Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Invokes the Foreign Hand


Prime Minister Singh plays the patriotism card. Here's the irony of ironies: The New York Times -- a "foreign hand", and an American one at that! -- is mocking the Indian government using the fact that his "foreign hand" insinuation against his government's opponents is behind the paywalls of another "foreign hand" -- the American Association of Advancement of Science which publishes Science.

Here's the part where Singh insinuates that his opponents are puppets following the orders of foreign powers:

Q: Why did your government put a moratorium on the release of Bt brinjal?

M.S.: Biotechnology has enormous potential, and in due course of time we must make use of genetic engineering technologies to increase the productivity of our agriculture. But there are controversies. There are NGOs, often funded from the United States and the Scandinavian countries, which are not fully appreciative of the development challenges that our country faces. But we are a democracy, we are not like China. [Bold-italic emphasis added]

You know, for example, what's happening in Kudankulam [in southern India, where local NGO-led protests have stalled commissioning of two 1000-megawatt nuclear reactors]. The atomic energy program has got into difficulties because these NGOs, mostly I think based in the United States, don't appreciate the need for our country to increase the energy supply.

Q: After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, do you still think that nuclear energy has a role in India?

M.S.: Yes, where India is concerned, yes. The thinking segment of our population certainly is supportive of nuclear energy.

4 Comments:

  1. Anonymous said...

    [[Q: After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, do you still think that nuclear energy has a role in India?]]

    I am surprised Science magazine employs such a poorly educated reporter.

  2. rahul said...

    so the author of this blog thinks that we must grow BT Brinjal(never mind the side effects like cancer or pollution to the soil), but we must not use nuclear power even if it results in the stalling of our industries and leads to unemployment and halts developmental activities.

    we truly have great people employed as profs in this country!!

  3. Ungrateful Alive said...

    With no bearing on the rest of the issue, it is very curious that foreign hands are found behind (ouch) NGOs protesting the reactors, whereas the enterprise itself, with equipment set up by Russia and fuel provided by America, have no foreign hands involved!

    More about this curious foreign hand issue:
    Hand in hand with the foreign hand
    In the movie Sixth Sense, a boy claims to be able “to see dead people”. Our politicians have a similar uncanny ability to see “foreign hands”. The power of the foreign hand is not to be underestimated. Imagine a crisis-struck government seated around the table and brainstorming options.
    “Can we blame the opposition for this crisis?”
    “Nope. Those guys have been comatose since they lost the elections”
    “Can we put this down to compulsions of coalition dharma?”
    “Not a good idea”
    “Do we know what’s going on?”
    “No”
    “Ok. Let’s blame the foreign hand then. Anyone against this proposal, raise your foreign hand."

  4. PKBang said...

    >go head over heals to pass Indo-US nuke deal and further relationship with US one day
    >say that US doesn't India's development another day
    >LOL GOVERNMENT.

    I am not saying that US administration is benign or anything but this comment from the PM is beyond any trace of reason: Nuke power, genetic crops and other oligarchic means of production are not against any status-quo, especially US. And if US or it's state-corporate alliance wants to impose its will it has way more effective and quicker ways of doing so((espeically in a nation like India which was whole heartedly accepted the western ideas of the greatness of The Market and capitalist growth, etc.)) than using powerless NGOs.

    And it's not like he is dumb enough to actually believe what he is saying here, resorting to such usage of empty and vile PR tactics, conjuring up of boogeymen and propaganda,(and not just in this regard but in any opposition that the govt. gets from the people/civil society) as the *first* move, points more to his Government's ulterior motives than to that of "The Forgein NGOs" .