US Should Grant Modi a Visa before it is too late

Imagine the following scenario.  It is mid-year 2014, and India has just sworn in its new Prime Minister--an individual committed to achieving for India its rightful place as an international economic and political giant.  A pro-growth PM, he will likely preside over the time when India's eclipses China as the world's most populous nation; and he has made it clear that this new India will stand for the values we Americans espouse against the forces of international authoritarianism.

The US Ambassador congratulates the Indian people on their new leader, talks about the strong relationship between India and the United States, and extends a hand to the new Prime Minister.  The PM politely accepts it but with a knowing smile of contempt and wondering about my country's duplicity and whether or not we will be a true friend to this resurgent India.

Although the Indian elections are almost a year away, polls and pundits are confident that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will become the nation's next PM.  As of today, the US government maintains its position that Narendra Modi is disqualified from receiving a visa to visit the United States; that he was somehow involved in the 2002 Gujarat riots in which over 1000 Hindus and Muslims died.  It is an odd position for us to take sitting atop our perch halfway around the world when people close to the ground have exonerated Modi of any such charges multiple times.

Although the Indian Supreme Court has declared Modi innocent of any wrongdoing, the US State Department, politicians, and self-interested ideologues believe that they know better and dismiss the court's actions.  I'm not sure what happened to our hallowed principle that people are innocent until proven guilty, but it seems we do not apply it in Naredra Modi's case.  Last week, the Indian legal system began the process of hearing the final gasp of Modi's detractors who are demanding that the court reject its own body's final report on their say-so.  It is not certain when it will dispose of this final stab at Modi, but as soon as it happens, the United States government would be wise to announce that if Narendra Modi wants to apply for a visa he will get one; that the charges against him have not been proven despite multiple attempt; that we have listened to those who slandered Narendra Modi's good name.

It is not only an insult to Modi himself and to the millions of Indians--Hindus and Muslims--who have made him Gujarat's longest serving Chief Minister, and one of its most successful.  In maintaining our baseless visa denial, we are declaring in one fell swoop that the entire Indian legal system is without merit; that the highly respected judges on its Supreme Court do not know what they are doing.  Is this how we treat a friend and ally?

My country has made peace with some of the worst world leaders imaginable:  Joseph Stalin who the Roosevelt Administration wanted us to call "Uncle Joe," Mao Zedong who was openly proud of the tens of millions he sent to their death, Palestinian terrorists and their Holocaust-denying "President," "moderate" Taliban, and Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.  Yet, we hold firm against a man declared innocent time and again; a man who actually stopped Gujarat's annual that have not recurred under his administration?

My country's leaders need to acknowledge truth over politics and ideology and begin the same discussions with Modi that the UK, EU, and others already have.  Yes, it will be embarrassing if we suddenly extend a hand of friendship while holding the position that the man to whom we are extending it is worse than the rogues' gallery above whom we have taken into our bosom.  Worse for everyone, however refusing to budge in the face of facts threatens the quality of that friendship and the fate of the world going forward.

The Real War in South Asia

Trained as a social scientist, I learned that if a factor appears in event after event, ignoring it is intellectually dishonest and ineffective analysis.  As recent terror blasts in the South Indian city of Hyderabad remind us, Islam is terrorism’s repeating factor; and no one has yet to explain effectively why it would not be dishonest to summarily dismiss it as one.  Moreover, the refusal of Muslim leaders lay and clerical to act assiduously against those who commit terror in their name is troubling, to say the least.  It should be inconceivable that we live in a world where a group calling itself Indian Mujahadeen sets off terrorist bombs in a crowded Indian market, and stuffs them with nails to create the maximum amount of human suffering; and every single Muslim in South Asia is not hunting down the terrorists.  But we do.  And the rest of the world is not calling them on it, which is our part of the problem.

Yet, having just returned from Bangladesh where Islamists and their appeasers are eliminating its Hindu population, I can say that on the ground this is not a war between Hindus and Muslims but one between decent people and people who have no decency regardless of religion.

In the far northern district of Dinajpur, I recently visited a remote village of 85 Hindu families, cut off from the rest of Bangladesh in almost every way:  no electricity, bad roads, not even a signal for my cell phone.  Some time before our visit, more than 100 marauding Muslims attacked the village; moving from home to home, taking some possessions and destroying the rest; from farm to farm stealing livestock and destroying crops.  They torched the homes burning many to the ground; and they abused many of the women (an all-too-common feature of these attacks).  By the time human rights attorney Rabindra Ghosh and I arrived, the villagers had largely rebuilt, but charred remnants were there, too.  More chilling, the attackers are threatening to return and finish the job if the people do not leave Bangladesh.

Those attackers have no decency; and neither do the Bangladeshi officials, local and national, who refuse to help the victims or prosecute the attackers and are thereby complicit in the terror.  Right now, the only thing that stands in their way is four local Muslim policemen.  They told us that prior to the attacks, no one ever came to the village but that since then, they get there as frequently as possible, often multiple times daily, to let the villagers’ tormenters know that they will have to get through them if they want to renew the attacks.  (Villagers confirmed this.)  They are doing this largely on their own since, as they admit, the government is taking no action.  They fear for the villagers, however, because they know they cannot be there all the time.

In a country where decisions by public servants are based on how much money they get for it, these Muslim policemen represent the apogee of decency.

On the other hand, two Hindu Members of Parliament (MPs) visited me, and I asked them why neither they nor their 15 colleagues (by their count) have done a thing to save their co-religionists or even raised their voice against it.  I indicated Bangladeshi human rights lawyer and tireless activist, Rabindra Ghosh, beside me and said he could provide them with a fresh atrocity that they can read into the record at every session of the Jatiya Sangsad.  They could protest the non-repeal of the Vested Property Act and introduce bills to rescind this economic engine of ethnic cleansing until it is.  I pointed out that 17 MPs is a large bloc, and that the only thing preventing them from acting was their personal greed and moral cowardice.

They are not decent people, but the many young Bangladeshis I met—both Hindu and Muslim—who are trying to fight for the safety of Hindus are.  For their service to their country, the Bangladeshi police and government—who are not decent—rewarded them with beatings and arrests.

Then there is Bangladesh’s Home Minister, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, particularly indecent because he is able to do something to stop the atrocities but refuses to do so.  On February 20, he and I had a rather acrimonious argument when he insisted that the government was doing just fine, thank you, in preventing attacks on Hindus.  I wondered how the people I met in that Dinajpur village would have responded.  His most insistent reply was that he “saw the enclaves of the Red Indians” in the United States and that “33 people were killed in Connecticut.” He also “countered” with “union membership has declined in the United States.”  Whether he really thought they have any relation to their government-aided ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, or he was being cynical; the man has no decency.  Finally, he did ask me to provide him with evidence of any atrocities and he would have them investigated; but I asked him if he did not find it odd that he, the nation’s Home Minister sitting in its capital, was dependent on “some guy from Chicago” for information about events in Bangladesh.

Perhaps, however, the most indecent parties of all are the internationally referenced and well-funded  groups that claim the mantle of human rights defenders but who have actively ignored what has become an open secret in South Asia.  In its 2012 “Human Rights Report” on Bangladesh, Amnesty International did not even mention oppression of Hindus.  It claimed to have visited Bangladesh three times that year but could not find a trace of what has become an open secret that has been well-documented by organizations like the Hindu American Foundation, Global Human Rights Defence, and Bangladesh Minority Watch for years.

Amnesty International; Human Rights Watch; the UN with its misnomered human rights commission; the finger-wagging European Union, CNN, Reuters, the BBC, New York Times, Times of India, Times of London, the left-wing media, the right-wing media, and pretty much every other major “media”:  indecent for their willful ignorance of the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh and of those Islamists and appeasers that are guilty of doing it.

