The Hindu : RSS mouthpiece questions wisdom of sending troops

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 08, 2003

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RSS mouthpiece questions wisdom of sending troops

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JULY 7. Panchjanya, a Hindi news weekly viewed as the mouthpiece of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, has questioned the wisdom of sending Indian troops to Iraq in a strongly worded editorial in its edition dated July 13 which appeared on the newsstands today.

"Why should Indian troops be sent to Iraq to clean up the American garbage (Amriki kachra saaf karne ke liye hamen kyon bheja ja raha hai),'' the editorial asks and then suggests that we should understand and analyse what important benefits India would derive by "poking our noses (tang phansa kar)'' in American problems.

While advising the Government to think before taking any decision, it said that it had become obvious that no political consensus was possible on this.

The lead editorial said: "The South Block mandarins with magic lanterns perhaps think that an invitation to India to send its troops is a signal of international recognition of India's increasingly important role in world affairs.

Several months ago, the RSS chief, K.S. Sudershan, had in a statement opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

The point that has been made is that the U.S. wants Indian troops to do what its own troops are having difficulty doing by facing the Iraqi people. And it warns that while American troops in Iraq may look good and "shine like Hollywood stars" on "American television channels like the CNN", facing the "grim reality on the ground" was "not easy" for the "delicate American darlings".

The weekly suggested that the Government consider the fact that India and Iraq have had cordial relations. Would the Iraqi people welcome Indian troops as friends or will they see this as an example of double standard of a Government which had openly opposed the American attack on Iraq?

That was a question that needed an answer, the editorial said.

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