Commentary
 

Humanitarian Aid From: http://www.arabnews.com/services 28 May 2008 The (Saudi) Kingdom’s emergency donation of $500 million to the UN’s World Food Program (WFP) to help combat the global food crisis should scotch the myth that Middle Eastern oil producers do nothing to help the world’s poor. The one-off donation — larger than that given by all other countries combined — is obviously not going to end the crisis but it has solved the immediate problem of finding the money to feed an estimated 73 million people in 78 countries at a time when the cost of food, so far this year, has gone up by a shocking 35 percent. That is not merely our view. It is the view of the WFP’s executive director Josette Sheeran: “The Saudi donation will keep many people from dying, others from slipping into malnutrition and disease, and will even help to stave off civil unrest,” she said on Saturday. For UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the grant comes not a moment too soon, given the scale of the crisis. Inevitably, in contrast to his praise, the diehard Islamophobes and Arab-bashers around the world bad-mouth the donation, claiming it is merely a PR gesture. That says far more about their willful ignorance of the truth and nothing about the reality of Saudi aid. While boosted oil revenues may have decided the size of the donation, which has given the WFP a $215-million surplus on its $755-million appeal, this is not a one-off gesture. Saudi Arabia has long been a major and generous provider of foreign aid. Over the past 30 years it has given over $85 billion for international humanitarian and relief work. That equates to 4 percent of GDP, making the country the biggest giver in per capita terms in the world. Yet the myth about tight-fisted oil producers or only giving to Muslim recipients persists. Saudi Arabia gives to Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Two years ago, it provided aid to help people living in rubbish dumps in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh; Cambodians are not noticeably Muslim; they are largely Buddhist. Likewise, the WFP donation is not ring-fenced for Muslims. In part the myth is the oil producers’ own doing. The Kingdom and others do not, on the whole, make a song and a dance about their aid programs, preferring simply to get on with the job of providing aid where it is needed with a minimum of fuss and publicity. Who, outside Kuwait, for example, was aware that last month it set up a fund to help poor Muslim countries deal with the food crisis? Saudi Arabia has done its part; it is up to others to do theirs. A glance at the WFP’s list of donors shows how pathetic donations have been. The Americans, Canadians, Japanese and most Europeans (although not all) have always been relatively generous in their giving but the donations of other wealthy countries, a few oil producers among them it has to be admitted , look downright mean. Indeed, some major oil producers do not give anything at all. That is their choice but it is both irresponsible and immoral. It is certainly not our way.