So let’s add it up.  Muslim police, Muslim and Hindu youth activists, activists like Rabindra Ghosh; decent.  Hindu MPs, Muslim attackers, Muslim cleric and political leaders, big name human rights organizations and media, and the Bangladeshi Home Minister; indecent.  The ledger seems tilted against decency right now, and it seems the only hope Bangladesh’s Hindus have is for decent people to change that.

Bangladesh Fine with Hindus' Destruction

On February 20, 2013, I met with Bangladesh Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir in his Dhaka office.  Having just returned from Dinajpur where I witnessed irrefutable evidence of Hindus' ethnic cleansing and government complicity, I wished to deliver a simple message.  Bangladesh has been able to get away with empty promises regarding the process that has reduced Hindus from a fifth of the population to just over seven percent, but that time is drawing to an end.  Bangladesh can either get on top of the process by taking certain concrete steps and help manage it; or it can be the recipient of whatever might come as a result of their inaction.

While some Bangladeshi officials have at least acknowledged the problem, this individual was having none of it.  He was adamant that his government was doing just fine, thank you very much, and it had no intention of doing anything more with regard to this human rights travesty.  In fact, his responses did not attempt to show how it was indeed not a problem and that Hindus in Bangladesh are just fine, but they took the form of accusations:  "I have seen the enclaves of the Red Indians," "33 people were killed in Connecticut," and "union membership has declined in the United States," which I pointed out, if I can take him at his word, indicate the depth of the problem they have.

It is an unfortunate fact that minorities are attacked pretty much everywhere.  The only reason for outsiders like me to get involved is when the insiders refuse to respond and send a message that such things are okay with them--the same message the Home Minister and early their US Ambassador sent.  I suggested that the Home Minister travel to Dinajpur where Bangladeshi human rights activist Rabindra Ghosh and I saw a village of frightened Hindus who were attacked by a group of marauding Muslims who went from home to home stealing what they wanted and destroying the rest, and from farm to farm destroying crops and stealing livestock.  The government refused to take any action and the area's MP is involved in grabbing the Hindu land; and the attackers keep threatening to return and "finish the job" if the Hindus do not leave Bangladesh.  The only thing preventing them from now is four Muslim policemen who go to the village on their own.

But the Home Minister just said that if there are atrocities, I should send him the evidence and he would investigate.  Besides the fact that this would do nothing in time for these villagers, I asked:  "Doesn't it seem odd that you, the Home Minister sitting in the nation's capital, are dependent on some guy from Chicago for evidence of such crimes?"  I also told him that such things should be handled at the local level by local officials and should not require an "investigation" by the Home Minister.

Yet, he remained adamant that they would not change anything--even the blatantly anti-Hindu laws that his government promised to repeal, had a chance to repeal, but did not.  That is, he was adamant until I suggested that such obstinacy could lead to a situation where they might find it difficult to sell their garments on the open market; at which point he pleaded poverty that fixing the problem would take money and that such sanctions would deprive them of it.

Stay tuned because leaders in at least two foreign capitals have been filled in on our encounter, presented with the damning evidence against Bangladesh, and are seriously contemplating action.

Ignorance is not Bliss

Perhaps because I maintain close track of events in South Asia, I am constantly amazed at how little most Americans know about events there.  Moreover, it is clear that India will likely to become one of the US's most important allies--if we proceed appropriately--and that South Asia is the really critical battleground between freedom and Islamist totalitarianism.

To be sure, we in the West are blissfully ignorant of perhaps the largest case of ethnic cleansing in modern times:  the elimination of Hindus in Bangladesh, who even after being driven from almost a third of the population to under eight percent, still number around 15 million souls--15 million souls at risk and facing brutalization every day.   This quiet case of ethnic cleansing, as I have dubbed it, is now spilling into India, particularly in West Bengal and the Northeast where radicals and appeasers now seem to hold sway.

A small number of Americans know a little about mass murders in Bangladesh during its 1971 revolution by Pakistani troops and local collaborators--around two to three million; and a smaller number will avidly point to the current Bangladeshi government's prosecution of those decades old crimes.  That might be true--and it comports with the ruling party's ideology--but almost none of my fellow Americans know that those prosecutions cover only the highest profile offenses, and specifically ignore some of the most egregious examples of anti-Hindu activity.  According to Rabindra Ghosh of Bangladesh Minority Watch and a tireless foe of government-enabled ethnic cleansing in his country, 22 Hindus were killed for their faith at Motbaria Upazilla of the Perojpur District of Bangladesh in 1971; and due in part to pressure by a Member of Parliament, not a single charge has ever been filed in the case.  Several newspapers have highlighted the murders and lack of prosecution, but no Bangladeshi government has ever taken action.  As a result of his activism, Advocate Ghosh and his family have been attacked by radicals with impunity.

In December, Indians were horrified at the gang rape-torture of a 23-year-old student on a public bus in Delhi.  The nation was agonizing over the incident as the young woman clung to her life.  When she lost that battle some days later, the reaction from Indians regardless of party or ideology was one of shock and anger.  They demanded that the perpetrators be brought to justice and that the country seriously examine why India has been ranked as "the worst nation to be female" among the G20 countries.  The intense pain and serious re-consideration has the potential to re-set gender roles in an area of the world where such change lags seriously behind much of the globe.  But it remains to be seen if those who claim the mantle of women's rights have even taken notice, let alone offer help in what could be a real watershed in gender equality.

Is it political alliances, ignorance, or a bias that considers victims worthy only if they have been defined so?  No matter, as far as most westerners are concerned, the brutalization of Hindus can proceed apace--even while strengthening our most inveterate enemies, as can the brutalization of women.

The Way Forward

Election Night 2012 saw a number of our friends and human rights allies go down to defeat.  The most significant loss was that of Illinois Congressman Robert Dold--a man whom I consider a friend; a good man; and someone whose defeat is more of a loss for the country than it is a loss for just one man.  Of whatever disappointments I had that night, Bob Dold's defeat was the one about which I am truly and personally sad.

Having said that, we must understand that while I have my own personal values and beliefs, politics is ultimately a means through which we achieve our human rights goal.  And in that respect, we retain many friends in Washington who are committed to helping us save the 15 million Hindus in Bangladesh.  We might have gained new ones, as well.  The election results--and especially Bob's loss--mean that the way forward is not as straight or direct; but it is still before us, and we will seize the opportunities that 2013 offers us.

For several years now, I have been collecting evidence of the atrocities committed against Hindus in Bangladesh and of the Bangladeshi government's complicity in them.  That complicity runs the gamut from actual participation in the atrocities and their coverup by members of the government, to the government's tacit approval of them through its refusal to prosecute.  Much of that evidence is presented in my book A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: The Murder of Bangladesh's Hindus.

Since its publication, however, I have gathered verified and verifiable evidence that the atrocities continue, as does Bangladesh's Awami League government's complicity.  I have obtained some of the evidence first-hand and some of it through human rights activists like Rabindra Ghosh.  (When the history of this terrible atrocity is written, including how it was stopped, the name of Rabindra Ghosh will be recognized as that of a true and self-less hero.  I am honored to call him a friend and colleague.)

Gathering and verifying that evidence--accumulating so much that the world can no longer remain silent and inert--and presenting it to organizations and individuals who can act is our sole focus and a goal I know we will reach soon.

