“Genocide is not an event but a process, and that there are early “signs and processes” of genocide in the Indian state of Assam and occupied Kashmir,” stated Dr Gregory Stanton founder of the organization Genocide Watch. Formed in 1999, Genocide Watch is a global organisation dedicated to the prevention of genocide.

Dr Stanton is a former research professor in genocide studies and prevention at the George Mason University in Virginia, the United States. He is recognized as the biggest authority in this field as his predictions of Genocide in Rwanda in 1994 were proven true in 1999.

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic killing of a group of people due to their ethnic, racial or religious association. The word “genocide” was first coined by Polish lawyer Raphäel Lemkin in 1944 in his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. Lemkin developed the term mainly in response to the Nazi policies of systematic murder of Jewish people during the Holocaust. Later on, Lemkin led the campaign to have genocide recognised and codified as an international crime.

Genocide was first recognised as a crime under international law in 1946 by the United Nations General Assembly. It was codified as an independent crime in the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (the Genocide Convention). The Convention has been ratified by 149 States (as of January 2018).

This practically means that India is committing murder that will turn into a massacre if no action is taken. It is a criminal act. It is an inhuman act. It is a breach of conventions. It is a ruination of values. It is bloodshed. It is unethical. It is illegal. Yet, the world looks away. This deliberate blindness to human desecration is due to:

1. Indian infiltration at the policy levels— The Indian domination has become all pervasive. The population of Indo-Americans (also categorised as East Indians, Asian Indians and American Indians) in the US is 4 million, the second-largest immigrant group after Mexicans. It is also the most successful, with the median household income at $107,000 – almost twice that of American-born households.

This is indicated by the rise of Kamala Harris as Vice President of the USA. Joe Biden’s advisory group is dominated by Indian-Americans. Even in UK the likely successors to Boris Johnson as PM include Rishi Sunak having an Indian family tree. If the two most powerful countries in the world are being led by Indian descent leaders, the consequences are, and will be, obvious.

1. Control of the Multinationals— Indian Americans, who make up 1% of the US population, own a third of all Silicon Valley start-ups. According to Nirvikar Singh, Sanjoy Chakravorty and Devesh Kapur, authors of the book The Other One Percent: Indians in America, about 8% of all high-technology firms in the US were founded by Indian Americans.

At present, 2% of the Fortune 500 companies of American origin — including Google, Microsoft, Alphabet, Adobe, IBM, and MasterCard— are all led by Indian Americans. Twitter the most influential political platform has a new CEO-Parag Agrawal, another Indian-American.

1. Mastering the Research narratives— The Indianiz-ation process begins in research and education of US academia. Recent years have witnessed several Indian-Americans take the helm of the nation’s most

   selective business schools: Nitin Nohria at Harvard, Dipak Jain at Northwestern (2001-2009), Rangarajan Sundaram at NYU and Paul Almedia at Georgetown. The list also includes Kumar’s replacement at Booth, Madhav Rajan. By some estimates, Indian-Americans have led, or currently lead, more than a dozen business schools in the United States alone. Same is the case with faculty, books and publication. This provides and projects an image and a platform for the Indian tilt to colour international perception and global policies.

Fortunately, Modi happened. He has been so arrogant, so blatant, so supercilious that he has managed to crack the veneer of the modern secular India. His open Hinduvta racial superiority has created unease even in the most supportive ranks. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s bold steps to call him a Hitler/Nazi follower has made researchers review Indian hypocrisy. The cracks are there. To capitalize on them we need to:

1. Develop diplomatic/legal counter forums— Genocide is an international crime. As done for Palestine a united stance by Muslim leaders should call for a session in the UNGA or other UN appropriate forums. The extremist laws being introduced in BJP-dominated states is particularly violence provoking.

Last year, BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, passed legislation to clamp down on conversion for interfaith marriages – laws colloquially known as the “love jihad” laws. These are lethal laws and need to be taken up by amnesty international. This work can be done by the OIC special representative who is looking after countering Islamophobia.

1. Trading blocs as market alternatives— India’s market might is the main deterrent for countries and global forums. To make yourself competitive we must focus on building joint investment opportunities through Pakistan, Iran and Turkey.

The train initiative needs to have offshoots of road, sea and rail network that involves many other Central Asian nations to provide Pakistan a chance of marketing itself as the Gateway to the rising South and Central Asia. Taking a leaf from Belt and Road initiative they should plan South and Central Trade Belt to get the world to view this as an alternative to India.

1. Global movement and Exposé— Perhaps the most effective movement is the celebrity endorsement movement on social media. A campaign on “After Rwanda, its India”, “Stop Genocide in India”, endorsed by artists, film producers, sports players, etc., will really make it a trend and put pressure on the Indian government, world institutions, etc.

Can the world just pretend as if nothing is happening? Dr Gregory Stanton said: “that is what happened in Rwanda in 1989. The genocide developed, the hate-speech developed, all the early warning signs developed. And as we know, 800,000 Tutsis and other Rwandans were murdered in 1994”.

With India’s size, this number could be much much higher. This will not just be another Indian matter but a matter that due to its size and scale will set off reactions all over the world. The likelihood of a new spate of global terror developing is very high. Thus, the need to be proactive is urgent. As Kashmir bleeds and Indian intent and action clearly depict the Hindutva ideology, the need for a united, integrated front to prevent this human catastrophe from happening is the responsibility of every country that truly believes in peace and humanity.

(The writer can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022