I Love My India Pratibha Prashar, 22 May 2008, Thursday http://technology.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=134443 I AM madly in love with my country. I have wanted to write something about India since long. But every time I started, I gave up because I would get confused about from where to start and what to write. There is so much I want to say about this wonderful piece of land on earth. India is highly rich and deep in terms of culture, art, architecture, communities and religious values. One very important reason behind this is the long list of different empires and dynasties, which ruled over ancient India. Each kingdom that is enlisted in the Indian history has contributed towards the cultural richness of the country. To begin with the Indian history, our country is, no doubt, one of the most ancient and richest civilisations of the world. India, being a highly fertile land supplemented with huge water resources in the form of rivers like Sutlej, Ravi, Beas, Jhelum and Chenab along with favourable climatic conditions, topography and unlimited amount of natural resources, has always been the ideal place for dwelling for people from all across the world. It is believed that some 5000 years back nomadic people entered north-west India from ancient Sumeria (present day Iran) across the Himalayas. Mesmerised by the highly productive land along with ample amount of food and water, they made India their home and are today known as the Indus valley people. Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro were the two main cities (both in Pakistan now) of the Indus valley civilisation. This time period is known as the Bronze-age. It was followed by the Iron-age that saw many kingdoms. During the fourth and the fifth century, Gupta Dynasty ruled India and that period is known as the golden-age of Indian history. Extensive progress was made in terms of political and cultural aspects of the Hindu religion during this period. This age was followed by the existence of Mahavira and Gautam Budhha in the sixth century who further elaborated religious philosophies. Afterwards, several kingdoms ranging from the Alexander the great to Mauryas, the Mughals and the most recent, the British ruled our country. With each kingdom and ruler, there was extensive enrichment of the culture in terms of religion, ideologies, trade, language, economy, art and architecture. Moreover, there was the development and spread of different religions with all these different kingdoms. Today people of almost all religions inhabit India. Reason being that different religions were developed in India during the empire of different rulers. India is the birthplace of widespread religions like Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Hinduism is the major religion in our country with almost 84 per cent Indian population as Hindus. Hinduism reached its peak during the rule of the Gupta emperors like Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II. Islam is followed by 12 per cent of the total population of India. Islam was introduced in India with the arrival of Muhammad bin Qasim. Different Muslim empires between the 10th and 15th century, including the Mughals, enriched the country with the Islamic values and culture. Islam has a very strong influence on Indian society, the reason being the long period of history during which Muslim emperors ruled India. During the mid-18th century, British entered India. This led to the introduction of Christianity in India. But the history of Christianity in India is much ancient. Today there are more than 25 million Christians residing in India. A very interesting fact is that this number is more than the total population of Australia and New Zealand. Christianity was basically brought to India by St Thomas, one of the 12 apostles of Jesus long back in 52 AD. He taught Christianity in the Malabar coastal region and developed many churches in that region. It is believed that he brought Christianity to India much before the development of the Christianity in many European countries. So the history of Indian Christians who trace their Christianity to St Thomas is more ancient than many of the European countries. Sikhism is the youngest of all the religions in Indian and the Sikh population in India accounts for a mere two per cent of the total population. Jainism and Buddhism developed during the era of Mahavira and Gautam Budhha. Religions like Zoroastrianism and Bahai are also followed in India. Another aspect of our country that I find very interesting is the variety of food found over here. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food is common in India. The most ancient of Indians, the Harrapans, used to eat mainly wheat, rice and lentils along with cows, pigs, chicken etc. But under the effect of the Gupta dynasty, the practice of sacrificing animals for food became less popular and cow got the grade of a goddess. So people almost stopped eating beef. In the same way, with the entry of Islam in the country, pork became less popular. Wheat, rice, lentils maize, oats etc. are today the commonly grown food grains in India along with a variety of spices and herbs. The interesting part is that the same food ingredients are used in different parts of the country in different formulations producing highly versatile kind of food recipes. The choice of food in India is somewhere associated with the religion, the region, the climate etc. I suppose ours is the only country with such a huge variety of food items ranging from the typical Punjabi chhole to the south Indian dosa and sambar, from rich Kasmiri biriyani to the delicious dal churma bhati of Rajasthan. There is no match of the Indian jalebi, pani puri and the Bengali roshogulla round the world. No other country in world can be as colourful as our motherland. One of the earliest known writing systems of the world came from India, belonging to the Harrapans. Numerous different languages changing with every state and even within the state sometimes, huge variety of dressing styles, rituals, festivals and endless number of things; where else can one find such kind of diversity? One or even more than one festivals occupy all the 12 months of the year, each month, all across the country. The important point is that each festival has significance and a history associated with it. The Indian sari, mehndi (henna), rangoli, Indian ornaments, Indian weddings, Indian values, Indian education (the Nalanda and the Takshila), Indian games, Indian music, and Indian classical dances are simply awesome and unmatchable the world over. The interesting fact is that all the Indian games or the dance forms are aimed at physical, mental and spiritual development of a human being. Even the mehndi applied by the Indian ladies has medicinal value attached to it. Indian culture is so colourful, so lively that we have songs for each and every occasion, from birth till death. Indian values are unmatchable. We believe in principles like ’sarve bhavantu sukhina…’ and ’athiti devo bhava.’ Ours is the only culture where we touch the feet of our elders as a symbol of respect. Have you ever wondered the logic behind this? When we wish good morning or namaste or hello to someone, he/she will also respond in the same manner. It is only when you touch somebody’s feet that you are showered with the blessings and the good wishes. There are innumerable such good things of our culture that can be discussed. Indian medicine system: the ayurvedic system has the treatment of even the most dreadful diseases. The power of yoga has been recognised by entire world. One more fascinating aspect of India is her unlimited and marvellous charm and beauty. The list of tourist places in India is endless. There is no other country in the world that offers a tourist such a vast variety of places ranging from the snow covered peaks of Himalayas to the sand dunes of Rajasthan, from beach waves to the magnificent forts, beautiful temples of south and north India and churches of Goa and different dargahs, from the caves of Ajanta and Elora to the most wonderful TajMahal. Each nook and corner of the country is a beauty and has a history related to it. I think a whole lifetime is less to watch and observe the entire country. The list of great Indian personalities including the Indian saints, poets, freedom fighters, educationalists, scientists, businessmen etc is endless. I really thank god that I am an Indian. I just want to convey a message to all those who are always up to criticising the country for the negatives, that India is what we Indians have made it. You and I are responsible for the present state of our country. Think of your contributions for the upliftment and improvement of the country. Do not blame or criticise but try to love your country and convert it to the golden bird that it was, once again. It is definitely possible if we all take it seriously. I am proud to be an Indian and I hope all of you must be having the same feeling. Just love and take care of your country.

We need immigrants, not Bill C-50 http://www.canada.com/abbotsfordtimes/news/upfront/story.html Tuesday, June 03, 2008 THE EDITOR: -Abbotsford Times – B.C. If there are not enough workers, who will pay for our old age security? Stephen Harper wants to limit the backlog of immigration applications by focusing on immigrants with skills. Harper also wants to cap reunification of immigrant families. Harper will accomplish this through Bill C-50. This bill has reached the final committee stage and is poised to pass second reading. Only the unelected Senate - our last best chance - can stop this legislation from passing. Bill C-50 is a little known piece of legislation and surprisingly, not hotly debated at the national level. Harper is selling C-50 as a way to reduce the backlog of immigrant applicants. The truth is this legislation will completely destroy previous gains created when we had a more robust national immigration policy. Canada is not, demographically speaking, in a place where we can restrict our immigration policy. Canada has a skill shortage, and an aging population. We need skilled immigrants but we also need . . . parents with big families. We need to channel the children into our mainstream education systems so that they can take advantage of future employment opportunities. We need the grandparents to help support the family. This way we will better link employment opportunities to immigrant families. Recent studies [show] professional immigrants earn less, take longer to find employment, are marginalized at the senior management level, struggle to maintain generational opportunity and are falling behind economically. As a result, they are starting to view Canada as a "staging ground" for greener pastures. These labour market indicators do not support Harper's national immigration policy changes. Worse yet, the immigration minister wants to cap the percentage of family reunifications under Bill C-50. Once Canada has reached the prescribed cap, the minister will refuse additional family members into Canada. If we do not have enough workers to meet the labour demand then we will see a stalling of the national economy. If there are not enough workers, who will pay for our old age security? Stephen Evans, president, - Abbotsford Federal Liberal District Association