Fifteen Million Hindu Lives at Stake in November 2012

Since beginning my efforts to save the Hindus of Bangladesh from that nation's "quiet case of ethnic cleansing,", the major thrusts of my efforts have been designed to bring this human rights atrocity to the attention of many and gain credibility for my own actions.  While much work still remains in that respect, we have made tremendous strides in having the issue recognized by people heretofore unaware of what is happening to Hindus in Bangladesh and how it is part of the greater movement of international jihad; 2013 can be the year in which Bangladesh's leaders are forced to decide between the following two options:  either stop enabling and tacitly approving of the ethnic cleansing of Hindus; or face exposure of your murderous duplicity and crippling sanctions.  For Sheikh Hasina and her government to choose between coddling Islamists and serving the people they were elected to serve. The key to that happening is the United States.

Because of our efforts and those of others, quite a few sitting Members of Congress and Senators, as well as several vying to unseat them, are now aware of Bangladesh's role in the ethnic cleansing of Hindus and how it helps strengthen international jihad.  As a result, we have a very ambitious and realistic agenda in Washington over the next 12-18 months, and electing those supportive people will help us achieve our goals.  These goals include sanctions, trade and tariffs, UN peacekeeping troops, and much more.  We are very confident that our elected leaders will come down on the side of human rights and against the continued brutalization of innocent Hindus in Bangladesh; but the keys are, first, electing the right people and, two making sure that we press on with this once that happens.

While no one has committed to specific actions or agenda items at this point, we know that we have supporters in the race whom we must support if we believe the things we say; people like Congressmen Bob Dold, Joe Walsh, Randy Hultgren, and Peter Roskam in suburban Chicago; Ted Poe and Pete Olson in the Houston area; Ed Royce in Orange County, CA; Jon Runyan in South Jersey; and many others.  Now is the time for people to press this issue to those good men and women who will have to face the voters in about 60 days from this post; now is the time for people to let them know that we cast our votes for people who will stand strong against the brutalization of innocents and not on the side of allowing it to happen.  Vote for the people noted above, and if you want information of your Congressional or Senatorial candidate, email me.  Remind them that Americans are not supposed to stand by idly and allow such atrocities to occur.  Ask them if they will support initiatives in the 113th Congress to stop the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh, and make sure they know you will cast your vote based in part or entirely on their answer and the actions they take subsequently.  And if anyone wants suggestions on what exactly to say, please email me.

This election and the next two years can be the events when we turned the tide and helped save Bangladesh's 15 million Hindus; or this can be a time when--to our everlasting shame--we did nothing and allowed them to disappear.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy: A Man to Emulate

The day that Dr. Subramanian Swamy left the United States, Gallop published a poll in which the American people said that ending corruption in government was their second most important issue after the economy and job creation.  Someone should have asked him to stay.  South Asia has long been known as a place where government corruption is so endemic, so tolerated that people just have to accept it.  I've personally confirmed massive corruption on India's eastern frontier, extending to all levels of government and having tentacles that reach into almost every area of life in the region.  In one investigation, we found we even found a position at virtually every police station, Dak Master, in charge of collecting graft.  People might remember when Pakistan had a prime minister nicknamed "Mr. Ten Percent" because of the kickbacks he demanded and received.  Or how President Barack Obama was laughed at when he told Afghan President Hamid Karzai that he had to end corruption in his country.

So it had to come as a shock when I arrived in India a couple years ago and found the country awash in open outrage about corruption, media attention about it, and legal cases against corrupt officials.  And it was all leading to successful actions.  What could possibly be behind such a sea change that no one thought possible a mere weeks earlier?  It is 72 year old, former cabinet minister Dr. Subramanian Swamy.  Known to many Indians as a "one man army," Dr. Swamy has never shrunk before a challenged or worried what others might think of him.  "I don't care," he kept repeating to me and others recently outside of Chicago when asked about the reactions of people from Harvard academics to India's strong-woman Sonia Gandhi.

Subramanian Swamy, a Harvard educated economist, has a long list of accomplishments that run from furthering relations between India and China to helping to revamp trade relations between developed and developing nations.  Although Swamy is known for his forthright and unequivocal positions on fighting the continued terror war against India and Islamist terrorism, few people remember that he went on a fast for more than a week in 1987 when Muslim youths were killed in police custody and eventually prosecuted the matter in court.

But in 2008, Swamy's attention turned to overcoming perhaps the nation's most formidable obstacle when he publicly took on corruption.  He filed petition after petition against high officials--having many ignored by the current Congress government--but refused to stop and eventually secured indictments against high officials.  He continues to pursue corruption cases against some of India's most powerful political individuals.

Swamy is able to do this not only because of his skills and intelligence (his is one of the most incisive minds I have ever encountered) but also because he refuses to back down from principle merely because of what others might think.  It is a rare quality among public figures (and is probably one reason why Swamy, though an influential politician, has steered clear of joining either of India's major parties).  It was also on view for two nights outside of Chicago last week.

Swamy was here to energize Hindus and strengthen their ties to their religious and cultural heritage--another issue which many people might despair of taking on.  But under Subramanian Swamy, it seems to be working.  Perhaps most impressive was the fact that Hindu youth (and I saw the same phenomenon in India) flocked to the septuagenarian and expressed tremendous admiration for his personal integrity and strength.

Let's see:  relations between the world's two largest nations; the system of international trade; corruption in South Asia; and strengthening Hindu heritage and intensity world wide.  What's next for this remarkable individual, stopping terror?

Perhaps as he is an outspoken leader in that effort despite threats and more.  And along those lines, in February this year, Dr. Swamy cut short a trip to Sri Lanka and flew back to New Delhi specially to be the principle speaker of my book launch.  The book, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: The Murder of Bangladesh's Hindus, documents the ongoing destruction of the Hindu community Bangladesh and the world's tacit approval of it through its silence and inaction.  It also makes the case for understanding this human rights travesty and moral failure on our part as an integral element in the spread of radical Islam.  Dr. Swamy has since complimented the book and me many times, and I appreciate his endorsement.  The book is available online for US, Indian, and other readers.

Support the Startup Jobs Act 2.0

As Congressman Robert Dold (R-IL) said on the House floor, "Students come to America from all over the world. They earn advanced degrees in science and technology , engineering, and mathematics. Then upon graduation, they’re forced to leave our country; to go home and in essence compete against us. And with them go their knowledge, their ideas, and their aspirations to change the world. Many of these students want to stay here in America, to make something of themselves here for America is still the best place for ideas to become realities. These ideas become solutions which in turn turn into job creating companies." That's why Dold and several other Republicans and Democrats offered the Startup Jobs Act 2.0.

Right now, the bill sits with Judiciary; Ways and Means; Science, Space, and Technology; Appropriations; and Energy and Commerce Committees, all of which have to vote in favor of it. It's a good bill that creates jobs and allows the world's best and brightest to participate in the American Dream--precisely what has made our country what it is. Congressman Mike Pence (R-IN) noted that any Member of Congress who receives ten calls from constituents on a matter will sit up and take notice, call staff meetings, and likely stand with his or her constituents. We need people to call their representatives in Congress and urge them to co-sponsor HR 5893, The Startup Jobs Act 2.0. Congressman Dold's staff has offered to provide them with information their staffs may need. Staff should call Daniel Serota at Bob’s District office 847-272-0404, or they can call Bob’s Washington office 202-225-4835.

People interested in hearing Bob Dold's speech in Congress about the bill can Judiciary; Ways and Means; Science, Space, and Technology; Appropriations; Energy & Commerce. Call them!

And here is a link for contacting individual Members of Congress.

