INTRODUCTORY NOTE:
When 9/11 happened, India was sunk in grief. Not merely due to the death of many Indians who were working in the WTC towers during that fateful morning, but also because of this country's honest admiration for values, which the great nation of America stand for. India loves America: Its Toni Morrison, its John Updike, its Mission Impossible sequels, its Pizza Hut, its Jazz, its Disneylands, its Britney Spears, and sometimes its Presidents. As the popular phrase went, we all were New Yorkers for that single day.
However, one fails to see the same level of sensitivity from the American media when it is their turn to cover terrorist attacks in this country. In India's time of distress, newspapers in U.S. (and in U.K., France) suddenly decide to play neutral. The terrorists are turned into 'militants'. The bomb blasts are described as 'what is claimed to be a terrorist attack'. The crystal-clear facts that terrorist camps were operated from Pakistan are explained as 'allegedly functioning from Pakistan'. Every terrorist killing here makes American press repeat India's 'barbaric tendency' to plunge into Hindu-Muslim riots. Besides, there is always that condescending tone while describing our best cities and writing about the more dynamic aspects of our culture.
Perhaps India's problems are too complicated to take clear sides. Perhaps India is too far away for Americans to care. Perhaps it is too remote a land. (The Washington Post actually consigned the latest Bombay Blasts story to Page A8.) But America sits very close to India. We make a note of everything that happens in America. We are constantly on alert as to what America thinks about us. Is it on our side?
This parody is an attempt on the part of this author to express his dissatisfaction with the U.S. media and no way intends to suggest any disrespect to the memory of those who died in 9/11.
Comedy can never be extracted out of tragedies. Who knows it better than we Indians who are still to recover from Bombay – 7/11!
THE ARTICLE BEGINS
By LATA MEHRA and MORAES ZOGOIBY
Published: September 12, 2001
Two jetliners collided with the World Trade Center towers in New York and another hit against the Pentagon building outside Washington. The collision appears to be intentional, as claimed by the American government, though it could not be immediately verified by the Press Trust of India (PTI).
According to the American television channel CNN people living almost two kilometers away from the World Trade Center said they heard the crash of the twin towers as they crumbled down to dust.
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Article comments
1 - Aaman
Powerful and hard-hitting, Mayank, going to replace the DC version with this one, if you don't mind
2 - gonzo marx
Mayank...compelling, powerful and insightful Truths here...
/golfclap
you strike to the Heart of many things, bringing to the Attention fo your Readers the unbalanced View from here in the U.S.
i feel a swelling of bittersweet kinship with India when someone from there reminds U.S. that in India, "all were New Yorkers for one day"
here in the U.S. it is often Forgotten just how much the U.S. and India share, rather than the obvious differences...
this American wants to thanks you, and Aaman...and all of those from your part of the World, who take the time to share your Thoughts and writings for those of U.S. on the other side of the world to Contemplate...
namaste'
Excelsior?
3 - Sanjay
What riles me is the Bush admin on the one hand saying "We Are With India" after these bombings, and then on the other hand he's getting ready to send a whole fleet of F16 aircraft to Pakistan (ie. "Psst! Quick! Get those F16s out the door and over to Pakistan before someone says something!")
Now that's ugly hypocrisy.
4 - Serket
I am currently reading "The World is Flat" and coming to understand how important India will be in the world economy. Plus there are some inspiring words from an Indian about what makes America great.
5 - Mayank 'Austen' Singh
Thanks for the comments. Please Aaman, replace the desicritics version with this one.
6 - Suresh
Can I use this article translated in Tamil?
7 - Mayank Austen Soofi
Suresh, for which website or publication? And, please make sure to give my byline. Thanks.
8 - Maurice
"...suddenly decide to play neutral. The terrorists are turned into 'militants'. The bomb blasts are described as 'what is claimed to be a terrorist attack'."
I'm disatisfied/pissed off at our 'American media' also. Even more irritating than the term 'militants' is the equally innocuous sounding 'insurgents'. I may have a stroke if I read the non-declarative "allegedly" one more time.
Sanjay - it has already happened. I work in an engineering group of about 500 people. Majority are from India.