Who's to Blame?

The conference we have been attending this week has just ended, and we are preparing to leave for home. While we pack and clean, we talk about the events we have witnessed, the speeches we have heard, and the reactions we have had to it all.

This conference has been for Chethana – a group of organizations working together to give a voice to those without one (women, tribals, dalits, and other oppressed people), thereby increasing their chances of living lives that are free from hunger, poverty, discrimination, and all types of oppression. It is connected to the Presbyterian’s Joining Hands Against Hunger program, and, together, over the past ten years, these groups have achieved much. This conference was, above all else, a celebration of achievements.

But it was also a time for the groups to come together and discuss plans for the coming years. What more can be done to eradicate poverty and hunger in India? What more can be done to give single women a voice in society? What more can be done to end discrimination of certain castes and classes?

There’s a lot of ideas and there’s a lot of passion. But there is also a lot of blame. And the fingers are pointing at the United States.

Living in India, I have come to understand some of the ways in which the First World oppresses the Third World. And I know that my very own country, the United States of America, has played a role in making many people poorer for the sake of a few becoming richer. I will not deny that this has happened and is currently happening. I will not deny the atrocity that is a few people prospering while countless others suffer. And I will not deny that the country I come from is part of the problem. But I will also not stand for the United States being the rest of the world’s scapegoat.

I don’t know that much about economics, and I know even less about politics. Still, here is what I do know: India’s government has been growing in power and wealth for a long time now, and recently, other world powers (like the U.S.) have been praising this country and getting in line to shake hands with those who have made it happen. India’s economy is booming, and its government is strong. And still, nine out of ten Indians live in poverty. The few in the other ten percent who have taken in upon themselves to care about the poor seem to enjoy turning to the west and pointing their fingers at America.

But America isn’t throwing away India’s food while Indian children starve. And America isn’t discriminating against India’s dalits and tribals.

First-World countries like the United States are not helping the situation in Third-World countries like India. But I refuse to believe that we are the root of the rest of the world’s every problem. There’s enough food here to feed all one billion mouths, and there is enough water that everyone should have some running from faucets and coming up from wells. And while the few rich Indians who care are standing around pointing fingers everywhere but at themselves and their own country, the rich in India are getting richer and the poor continue to starve.

No, America is not innocent. But, if we are going to assign blame all around the world, then we cannot skip India itself. At some point in this blame game, I believe India has to take responsibility for itself. I’m not saying that the world, including the United States, shouldn’t also do its part. But the problems in India will never be solved by pointing fingers at the West.