People who call can say the following or change it so it is more comfortable (it only takes about a minute):

"My name is ____________. I’m one of Representative ____________’s constituents, and I strongly urge him (or her) to become a co-sponsor of HR 5893, the Startup Jobs Act 2.0. People from all over the world come here to get the best education possible, and right now when they’re done, we force them to leave the US—even if they want to become citizens, contribute to the economy, and participate in the American Dream. HR 5893 would mean not forcing these highly skilled individuals out of the US and it would help jumpstart the economy. Congressman Bob Dold of Illinois has offered to get information on the bill to staff; and they can call Daniel Serota at his District Office (847-272-0404) or they can call his DC office (202-225-4835)."

This bill will help us and help people who want to join us in the great experiment called America. It is in our hands to make this a success and at the same time show Washington that we are a strong group that cannot be ignored.

Bangladesh's Silly Denials: Ambassador Qader and Me

On Friday, May 25, 2012, I met with Bangladeshi Ambassador Akramul Qader at his country's embassy in Washington. It was not my first trip to the embassy, but my first conversation with Mr. Qader. My intention was to remind Bangladesh's representative of his country's request for my help, that I can provide what they need; but that I will not do so as long as Bangladesh refuses to protect all, specifically, its Hindu citizens.

The meeting went pretty much as I expected, but the man representing 150 million Bangladeshis made some of the most ridiculous blanket denials, insisting again and again that there was no persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh. We continued our an ever more acrimonious back and forth exchange. First, Qader denied that there had been any problems. Then, he admitted that there "were some incidents at the time of elections years ago" (I clarified with his concurrence that he was speaking about 2006); but he said that "all the perpetrators had been punished [and that] I know of no other incidents since then." Can you believe he said that? Do you believe he actually thought any sentient human being would have believed him? Usually, participants in ethnic cleansing at least try to make their denials seem credible. But I pushed and let him know I had evidence to the contrary. "Well then let me enlighten you," I said when he claimed he "knew of no incidents."

After that, he admitted to an "incident" involving "religious fanatics," and I surprised him by identifying them as the anti-Hindu pogrom in Satkhira. I also let him know that it involved far more than a small group of "religious fanatics" (and that his claim is one of the most pernicious myths about his country). When he again insisted--amazingly--that Satkhira was the end of it; I threatened to send the evidence of his duplicity and he agreed--which is great because he's not the only person in Washington who will see the evidence.

One final idiocy. During our struggle, I said that "you don't go from a third of the population in 1965, to a fifth in 1971, to between seven and eight percent today simply through 'voluntary emigration,'" he replied,

"Yes, it does because they cannot find suitable matches for their children, so they go to India where there are more Hindus."

"You're kidding, right."

But he insisted, and I realized that the Ambassador was ready to say pretty much anything, no matter how ridiculous, confident that lack of credibility or even sanity would be enough nonetheless to allow Bangladesh's ethnic cleansing of Hindus to continue with impunity.

As decent human beings, we must prove him wrong!

American Hindus in 2012

Earlier this spring, anti-Hindu riots raged in Bangladesh’s Satkhira District after a local newspaper published an article alleging that “indecent remarks” were made about the Prophet Mohammad during a play at the local high school. A few days later, area Muslims exited their Friday prayers whipped into a violent frenzy over the allegations and attacked the Hindu community for two successive days. Dozens of homes were razed or looted; belongings of entire families destroyed; and there was at least one sexual assault reported. Hundreds of university students took to the streets in the nation’s capital to protest the riots, tying up traffic and bringing large sections of Dhaka to a standstill. And although the article that incited the riots was proven to be false (in fact, the paper’s charter to publish was summarily revoked as a result), the school’s headmaster and assistant headmaster were arrested on charges of “blasphemy.”

How many of you read about these events your morning newspaper; events of major import in the world’s third largest Muslim-majority country? Was it in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, USA Today; or for that matter, Times of India? What about the cable news giants like the BBC, CNN, or Fox News? Did they report it? The news blackout by the media should surprise no one. Deliberate, government-tolerated attacks on Hindus like these—and worse—have been a regular feature of Bangladeshi life since long before the nation’s official birth. They have brought the once-robust Hindu community from almost a third of the population to less than eight percent. Yet, it was only last year that a lone US Congressman, Robert Dold of Illinois, raised the issue from the floor of the US House; and there still is no mention of Bangladesh’s Hindus in any of the world’s major media, or from those who claim the mantle of human rights, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, or the UN Human Rights Council.

People have explained this and related phenomena to anti-Hindu bias, pro-Muslim bias, petro-dollars, fear, and more. I would also add the fact that the deliberate elimination of non-Muslims in places like Saudi Arabia and Iran fit politically correct philosophies that insist ad nauseum that the problems of Islamic extremism are limited to, well, Islamic extremists. Identifying that sort of thing in retrograde states like Saudi Arabia does not upset their comfortable theories. But when it occurs in an institutionalized way in a “moderate Muslim nation”like Bangladesh, it does.

Dr. Subramanian Swamy puts a lot of the blame, however, on the “Hindu mindset,” that he says is not oriented towards conflict in the same way as other religio-ethnic groups are. His insight is shared by the vast majority of Hindus with whom I work. Thus, it is no surprise that when I travel both home and abroad to speak about the ethnic cleansing of Bangladesh’s Hindus, many Hindus claim to not to know anything about their brethren’s persecution; even though the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) has been publishing information about Bangladesh’s persecution of Hindus for years, usually right in the front of its annual human rights survey. Others admit to knowing about anti-Hindu persecution in Bangladesh, but have done little or nothing to stop it. For Hindus in the United States, the hotly contested election year of 2012 offers an opportunity to change that.

Shalabh Kumar, founder of the National Indian American Coalition (NIAC), has noted that the American Hindu community is around half the size of the American Jewish community, but you would never know it given the extent to which Jewish community concerns are considered by the media and public officials compared to those of the Hindu community. Nor would one know that there are only about a million more Muslims in the United States than Hindus by the way media and elected officials react to Muslim organizations like the Congress on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) compared to the HAF. In neither case are Jews or Muslims the problem; they are only doing what every American community and interest group has a right to do: organize and advocate for the interests of their constituents.

We got a small taste of that potential in 2010. A group of us in the Chicago area contacted several Congressional and one Senatorial candidate who had a history of support for the Hindu community. None of us claimed the ability to deliver any particular number of votes, but we did make known to them some of the issues that were on the minds of several community members. While no one would allege that we were the difference between victory and defeat, our efforts did help launch more extensive relationships that enable us to make sure officials are aware of some of these matters.

The atrocities being perpetrated against Hindus in Bangladesh are the perfect issue around which such efforts can be organized. Ours is a country that sent troops into Bosnia when 10,000 people were victims of ethnic cleansing; there are more than 100 times that many Hindus facing ethnic cleansing in Bangladesh. The issue is not political but moral. It is not something that appeals to either Democrats or Republicans, but to both. It is a matter of right and wrong, and if Mandirs take a leading role in organizing to save lives, the pristine nature of our cause will be even clearer. Does it work?

Anyone who was around in the 1970s and 1980s will recall that it was impossible to pass a synagogue without seeing a large banner reading “Free Soviet Jewry.” Our people were being oppressed in the Soviet Union, and the American Jewish community recognized its obligation to do something about it; and our religious institutions were the focus. Religious school children were taught about it and given pen pals—Jewish children in the USSR whom they came to see as brothers and sisters, kids just like them. When children had their Bar and Bat Mitzvah, the synagogue would “twin” them with similar aged kids in the USSR—who did not have the freedom to celebrate their own. Average people whom you might see at the water cooler or in the supermarket, went on trips to Russia and smuggled in religious books and artifacts. The American Jewish Committee and other Jewish groups took a lead role in making sure our elected officials did not ignore us; and before it was all over, we got 1.2 million Jews out of that Gulag.

