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From the Vatican Those who want to disrupt the Pope's trip are damaging India
The broad issues the VHP has raised are questionable. The
oppression of Hindus by Portuguese Catholics is a historical fact. Nevertheless, the
business of seeking an apology stretches the realms of logic. Irrespective of whether or
not the Church has similarly said sorry to Jews, it is worth asking if such attempts to
undo the past serve any purpose. If they did earthlings would spend the rest of their
lives apologising to each other -- Hindus to Buddhists, Britons to Indians, Belgians to
Zaireans, Romans to Greeks. An apology is a self-generated impulse. It does not behove a
society with such strong moorings to go about demanding one. As for the contemporary
conversion controversy, it is already a matter of intense public debate. The VHP --
indeed, any Indian -- has the right to an opinion and to express it before the Pope. While
that end is unexceptionable, the means are equally important. The VHP's methods,
unfortunately, are those of an inhospitable host. Whatever else they may be, they are not
rooted in Indian tradition. Peace and in Our Time India should nudge the US towards nuclear disarmament
To be frank, India's status in this great nuclear debate is largely peripheral. The US is more worried about maverick nations and individuals -- from North Korea to Osama bin Laden -- building nuclear arsenals. Seen in a broader perspective, the US and India can even work in conjunction but for that to happen each will have to establish its bona fides with the other. The overall goal must of course be disarmament. This has to be tempered with the realisation that a complete dismantling of nuclear weaponry could take decades. Perhaps India's proposal to this effect at the United Nations in 1988 is a starting point. To sweeten the FMCT-CTBT pill, the US would do well to announce a unilateral truncation of its enormous nuclear stockpile. The proof of the pudding lies in the eating. It is time for that adage to apply to those at the nuclear high table. |
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Early next month Pope John Paul II
arrives in India for a visit that has already caused more commotion than it should have.
The Pope bears the fairly unique status of being both religious leader of the Catholic
Church and temporal head of the Vatican City. As such, his visit is as much that of a head
of state as of a spiritual figure. The protests against the Pope, largely articulated by
the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and its affiliates, seek to make two points. One, the Pope
should apologise for the Inquisition in Goa from the 16th century onwards. Two, the Pope
should curb missionary activities in India and state that "all religions are equal
and Christianity is not the only path to salvation". The argument having been made,
the matter should have rested there. Instead a "Goa-Delhi Jagran Yatra" is
afoot, there are fears of vociferous crowds being gathered near the Pope's functions --
and of India making a global spectacle of itself. 
Depending on how you see it, the
rejection of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the US Senate is either a
vindication or a roadblock. President Bill Clinton, who laid so much store on getting the
CTBT ratified by India and Pakistan, will now have to begin anew. Delhi and Islamabad can
breathe easier. The politically complicated business of deciding upon what to do with CTBT
can now be postponed. Scoring points in diplomacy is a most welcome proposition but
perhaps the issue would be better served if India scored points with a purpose. With
Clinton clearly on the backfoot, what with his much-vaunted global nuclear regime in
jeopardy, India is well-placed to bargain. More than CTBT, what will worry the White House
is the impending Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT), which seeks to curb the quantum
of fissile material on the planet and holds far greater potential than CTBT. Since its own
house is in disorder, the US Administration may just be vulnerable, perhaps desperate to
achieve success.