Page 4 v THE CANAPUM INDIA
- January 10, 19S�
[PublLhcd on the ftr�e and third Thursday of every month]
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: : THE
The outcome iof the Indian elections is no real surprise. The people of India had a clear choice between the squabbles of Janata and the stability promised by Indira. Some may jeven say that the people preferred the monarchy (father-daughter-rising son) of Indira to the anarchy of Janata. After all, are not the Indians used to oyer 600 . .princely states? , � �: .-. ' y X'X:.
The clear choice of Indira with such a huge majority is better than having a weak-kneed, ever-shifting coalifion where almost every P.M. wants to become a minister and eveiry minister to become the Prime Minister and to make hay while the jsun shines. JSittfpr Mrs. Gandhi's excesses during the emergency,;her rule has been-knovta fo be better than most regimes afier/.lndebendence.. her rising son will continue, to worry a large number of people. Trie electorate seems to have forgiven Indira in the hope tfiat she will not forget her
promises during the election campaign, A strong,. united and infective central government will help, India to develop economically and earn respect abroad as a nation not !to be ignored or pushed; around. <'A strong eqonomy is the; backbone to world's most populous democracy. Such policies, if adopted for a longer period, can make India one of the big powers of the world. No amount of Janata rule could have achieved "that. '�;
it is also; reported that Indira would like to make India a presidential type of government. Looking back at the instability of the last couple of years under the British parliamentary system, one is inclined to; agree with Mrs. Gandhi.
The caution required, however, is in assuring that such a President does not misuse the powers, either by becoming a dictator or by
heina corrupt. : 1 � � ;�' ''v
We wish the new government all the very best and hope that Mrs. Gandhi.will keep the; promises she made during the campaign.
The eild of proh i bi tion
New Delhi (IBS) - Most of the hittinl put against ''luxuries^
political parties running the gaun* including television sets and frid-
tlet for this years general elec- ges, yet even that manifesto has
tion, do not share erstwhile Prime admitted that the 4>total prohibi-
Minister Morarji Desai's cxhub- tion l^w has made multi-million-
erance to impose total prohibition aires out of bootleggers who were
in the country. now financing political parties in
Even the- Janata manifesto was silent on the subject, and this is
The Congress-1, which had tried
strange, considering it was the to pha!se in prohibition during its
same party's plan which had cost regime, has/this time, preferred
the national .exchequer Rs. 60 to ignore the topic completely. Its
ctores dueto the phasing in of the bossvfoman, Mrs. Indira Gandhi,
A4drv nation nlan . explained that her party preferred
temperance and .persuasion" in Charan Singh, who spearheads dealing with the drinking habit the Lok Dal; had been verbose in instead of using the whip to
enforee the law.
Kerala poll on January 21
New Deltii(IBS) - The jwopi^
India's green and swampy State five other partjies^ the Election of Kerala will go to the polls on Comniisaioner feed the date for January 21 to elect a now Aasem- January 21. My. A notification wifl soon be j
iissued to '~ Governor.
iissued to this effect by the State jApjjflgsE ALCOHOL PLANf
The msfa) Mrtles should turn out Newj Delhi (IBS) Two Japanese SZ*ZE? r^��?*3SlZ eal Industries and Nidiinie� com.
� By Dr. G.S. Pan! ''� '.y:;r;
lPaperpreaente4totheExeenj|lve Committee of the Canadian Consultative Council on Multkul^iir-aliain] ! '��'"�/!:;�
The immigrant has a lonely journey in the land of his choicje. Aiming with hopes dreams* aspirations., .very soon he comes tup with the realization that what [he left behind was Utopia compared ; with the Vortex of impediments that await him in the alien world he has chosen as his own:
One impediment is ea verbalizied and reacted >to:| RACISM, The immigrant y^receives himself a victim of racial discrimirtation .Racism becomes a self perpetuating tmpedtmlent which preys upon the immigrant as well as upon the larger society.
It is, quite often, the major perceived impediment; The question needs to be asked, although lit has been asked ag^in ind again: What is Racism? j At the risk of sounding simplistic and being challenged, let me iay RACISM IS A REACTION TO COLLECTIVITY. It is jhe common man's reaction to, and apprehension of, the visible attributes of a newpomer. ]
Racism is not the cause, it isi aresult ; of impediments. ^ It! is perceived by the immigrant als a major stumbling block iri jthe settlement process. Energies become concentrated and. jdif-fused on the effect rather than |the
; rpot causes. It is about these j^oot causes, the real impediments that
� \ wish to speak today. j
It is important to remember tfiat racism and ethno-centericisrrijare manifestations of deep-rooted problems -that originate long |be> fore and linger long after jthe immigrant steps^ into his hewirfe.
