Talking about race-related topics is often pretty hard. But I think they need to be addressed, so I will comment on this.
First of all, I think the article is way too harsh and judgmental, and I'm sure it will lead to all sorts of misunderstandings, so I will try to clear these up.
Indian people are NOT antisemitic. In fact, tribes of Jewish people came to live in India centuries ago when they were fleeing persecution in the middle east, and their descendants still live in India now. they were never discriminated against.
Indian people DO admire Hitler, however. Let me tell you why. 1. During WWII, Hitler offered to help Indian people gain independence from the British, if we helped them during WWII. At that time, Britain was India's version of the Third Reich--the British treated us similarly to the way Nazis treated the Jewish people. Indian revolutionaries wanted desperately to be free from British Rule, and NO ONE in Europe was willing to help them, except for Hitler. (Because at that time and probably even now, people in Europe hated Indians).
Now, Indians are not stupid. We know that Hitler only offered to help us for his own selfish reasons, and he would have turned on us later on, because Hitler saw us as "polluted Aryans" and not pure racially. But he was Britain's enemy. And the enemy of one's enemy is a friend. HA! (sarcasm intended). But even so, he was the only one to offer us help.
2. In South-Asia, people admire strong, ruthless leaders. It's part of our culture. So, oftentimes, people in India, admire people like Stalin (who is very popular) and Indira Gandhi (who was also a very ruthless politician). I think Hitler is popular because Indian people saw him as a strong leader who was hurting our enemy (i.e. Britain) and they admired him for that.
Most educated people in India know that Hitler did terrible things to Jewish people and we do not approve of that. But most uneducated people (people off the street) don't know what he did to Jewish people. It sounds to me like the guy who wrote this article met and talked with uneducated people.
"Aryan" is the Hindi/Persian/Sanskrit" word for our race, the race of the Iranians. North Indians are descendants of Iranian people who came to India long ago. We call our culture "Aryan culture". And I hate it that Hitler appropriated it, and it became the word for the German race. I have nothing against Germans. I just hate it that now I can't use it to refer to myself or my culture, without some racist European correcting me and telling me that I'm not Aryan, and then snubbing me for being a racist for using the term. If Hitler had not used the word "Aryan", people would not get so confused.
I would love to know what German people actually think of Indians. I often encounter Germans and Russians in America, and they seem curious about Indian history, and I often wonder what is really going on in their head. Do they really think we are racist and antisemitic? I hope not.
In America, I find that Americans who are of Italian, Greek, or Spanish descent, as well as Middle-Easterners are the most welcoming towards Indians.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 01:13 am (UTC)Talking about race-related topics is often pretty hard. But I think they need to be addressed, so I will comment on this.
First of all, I think the article is way too harsh and judgmental, and I'm sure it will lead to all sorts of misunderstandings, so I will try to clear these up.
Indian people are NOT antisemitic. In fact, tribes of Jewish people came to live in India centuries ago when they were fleeing persecution in the middle east, and their descendants still live in India now. they were never discriminated against.
Indian people DO admire Hitler, however. Let me tell you why.
1. During WWII, Hitler offered to help Indian people gain independence from the British, if we helped them during WWII. At that time, Britain was India's version of the Third Reich--the British treated us similarly to the way Nazis treated the Jewish people. Indian revolutionaries wanted desperately to be free from British Rule, and NO ONE in Europe was willing to help them, except for Hitler. (Because at that time and probably even now, people in Europe hated Indians).
Now, Indians are not stupid. We know that Hitler only offered to help us for his own selfish reasons, and he would have turned on us later on, because Hitler saw us as "polluted Aryans" and not pure racially. But he was Britain's enemy. And the enemy of one's enemy is a friend. HA! (sarcasm intended). But even so, he was the only one to offer us help.
2. In South-Asia, people admire strong, ruthless leaders. It's part of our culture. So, oftentimes, people in India, admire people like Stalin (who is very popular) and Indira Gandhi (who was also a very ruthless politician). I think Hitler is popular because Indian people saw him as a strong leader who was hurting our enemy (i.e. Britain) and they admired him for that.
Most educated people in India know that Hitler did terrible things to Jewish people and we do not approve of that. But most uneducated people (people off the street) don't know what he did to Jewish people. It sounds to me like the guy who wrote this article met and talked with uneducated people.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 01:24 am (UTC)This is a sensitive subject for me.
"Aryan" is the Hindi/Persian/Sanskrit" word for our race, the race of the Iranians. North Indians are descendants of Iranian people who came to India long ago. We call our culture "Aryan culture". And I hate it that Hitler appropriated it, and it became the word for the German race. I have nothing against Germans. I just hate it that now I can't use it to refer to myself or my culture, without some racist European correcting me and telling me that I'm not Aryan, and then snubbing me for being a racist for using the term. If Hitler had not used the word "Aryan", people would not get so confused.
I would love to know what German people actually think of Indians. I often encounter Germans and Russians in America, and they seem curious about Indian history, and I often wonder what is really going on in their head. Do they really think we are racist and antisemitic? I hope not.
In America, I find that Americans who are of Italian, Greek, or Spanish descent, as well as Middle-Easterners are the most welcoming towards Indians.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-04 01:28 am (UTC)