Let the Bangladeshi Hindus be your Soviet Jews!

High Praise for book about Hindus in Bangladesh

I recently returned to the United States from an incredibly successful trip to India where I picked up endorsements for his work from the likes of Dr. Subramanian Swamy, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, among others. Since 2007, I have been trying to stop the deliberate program of ethnic cleansing that has reduced the Hindu population in Bangladesh from almost a third in 1951 to about seven percent today. Professor Sachi Dastidar of the State University of New York calculates that about 49 million Hindus are missing from the Bangladeshi census. Now, I ask you, how do 49 million people go missing and nobody notices? Worse, how do 49 million people go missing and nobody cares?

Despite the fact that reports of anti-Hindu atrocities continue to pour out of Bangladesh almost every day, people still ask for ”evidence” when you bring it up to them. They often ask why if things are so bad, we never hear anything about it from Hindus or the government of India. We can pose any number of reasons for that, but I believe that one is the fact that Bangladesh is referred to as a “moderate” Muslim nation; and while the talking heads in various capitals and NGOs love to distinguish between “radical” Muslim nations, like Iran, and moderate Muslim nations like Bangladesh, the ethnic cleansing of Hindus by the latter spoils their naïve theorizing.


My new book, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: the Murder of Bangladesh’s Hindus provides the evidence that prevents people like that from continuing that fantasy. The incidents are based it on first-hand observation and testimony, extensive research, and a network of informants and associates who have been able to verify so many of the anti-Hindu atrocities that have been reported over the past three years; the book is a stinging indictment of successive Bangladeshi governments and those entities that pose as human rights defenders and should be protecting these Hindu victims.

While the book provides the historical, legal, and religious underpinning of these atrocities, it also focuses on current events and in particular the complicity of Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh’s current Awami League government. All the pundits and so-called experts who hailed her election as as something of a watershed that would “change everything” in Bangladesh have been proven wrong—and for too many Hindu victims, dead wrong.

In India, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing received rave reviews from several prominent individuals as well as academics, religious figures, and others. Dr. Subramanian Swamy cut short a trip to Sri Lanka in order to fly to New Delhi and be the principle speaker at its book launch. He praised my work and tied the events in Bangladesh to “larger issues” facing Hindus and others. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was visibly moved by the events in the book and told me unequivocally that “I will work with you.” And K P S Gill, hailed by most as a hero for fighting such things his entire life and known as the man who saved Punjab, said that my book is an important one that should be “read carefully.”

A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: the Murder of Bangladesh’s Hindus is available for US shipping by clicking here and for addresses in India by emailing the publisher; people elsewhere, please email the author.

Harvard's Double Standard

This past week, Harvard dumped my friend and colleague Dr. Subramanian Swamy. Dr. Swamy had been affiliated with Harvard since his student days and on the faculty since 1964. The Harvard faculty voted overwhelmingly to dump Swamy in light of his July publication calling for harsh measures against Indian Muslims who do not acknowledge India's Hindu character. The University, it should be noted, earlier rejected calls to sanction Swamy over the article, which they labeled free speech. Moreover, Dr. Swamy is a very frank and outspoken individual; his views could come as no surprise to anyone.

Does that mean that the Harvard move was one of opportunity rather than outrage, and that they were just waiting for an excuse to deprive Harvard students of a uniquely qualified professor?

Dr. Swamy taught economics, a discipline for which he has impeccable qualifications; qualifications based on real world experience helping India become the economy it is. He is the President of India's Janata Party; yet, this cabal of elites have dumped him because of an article.

Yet, the infamous Stephen Walt remains a favored fellow at Harvard, despite his co-authorship of a particularly heinous and hate-filled book, The Jewish Lobby. It reprises the old canard that US foreign policy is unduly influenced by Jews and others advocating for a strong US-Israel relationship. Yet, Harvard faculty continue to honor Walt and would defend his hate-speech to the death.

So, why Harvard's double standard? Why is free speech suspended when the subject is Muslims if it makes the elite uncomfortable? Why is hate-speech against others defended as free speech by these same elites? Is it perhaps time that we re-assess the value of anyone looking to this same cadre of academic elites for wisdom or unbiased information?

Don't Believe Talking Points: Obama Foreign Policy a Disaster

In an article in Andrew Breitbart's foreign policy blog, Big Peace, I make the argument that the recent talking points about Obama's foreign policy miss the point. Specifically, they congratulate the President for the deaths of Bin Laden, Gadaffi, and Al Alawki--all bad guys, and allege they indicate his overall foreign policy success. While their deaths are blows to the other side, they have not stopped the progression of real dangers that remain strong thanks in large part due to Obama's policies. The article is the first of two, this one concentrating on the Middle East, the next on South Asia.

The focus is the Democrats' contention that Obama has "won back" US friends and influence around the world. In articles and speeches several years ago, I took issue with the notion that we really lost anything--except in the minds of racist and Euro-centric pundits. Now, however, we seen really to have lost true influence by policies that emphasize weakness, abdicate leadership, and equivocate on values.

The Palestinians, who Obama has gone out of his way to smooch, recently rejected his demands that they abandon their effort to secure statehood via the UN--a fool's errand in the first place. And who could blame them? In February, Obama made similar threats about repercussions if they went ahead with their anti-Israel building resolution; they did, and he didn't. The Israelis aren't listening to him, either; certainly not when he and his parroting Secretary of State "demand" they stop building; and very recently perhaps in planning a strike against Iran.

Iran is another example, by the way. First, they rejected his craven and embarrassing outreach; they went ahead and slaughtered their own citizens; and they have increased their sphere of influence at our expense. Obama's influence with Turkey has all but evaporated for this once-reliable ally, now a reliable flotilla-sponsoring antagonist.

Obama's love for the actions behind the Arab Spring has not prevented it from becoming an Arab Winter. We cannot even get our "new friends" to extradite the Lockerbie Bomber, responsible for the mass murder of 189 Americans.

And if you think that's bad, wait for the article on South Asia.

A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing: The Murder of Bangladesh's Hindus

My book about the ethnic cleansing of Bangladesh's Hindus, A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing, is scheduled to be published in January 2012. The publisher is Akshaya Prakasahan of New Delhi, India. The book is expected to strike a major blow against the silence that has kept one of our age's worst human rights abuses off the international radar.

Using my own extensive experience on the ground, as well as the extensive research of a social scientist (which is my education and training), I make a compelling case in the book for why this terrible atrocity is happening, what are its roots, and how as terrible as it is, it is only a precursor to what will happen to the rest of us if we allow this thing to proceed with impunity and even our tacit approval.

Several prominent individuals and groups are eagerly anticipating the book's publication, which we hope will lead to more actions that place the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh on the international human rights agenda. We also will making the book available in the United States and worldwide as well.

A Quiet Case of Ethnic Cleansing:
The Murder of Bangladesh's Hindus
By Dr. Richard L. Benkin
Akshaya Prakasahan, New Delhi
Coming January 2012

Support Senate Bill 1245

On July 29, 2011, the US House passed HR440 with overwhelming bi-partisan support calling for the appointment of a “Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia.” Through this position, the United States can regain world leadership in fighting real human rights abuses and turn the tide that has swept some of the worst of them under the carpet of geo-politics.

There is little doubt that bill will pass. The Special Envoy can defend the defenseless and give voice to the voiceless—or recognize only those “flavor of the month” issues that already have garnered their share or more of the world’s attention; or perhaps not even deserve it. The way to make sure the Special Envoy addresses the really important issues and not the politically correct ones is by being prominent in the process and in the Special Envoy’s selection. Success will be pivotal for our own human rights strategies.