As all problems of human action and interaction, these impediments ar^e fairly complex. JFor the sake of analyzing them, 1 have placed them in three broad cSite-' gories:- " ; y |; y.*y
1. External Impediments [
2. Intermediary Impediments!
3. Internal impediments j y
1. External Impediments [
The most important impedi* nients are those broadly categorized as external. Once again, it should be evident that in, {this categorization there are hp absolutes. For example, a Very significaht aspect of our life is religion.; All religious practices are external, while the sentiment is intensely mtenial. The efore, when I qalI it an external i ipedi-ment I am referring to jthe practice rather than the belief; To state the obvious, then, religion becomes a compensatory factor when we move into a d..fekent e nyiron men11 and we adhere jto it with extra devoutness. jThis creates an immediate distance from the larger society in terms of not being able to share their-religious practices, holidays,] festivities, etc., and trying, Jwith certain amount of desperation not to let go of our own... j
Closely linked with religion is the second impediment; namely; social-cultural. This impedunent is not insurmountable, as compared with the one pertaining to religion. Culture is a relatively attractive aspect of an iinnii-grant's personality. Not too many persons, even the reds of ^rednecks, are averse to i display of music, dance and theatre from a different cultural milien. ; The same cannot be skid for dietary habits, because this is a mattjer of highly titivated and developed tastes. However unpalatable we may find certain cullinary[ delights of the larger society, they are tiie accepted norm. But Jtaste buds are hard to kill or translorm. Therefore diet remains a sizeable j
XI impediments we n>ove into the area of the most insurmountable. Inmy view, the most important of all is the econondc Impediment. Our most trying battle is fought to gain economic respectability. Most of us arrive with little or no financial resources. It takes us a long time to build up the resources that spell STATUS. Once| we have achieved financial respectability we inch our way into status fespectabiiity.; Therefore, our status is, in parti, cphtingent upon pur financial strength;
Once we make inroads into the economic sphere, other avenjies become aw
'referring to.the'poUtical impedi-v nient. Politics is a closed d x>r that is pried open through e6>n-omic status. Once again, let me reiterate that it is thelack of rojots in an adopted country that leads to the political impasse. Conversely, the political impasse prevents establishing of roots; Lack of political involvement here makes us build up frustrations that lead to a hankering for the political invoiyement We have left behind. Hence, the longing for "�news from home"; social group interactions centered around political events which cotne to us in dribbles of stale news. This is a first-generation trauma. The moment we become yisible in community leagues, school
y boairds, city councils, we are able to overcome some of this arnbivalance. ::AX^:''::/y'''rf-\X:-
2. Intermediary Impediments
I am using the wordi *'intermediary \y to bridge the gap between 4,externar. and ^160181".. Considering the significance df the communications .teehnoligy, it is sobering to realize how little control we have oyer media. Other than community channels which have a very limited audience, we have no access to the television media for instance. Result: there is little dissemination of information regarding our community to the larger society,
� other than philanthropic advertisements for CARE, Red Cross, etc,^ Lack of interest oh part of visual media particularly, constitutes a major intermediary impedi-
: ment. :X-]X� -:X.. � X.X?y, i.yyyy
Another intermediary impediment that has a long range effect upon the immigrant is the School and Home c<mflict. Due to the fact that there is little or no :-' relationship between children's school activities, and the socia-cultural activities at home of parents and grandparents, children live in two different worlds and oft en cann pt.;. harmonize them. In some areas, of the cities where there is an ethnic concentration, schools are known to make attempts to tailor their ./curriculum/ But by and large . most schools remain oblivious of his aspect of their student's es. The conflict�thus created, difficult, not only for the en tldren but often for the parents .id always for the grandparents w' io may not even communicate in the same language. This is an institutionalintermediary impeo^i rnent. ^XXxXtX.
grants never do) our progress is periodically retarded - returning iis to square one.
Even more; intimate than the above is a feeling of aloneness. Albneness is differentiated from ildnliness in that it implies a life without support from the extended family, which is such an integral part of life in India. Unused to the nuciear family concepts the immigrant must forge ahead with support on from the rtuotear family group.
3. Internal Impediments
Deep rooted internal impeds: snents are difficult to eradicate.
Some of them are pui ological, like the dual exis-tance most immigraiits lead: The first generation; particularly; is unsure of where it belongs. The desire- to �return home* * surpasses every so often; making the settlement process always a temporary solution. '* Who Am If* MWhcte Do I Belong9'? "Where
9? W**1 To E"* My Days and Die? Questions such as these keep uprooting the profile roots we shoot mto the Canadian soil. After a period of such doubtings, theprogress made'
J?k>setoria^fflcance. Andeven ^9&/tz retmsi (i
Other internal impediments have their origin in the home country and surface frequently in t he country of adoption :-
- Citizenship conflict: India? Canadian or Indo-Canadian? Lack of commitment to the country of choice * and inability to extricate himself: from commit-� ment to the country of origin.
