Author: Agencies/Washington,
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: July 15, 2000
Congressinal supporters
of India appeared jubilant on Thursday, after having defeated in the US
House of Representatives earlier in the day an attempt to cut down by 25
per cent American development aid to India in the coming fiscal year in
protest against its "poor" human rights record, particularly in Kashmir.
The resistance to the
anti-India move appeared so fierce that its mover, Republican Congressman
Dan Burton, had no alternative but to withdraw the measure, along with
language critical to New Delhi, instead of asking for a vote.
Democratic party's Jim
Mcdermott used the hindi word 'Bakwaas'(pure nonsense) to dismiss Burton's
allegation that India "suppresses and violently intimidates its religious
minorities".
He and others said there
had been isolated incidents which India had publicly, officially, and resoundingly
responded. Such things did occur in the US as well. It appointed
a Supreme Court enquiry, for only the second time in the country's history,
to investigate an instance of a Christian missionary's death, he added.
In the 20-minute debate
that followed on the amendment, moved during the consideration of the Foreign
Operations bill, Burton, an inveterate critic of India and known for championing
the cause of Khalistani and Kashmiri separatists, was able to muster only
one lawmaker, Dana Rohrabacher (Republican), to stand up in his support.
The amendment sought
to limit US Development assistance to India to $ 35 million against $ 46.55
million proposed by the Clinton administration for the next fiscal year,
an increase of $ 18 million over the current allocation.
In addition, the US has
provided $ 20.676 million in child survival funds, $ 92.485 million in
food aid and five million dollars under the economic support fund for the
coming year.
While lawmakers appreciated
the scope for improvement in India's human rights record, almost all of
them were against the demand for reduction in development aid and that
too after a successful presidential visit in March, giving a new fillip
to the Indo-US relations which suffered during the Cold War