Senate bill 1245 is with the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which has 19 members. We need voters in their state to call them and urge them to support and co-sponsor S1245; and make sure it is advanced at the next committee meeting (possibly in September). Note how this will help stop oppression of the Bangladeshi Hindus (who have been reduced from a third of the population to less than eight percent) or other oppressed groups; and please mention my name as someone who is familiar with the region, issues, and people in various governments there.

Click here for information to contact Committee members and a link to contact any other Senators or House Members. If you want more information, contact me. Thank you.

New Hope for Bangladeshi Hindus

On July 28, something happened that forever changed the situation for the oppressed Hindus of Bangladesh. Congressman Robert Dold (R-IL) addressed the US House in support of HR440, sponsored by Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) to establish a “Special Envoy to Promote Religious Freedom of Religious Minorities in the Near East and South Central Asia” with the rank of ambassador. HR440 passed 402-20; the few nay votes coming as a protest against any new expenditures (even this tiny one) at this time.

Dold began his speech by doing something that had never been done before in the United States Congress: He raised the issue of Bangladesh's oppression of Hindus forcefully and specifically. One of the greatest impediments we face in moving people to action that will stop the ethnic cleansing of Hindus in Bangladesh is the failure of people to name it as an atrocity. Now it is a matter of record in the United States Congress, and will provide the basis for more severe action. Dold's first words were:

"Since 1947, 49 million Hindus in Bangladesh have gone missing according to Professor Sachi Dastidar. And a recent Hindu American Foundation report concluded that the Hindus of Bangladesh continue to be victims of daily acts of murder, rape, kidnapping, temple destruction, and physical intimidation. Dr. Richard Benkin, an authority on human rights abuses in Bangladesh, has described to me on several occasions the atrocities and human rights abuses suffered by Bangladesh's Hindus that he personally has verified."

Some people make hours-long speeches and do little more than waste the time of their listeners; but in a one and a quarter minute speech, Dold created a watershed event that gave hope to millions of the oppressed by refusing to bury their plight amid generalities like "minorities" and "extremism"; and he urged the US to act. It did not take long before word of his action spread among many of them. Now, perpetrators, appeasers, and deniers can no longer pretend that the atrocity is not happening. Naming it was the first step in defeating it and sets a new basis for several actions now in the works to do just that. Thank you, Bob Dold, for doing what no one else has been able to do. And thank you, USA.

Bangladesh Awami League Bares Anti-Hindu Teeth

Last month, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court ruled against some constitutional amendments instituted during two military dictatorships in the 1970s and 1980s. It was hailed as a great step forward for freedom in Bangladesh and was roundly condemned by Jamaat and other Islamists. The court then asked the government to submit replacements for ratification in the Awami-dominated parliament. So what did this oh-so-progressive and freedom-loving Awami League do? It submitted new laws that outlawed military governments and religiously-based parties; but it left intact one of the most significant and hateful amendments that came under the Court’s scrutiny: the Eighth. Bangladesh’s Eighth Amendment made Islam the official state religion and essential to the character of all that flows from Bangladeshi law. It is an amendment that Hindus and others say makes them second-class citizens in their own country. Every law they have to follow begins with “in the name of Allah the beneficent.” Madrassas (Islamic schools) are given a favored position by their government and often receive public support, even those preaching radical Islam. Yet, this “pro-minority” government does nothing—NOTHING—even when its own Supreme Court sets the table for them.

While the Awami League has shown its preference for radical jihadists over true partnership in the world, that same world has assiduously ignored it. Just before its election, the Supreme Court and military-backed government arranged things so it could repeal the anti-Hindu Vested Property Act by mere fiat. It did not; but no one said a word. Nor has the destruction of Bangladesh's Hindu community slowed under this duplicitous government. Will this be the straw that breaks the appeasing camel's back?

Judging by the non-reaction to it, likely not. There has not been even one phone call from President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton to Bangladesh, challenging the government on this or other anti-minority actions. No one has reminded Sheikh Hasina of her still unfulfilled promises to end official minority discrimination in Bangladesh—and how she has an opportunity with this constitutional change to prove that she and her party are not shams

The Awami League's action is also yet another clear sign that the policies of weakness implemented by the Obama Administration are leading the Muslim world to take actions that distance themselves further from the rest of the world and move them closer to the likes of Ahmadinejad and the Taliban. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are, at best, oblivious; at worst, complicit. Will the American people end this madness in 2012?

India--Our True Friend in South Asia

The killing of Osama bin Laden in a compound less than 100 km from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad caused many Americans to question just how much of an ally the Muslim Islamic State is. We've heard all the arguments--that Pakistan provides invaluable help for our anti-Islamist efforts in South Asia, that it has suffered major losses at the hands of our enemies, and so forth. We also know that Pakistan was more of an ally during the Cold War than its rival India, whose premier PM, J Nehru, took it on a pro-Soviet course that did not vary until the USSR's fall. Times have changed, however; international alliances have shifted; and both countries could proffer charges against one another. But there is too much at stake to do that.

The withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, which begins next month, will create a power vacuum that the Karzai government is incapable of filling. Candidates to do so include China (which has been making strong moves in that direction), the Taliban (which remains active in the country--and the Obama administration is even looking to cut a deal with the Islamists), Iran (which has a Shi'ite group there in need of its "protection"), and Pakistan (which at the very least is suspect and unstable). None of them would make for a friendly South Asia. Yet, the Obama administration continues to dismiss the one regional power that would: India. Its interests are largely the same as the US, as are its major enemies; the specter of its increased influence is the one thing that scares the pants off the Pakistanis; it has the economic and military strength to check Chinese expansion; and it is, like the US and unlike the other candidates, a committed democratic republic.

There's still time--not a lot, but some; and the only path that has any chance of keeping Afghanistan and most of South Asia from falling under Islamist or Chinese control is a mature relationship between these two great powers: the United States of America and India. For more, see: India as the Solution to Afghan Power Vacuum.

2011 Days of Remembrance

From today through May 8, the United States will mark the 2001 Days of Remembrance, a commemoration created by a unanimous vote in Congress. It is a time for Americans to remember the Nazi Holocaust against the Jews and others. Like many Americans, I have Holocaust survivors in my family and members of my family who did not survive. And like other decent human beings on the planet, I will strain with every ounce of effort I can muster to defeat those who want to murder the victims a second time by denying what happened to them.

On the evening of April 19, I was honored by being asked to receive a formal Proclamation from my home, the Village of Mount Prospect just outside of Chicago, declaring May 1-8, 2011 Days of Remembrance in our town. About a month earlier, I received a mailing from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum asking that people approach their home towns and ask if they would issue a proclamation. I immediately contacted Mount Prospect Mayor Irvana Wilks (whom I had met previously through Senator Mark Kirk, another unyielding foe of Holocaust denial). Mayor Wilks responded immediately, and the village issued the proclamation. Emphasizing its universal message, Village Trustee John Matuszak read the proclamation, noting before he did that his own grandmother was murdered in the Holocaust.

During this time of rampant Holocaust denial, it is critical that all decent people work overtime to defeat it. Ironically, the Holocaust against the Jews might be the most extensively documented atrocity in history. The attempt to deny it is plain and simple anti-Semitism and political cynicism in their worst forms. Let the 2012 Days of Remembrance see even more such proclamations by even more localities throughout the United States and worldwide. I would be honored to help.

An End to a Hindu India?

Jihad has come to India. The Obama administration and the State Department will tell you that it is nothing more than isolated acts by individuals and the New Delhi government will say you are stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment. But I have seen it for myself first-hand and know that this studied denial will find us caught as flat-footed in India as we were in Lebanon, Egypt, Libya, and elsewhere. The difference is that India is an economic and military giant, with nuclear weapons and could be a cornerstone of any effective fight against radical Islam.