- Regional differences inherited from the 'country of origin and inabilUy to band together.
- Focus on personal economic well-being rather than community well-being. Desire to return ,.home" once the economic status has been achieved.
- Building religious institutions like temples, mosques, etcW rather than eommuntty centers with broad socio-cultural interests involving the larger society.
. Iii summary, then.; the impediments of layirig our roots in Canada are spread over every aspect of our life; Not insurmountable; but. clearly, a chall enge! 1 ani looking forward to seeing the several workshops arranged for the rest of the day. grappling with solutions to minimize, if not; mitigate the impediments. What emerges should be creative solutions which will indicate the path to laying our roots in Canada. .
Jabalpura, (UNI) - Mrs. Tara Bhattacharjea, grand-daughter of Mahatma Qandhi, is opposed to branding the Rashtriya Sw.ayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) as an organisation of "the murderers of the father of the nation;*'
In an interne UNI Mrs.
Bhattarjeav who canie here from Rome (Italy), to canvass for her younger brother, and Janata Party candidate for the Jabalpur Lok Sabha seat, Rajmohan Gandhi; said all great men lost.their lives like her grandfather but the entire organisation should not be blamed for the act of an individ-
Living in Rome; iwhere her husband is an officer in the Food and Agriculture OrganjsattOir (FAQ), Mrs. Bhattarjea said she was perturbed at the mudslinging in Indian politics.
Mrs. Bhattacharjea, who is also �-a' grand-daughter of C. Rajago-palachari lamented that all India's Prime Ministers since independence; had failed to create a second line of leadership.
MAI1 politicians above sixty years of age should retire from active politics and give the younger generation a chance to lead the oountry/* she
Asked to comment on Prime Minister Charan Singh's recent remark about Mahatma Gandhi's two mistakes, Mrs. Bhattadiaijea said she h<�ed Mr. Chaian Singh <fidnot make those obaervatkms y^th any VMltvwu** Urn fatfwr
I.
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Iv.
I [CONTINUED FROM THE
i'JSSUE]
! What happened in the courts ! the Caesars? Rome and India. | a long time had extensive | relations with each other. | exported goods like pearls, " i els, perfumes, spices, silk, [ muslin (called nebula by | Romans as it was so fine [ transparent); dyes, cosmetics | oils, and ghee (purified i Roman wealthy women decked ' seven folds of Indian mus parading the streets of Roi were seen to be a menace to city's morals. The imports India caused a very serious io Rome's supply of gold a silver since Rome did not ha much to export to India to her trade deficit except by expoi ing bullion. Roman Senato complained bitterly that 44articl that; served feminine vanity, jewels and luxury objects " all the riches out of the As a result/the Roman ment laid an embargo by " latiye means on the import of fine stuff from India. Silk about the first century A. * �derived alone frorn India, w sought for eagerly by the wealt iest Roman ladies, and so late the time of Aurelian, in the half of the third century of our E was valued at its weight in gold. Pliny, a Roman historian of second century A.D�. compla' that "in no year does India our empire of less than hundred and fifty millions sesterces", which was compute in about the middle of the 19t century 4 4 at about 1,400,000 pounds" a year. Pliny complained that ,4sp dear pleasures and women cost us/ Thii drain to India : ''was important cause of the financ, difficulties in the Roman empi from the reign of Nero onwards' No wonder that in the public of the Roman empire collected Emperor Justinian in the century A.D., as an English told us, "we find amongst rest of the Indian charged with duties all sorts silk and cotton man which they brought, as we from those countries, and ably for the same reason, they found that method -cheap than bringing the commodity working it up at home.
It was not a coincidence th against the -perversity of European women were made after the Roman complaint in 17th and 18th centuries who we so proud of wearing Indian mi lins, calicoes and silk inviting tl same legislative prohibition by the European governments cept the Dutch. This story will told in the next article dealij with economic condition of In< soon before the British topsy-ti veyed her from the richest to t\ poorest country of the earth..
But one thing is certain that to talk of religious, philosophic arid cultural importance of In in the history of the world, ev| the economic history of the wor as pointed out by an emin historian, Arnold Tqynbec, comes intelligible only when have taken into account Indian factor in it" because In has also been i4a major force the field of economics.
This was so as India, before British writhed her under t perfidious grip, was the com cial center of the whole world for few years or few centuries for full three thousand year perhaps the longest period economic supremacy in the tory of the world- as pointed by an eminent Indian historia '�For full thirty centuries I stood out as the very heart of commercial world" and she " oughout had the balance of tr
* �i