Indians Morally Superior to Westerners?

In the late seventies and early eighties one of the common phrases that Indian politicians and the members of the media used as a response to what ails India was the phrase “the hidden hand”.  The hidden hand (the West, their government and intelligence agencies) was the reason that India was in the bad shape it was then.  At least that is what the government wanted us to believe.

This policy of blaming the West and their policies for problems facing the average Indian was very effective.  Within a couple of decades of independence India went from a nation that had a very close relationship with Western nations to a nation that was absolutely paranoid of the intentions of the West and their allies.

This anti-West sentiment peaked in the seventies when Indira Gandhi pretty much asked many of the major multinational companies to leave the country (we are now asking some of the very same companies to come back and do business in India).  India went from a mixed economy to a completely socialistic system that almost destroyed the country (during the late sixties, seventies and eighties India voted with the Soviet Union almost 70% of the time at the United Nations).

The anti-Western sentiment and a sense of moral superiority over them still exist in Indian society (although the rhetoric has reduced in recent years).  I have noticed that many Indians including prominent journalists and leaders make judgments about the West that are either completely wrong or are derogatory in nature.  If a prominent person from the West makes similar judgments about Indians then we will be up in arms and would be demanding an apology.

A couple of days ago I read an article on the Hindu titled “An alien culture we can do without” written by C.V. Aravind.  The author was expressing a conservative Indian opinion of what a relationship should be.  He was arguing for traditional Indian marriage and against live-in relationships.  He has the right to do so but has to provide valid reasons and not indulge in the same old West bashing.

In the article he mentions that “In the West, where teenage pregnancies are common and where couples walk in and out of relationships with consummate ease and with hardly any passion or affection characterizing these relationships, such issues raise no social storms or hackles”. I was very surprised that the Hindu actually published these statements.

People in the West do not have emotions or care about their partners? Are teenage pregnancies the result of a “Western lifestyle”?  What about teenage pregnancies and child marriage in India?  To insinuate that live-in relationships are Western is blatantly false.  One of the theories behind the concept of marriage is to legalize an existing relationship.  In the West this formalization of the relationship or acknowledgment of this relationship by the state is not necessary because there are strong laws that protect couples and their offspring whether they are married or not.

Should we in India take a moral “shot” at anybody when we have the highest number of people with sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and HIV/AIDS in the world?  We are a country where millions of children live on the streets because their parents abandon them.  Almost half of our countrymen walk around barefooted and partially naked because they cannot afford clothes or slippers.  India has high rates of rape and spousal abuse.  From where did we get this sense of moral superiority considering what is going on all around us?

It is interesting to note that very similar charges were made against the West when the Delhi Supreme Court decided to legalize homosexuality.  Opponents of this decision tried to portray homosexuality as something that is promoted by the West and conveniently ignored the history of homosexuality in India and the civil rights of almost 75 million Indians who are gay.

Of course one of our favorite pastimes is to be very critical of the West (particularly the United States) and their foreign policy.  But when we do this we are making the assumption that somehow India’s foreign policy and its track record are superior to that of the West.  But is it?

We accuse Pakistan of supporting terrorists who are intent on harming Indian interests.  But for almost two decades we had no problem supporting the Tamil liberation movement in Sri Lanka.  We provided the money, moral support and training for the LTTE and other Tamil liberation outfits that was trying to carve out parts of Sri Lanka.  We supported the liberation movement in East Pakistan and finally sent our troops to “liberate” East Pakistan and create the state of Bangladesh.  We gave shelter to the Dalai Lama and thousands of his supporters who are opposed to the Chinese rule in Tibet.  Rajiv Gandhi sent Indian troops to Maldives in 1988 to persevere the government run by Maumoon Abdul Gayoom from being thrown out by former President Ibrahim Nasir.

I do not disagree with any of the above policies.  We did what we thought was in our nations best interests.  America follows the exact same philosophy and there is no point in complaining about it or criticizing it without also acknowledging that we would probably do the same if we are in their position.

Oscar Wilde is quoted as saying that “morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people whom we personally dislike”.  This statement is very true.  In the past twenty years India and the Western nations have benefited enormously from each other by opening up their economies to each other.  But the people to people contact has not reached the same levels as business to business contact.  There is still a lot of skepticism and misunderstanding on the Indian side about the true intentions of the West and its values.

Related posts:

1. Immorality & Live-In Relationship
2. Myth or Reality: India is prospering but not Indians?
3. Why Do Indians Seek Acceptance From the West?
4. Time for India to Rethink its China Policy
5. Indians are weak in Science and Innovation

Tags: C.V. Aravind, China, Delhi Supreme Court, Hindu, HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, India, Indians, Indira Gandhi, LTTE, Maldives, moral, nation, Pakistan, Soviet Union, Sri Lanka, STD, Tibet, UN, United States, West, Westerners

Category: Culture & Religion