I have spent several years along India's 2545 mile-long frontier with Bangladesh, and have seen the impact Bangladesh's radicalization has had on its giant neighbor to the west. Amitabh Tripathi, who has been fighting against what he calls his country's "soft policies," noted that Bangladesh's Muslims "are not radicalized but their institutions are." Mixed with corruption on both sides of the border, that radicalization has produced demographic change in many strategic areas of India and given Muslim activists carte blanche throughout the country.
Each year in states like Uttar Dinajpur and West Bengal directly across from the Islamic state, we find that increasingly more mixed Hindu-Muslim villages are now all Muslim or Muslim-dominated. Gone are the roadside temples characteristic of places where Hindus practice their faith openly; gone are the sights of Hindu women dressed in their colorful saris and other vestments. They have been replaced by mosques and burqas. Last year, Tripathi and I met with Bimal Praminik, Director of the Kolkata-based Centre for Research in Indo-Bangladesh Relations who has studied these population changes and is convinced they are integral to the jihad's that threatens us all, noting that the dominant culture for South Asian Muslims has become more "Arabic," than South Asian.

Hindus in Pakistan and Bangladesh have been disappearing for years; now we are seeing Hindus being replaced by radicalized Muslims all in India. Between 1981 and 1991, Muslim population growth in West Bengal actually exceeded its growth in Bangladesh. India’s Muslim population growth outstripped government predictions based on demographic factors (fertility and mortality). There had to be another element driving the change, which Pramanik and others identify as "illegal immigration from across the border."

Statistics might be the "smoking gun," but jihad's impact is more powerful in the testimony of its victims. In places as far afield as Deganga and Meerut, Hindu populations are fleeing Muslim violence and government inaction. Elsewhere, an elderly Hindu in the Howrah district told us how Muslims are taking over her property piece by piece. She even showed us a wall with a star and crescent on it that local Muslims built to identify it as dar al Islam. In another village, residents showed us the remains of a Hindu temple that Muslims recently destroyed after urinating on its holy objects. Most poignant was the testimony of a crestfallen mother in Norit whose 22-year-old daughter was abducted weeks ago by local Muslims. Abduction of Hindu women and girls in the name of Islam has been common in Bangladesh for years and is a key element in jihad: eliminating females of childbearing years from the gene pool and forcing them to "produce" Muslim offspring instead. It is now happening in India, according to victimized parents who told me about it in India's North and Northeast.

Our State Department will tell you that there is no jihad in India. They will hew the official line that the liberal Awami League government in Bangladesh has put an end to anti-Hindu actions there. A similarly weak government in New Delhi will parrot the same platitudes. Yet, their false palliatives bring no comfort to the scores of victims who have told us their stories; or the many others now unable to do so. Imagine what an Islamist India would mean.

Corruption finally getting its Due in Indian Media

For several years, US President Barack Obama has been pressing Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai to end corruption in his country; and he really will not get off that demand. Now, besides the fact that Obama comes from my home town, Chicago, which makes Obama's demand particularly ironic; anyone familiar with governments in South Asia knows that corruption is almost endemic and makes us Chicagoans look like rank amateurs. Remember the glee with which US leaders hailed the election of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari even though Zardari's monumental corruption had earned him the dubious title of "Mr. 10 Percent"? Obama had no problem sending Pakistan billions of dollars more (courtesy of US taxpayers) in care of Mr. 10 percent.

But winds of change might be blowing. I just returned from a few weeks in South Asia and witnessed something new. Previously, most Indian media coverage focused on terror attacks by Islamists and Maoists; or the budget; or elections; and all of it took a back seat to cricket. This February, however, they covered the Maoists' kidnapping one minor official, but corruption scandals (called scams) dominated the media--except of course for cricket.

The big fish caught in this net was India's now former Commonwealth Games Organizing Committee Chairman, and still high official of the ruling Congress Party, Suresh Kalmadi. There are a host of allegations against the once seemingly untouchable giant, but he says that all is well. He probably has not spoken with a couple of his aides recently who were arrested and subsequently denied bail in the matter. There is at least on sworn statement on record testifying that the witness was forced to pay a million rupee bribe. The probe was initiated after relentless investigations by the news channel Times Now. The channel has vowed to press on with its independent investigations in this any "many other scams."

Our experience in the United States and elsewhere is that the success of this sort of investigative journalism is like an addictive drug. Once the media recognizes that it has the power to effect such a sea change and help the people immeasurably, it is unlikely that they will put the toothpaste back in the tube. (Personally, I was very impressed by the Times Now on air personnel and their commitment to quality journalism.) Moreover, the people will soon see that what they once thought they had to accept can be fought--and those who try to rob the people brought down, no matter how influential they are. Hence, the importance of a case against the political heavyweight Kalmadi.

Having spent a great deal of time in South Asia, I'm familiar with the fatalism with which the people accept massive corruption. Spouses of local officials boast to each other about how much money their official/spouses have been able to pocket. In at least one case I investigated, I found that some West Bengal police stations even have a semi-official post for the person who coordinates all corruption activities. Yes, that really is the case! At the same time, you can see the effect of corruption in the horrible roads, infrastructure failings, and various other indicators that government money is not getting to the people. (I've also seen instances of corruption first-hand carried out openly.

Once the people of India recognize that they do not have to live with these injustices, it will be quite a trick if anyone on the corruption gravy train will be able to convince them that they do.

Forcefield Board to Address Kolkata Rally for Bangladeshi Hindus

On February 14, the entire Board of Forcefield--the non-agenda driven human rights organization committed to ending the oppression of Bangladeshi Hindus--will take part in the annual meeting of Hindu Samhati in Kolkata, India. This year's event will be devoted to defending the Bangladeshi Hindus who are being systematically eliminated by Islamists, a government indifferent to their fate and so colluding in it, and a population with too many people who would rather feed their material comforts than their immortal souls.

In the prepared portion of his remarks, Forcefield President Richard Benkin from the United States asks the audience, estimated to be about 25,000: "What if you found yourself in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, or more recently in Darfur? You might have looked around and thought, ‘Something’s wrong. Something’s terribly wrong. You can see that. I’m afraid that something really bad is about to happen, and no one seems to be doing anything to stop it.’ Knowing what you know now, what would you have done? Gone about your life, pretending that you didn’t see what you saw? Or would you do everything in your power to stop the impending atrocity and save the lives of so many innocent people? Would it have mattered if you were not Jewish or African? We here today do not have to guess at what our answer should be. We have the lessons of history. Because of the Holocaust and what happened in places like Darfur, we know what will happen—and it is about to happen again."

Forcefield co-founder Miriam Jones from Australia notes: "FORCEFIELD is a new organisation but we are concerned and want to find out more. We have come here to listen and to learn and the things that we learn we shall take back to our governments of Australia and America. We want your story to be told. For far too long the world has been unaware but I am going to try and change that. I shall be going to Canberra and I shall be knocking on doors and I will not stop knocking until those doors open. Once those doors open I shall not leave until I have told your story and not only will I tell your story I will make sure that they are listening. And when I am sure they are Listening I will make sure that they will begin steps to change this injustice."

Although Forcefield's third Board Member, Amitabh Tripathi from India, is not expected to address the crowd, he will be instrumental in post-meeting discussions about a new effort combining Forcefield's efforts with those of Hindu Samhati and Tapan Ghosh.

The speeches and news of the event will be available after the rally. Benkin and Ghosh expect the rally and subsequent organizing to be a watershed in putting an end to the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh.

