet friends from this country", Deshpande said, "I feel inspired because of their commitment to the Gandhian philosophy. Sometimes one wonders whether Gandhi is remembered more outside India than in India."
At her meeting with Mansingh, she faulted him for having a stereotyped image of Pakistan as a fire-breathing fundamentalist jihadi society. She spoke of her visits to Pakistan and pointed out that 24 percent members of Pakistani parliament are women, compared to India's 8 percent. She told him that among Pakistanis and several parliamentarians, there was "so much good feeling for India." She said she could not understand why New Delhi was not responding and engaging in a dialogue with Islamabad.
Her trip is being sponsored by NRIs
for Secular & Harmonious India. In Washington, she was accompanied
to the meetings by John Prabhudoss, Executive Director, Policy Institute
for Religion and state, and Kaleem Kawaja, coordinator, NRIs for a Secular
and Harmonious India.