Ending Ignorance: Jewish Studies in India

In early 2009, I was at Lucknow University in India and had just concluded two days of talks. On my way to the car, an individual stopped me and insisted I join him and his colleagues in the Islamic Studies Department for some tea and conversation. While there I met a Muslim journalist who said quite matter-of-factly that "every Muslim child knows that the media is controlled by seven powerful Jews."

"Oh, I must have missed that meeting," I replied. Besides, I told him it was nonsense and challenged him to name the seven powerful Jews. He began with Rupert Murdoch.

"Not Jewish," I said, "a friend, but not Jewish. Who's next?"

"Ted Turner," he replied.

"Ted Turner? I'm not sure he even likes Jews!"

You get the point. This man was an influential Urdo journalist and a guest in the Islamic Studies Department of a major Indian university. He helps shape Indian Muslim opinion yet is so woefully ignorant about Jews.

For two days prior, as I spoke to Indian students at Lucknow, I was peppered with questions about Israel and the Jewish people. There was a real hunger among students for information about both. One of the questions I receive regularly (there and elsewhere) is: "How has tiny Israel defeated the terrorists when giant India cannot?" Unfortunately, they cannot easily find that or other unbiased information about Israel and the Jews from the elites in media and academia who, for the most part, enforce a rigidly anti-Israel perspective. Almost every Indian university has an Islamic Studies Department, but none offer much on Jewish studies.

Dr. Navras Aafreedi was responsible for my time at Lucknow University, and he is trying almost single-handedly to get students the information they crave. With the support of Forcefield, a human rights not-for-profit of which I am the President, Rabbi Howard Gorin of the Washington, DC area, and others' Navras is assembling information resources that he is making available to students. Congressman-elect Robert Dold (R-IL) has also expressed his support for the effort and desire to help it succeed.

Navras Aafreedi continues to seek out new or used books and other resources. The need is great, and the cost of shipping is also significant. Rabbi Gorin's synagogue raised money (http://www.interfaithstrength.com/Navras.htm), and Forcefield has assisted both in book donations and in shipping costs. Navras perseveres despite continued obstacles; and even though this effort is not likely one that will endear him with the powers that be in academia, he continues with it because he sees the need and hears the cries of the students. People wanting to help this effort can contact Dr. Aafreedi directly (aafreedi@gmail.com), through me (drrbenkin@comcast.net), or through Forcefield (http://www.forcefieldnow.org). The cause is just, and it is an important case of hasbara that can have a profound impact on a key population at a critical moment in time.

Assam Government to Deport Victims of Islamist Terror

For several years, I have been traveling around West Bengal, India, in an effort to gather evidence about the plight of Bangladeshi Hindus and bring that evidence to human rights supporters in the United States Congress and Senate. The Bangladeshi Hindu population has fallen from just under a fifth of the Bangladeshi people at independence in 1971, to eight percent or less today. Contrary to apologists, there has been no corresponding increase in the Hindu share of West Bengal--the Indian state that borders Bangladesh and shares its ethnicity. In fact, the Hindu proportion of West Bengal has fallen during that time as well.

While we receive a steady stream of reported atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh (reports which we investigate and almost always verify) and West Bengal; we are now receiving new reports from the neighboring Indian state of Assam, which stretches along Bangladesh's northern border. For years, and especially during times of unrest in Bangladesh, Hindus have fled to Assam for safe haven. In fact, the Assam Supreme Court has issued rulings of special protection for them.

Now, however, the Assamese government has begun issuing orders of eviction to many of these Hindus, all victims of Islamist (and Islamist fellow travelers) atrocity. It is doing this contemptuously of the longstanding supreme court rulings. It has not, by the way, issued any such orders to the growing number of Muslims now in the state. These infiltrators are attempting to replicate the same demographic shift in Assam as we are seeing in West Bengal.

Several local groups are forming to stop this double victimization. One of them, The Protection Forum for Bengali Hindus of Assam, has asked us to join them in this fight; and we will be standing with them in a matter of months. Some have also appealed to the national Indian government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. But it is clear that the only thing with a chance of stopping this is the pressure that comes from shining a light on these actions and forcing the world to confront what is happening to these perpetually victimized people before it is too late.

That has become one of our goals, and it is a major aim of our next trip to the region. If you want to help, contact Dr. Richard Benkin at drrbenkin@comcast.net.

Now the work begins!

Not all of our candidates were victorious in the November 2 elections. The relentlessly independent Congressman John Adler of New Jersey lost to Tea Party backed Jon Runyan. While we lost one friend in Congress, we are confident that we have gained another. The amazing Joel Pollak gave Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky a scare during the campaign but failed to unseat Congress's biggest spender and most leftist Member. Our congratulations to both men for raising important issues, and we expect that we have seen the last of neither.

A lot of great candidates won election and re-election--candidates that will stand strong for the United States, for the fight against radical Islam, and for the oppressed Hindus of Bangladesh, Kashmir, and elsewhere. The two most spectacular victories was the election of Mark Kirk to the US Senate from Illinois, and of Robert Dold to the Congressional seat Kirk is vacating. Senator-elect Kirk has been our strongest and most constant ally in our human rights struggles, and is pledged to help us "save more lives" and stop the spread of radical Islam. Congressman-elect Dold is already working with us, even before taking office, and will be an equally strong voice. Both men are acutely aware of the importance of this issue to the victims, to our nation, and to their Hindu-American constituents, who helped them to victory.

Now our work begins. We have an ambitious agenda for 2011--both in Washington and in South Asia. The 2010 elections have sent a clear message to our adversaries and to our actual and potential allies that we will not tolerate the destruction of Hindu communities in Bangladesh and elsewhere; nor the growth of Islamic radicalism.

Anyone who wishes to help--and receive the [US] tax deduction for 2010--can contribute to our fully deductible 501c3 at http://wwwforcefieldnow.org.

And now to work. As the great Jewish sage Hillel said, "If not now, when?"

Votes that will Save Lives on November 2

As I have spent time on Capitol Hill pressing my human rights efforts, I have been fortunate to gather support from Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals. It shows that people still recognize those values that unite Americans regardless of party or ideology. With the 2011 election nearing--and the need for effective action to save Bengali Hindus growing every day--it is critical for us to support those candidates whose election will save lives, prevent rapes, and stop the expansion of our worst enemies in South Asia.

Some supporters--like Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA), Congressman Trent Franks (R-AZ), Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), and Congressman Steve Rothman (D-NJ)--deserve our support but are well ahead of their opponents. Others are in close races and need the vote of everyone who cares about human rights and wants to stop the murder of Bangladeshi Hindus. Their principled actions make them deserving of our support: Congressman Mark Kirk (R-IL), running for the US Senate from Illinois; Robert Dold (R), running for the US Congress from the Illinois 10th District; Joel Pollak (R), running for the US Congress from the Illinois 9th District; and Congressman John Adler (D-NJ), in a tough race for re-election to the US Congress from the New Jersey 3rd District.

All of these individuals have shown themselves to be champions of human rights and friends of the Bengali Hindus.

No one has been a greater champion for us than Mark Kirk. His election to the US Senate will bring the safety of all Bengali Hindus closer and help us defeat America's most vicious enemies who are solidifying their base on South Asia. John Adler, as a freshman Congressman, has shown his independence and courage and always laid out a welcome mat for me and supported our human rights issues, and will continue to do so. Both Bob Dold and Joel Pollak have made clear their commitment to taking a leadership role in defending these oppressed and defenseless minorities.

Please tell everyone you know in these districts that votes for Mark Kirk, John Adler, Bob Dold, and Joel Pollak will bring closer the day when oppressed Bengali Hindus can live in safety. For more information, please feel free to contact me.