The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Outrageous

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Tuesday, May 06, 2008
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Outrageous

U.S. President George W. Bush’s observation that the phenomenal rise in global prices of foodgrains is linked to the prosperity of the Indian middle class is outrageous. In his efforts to blame the prosperous Indian middle class, President Bush has conveniently forgotten that his country has been diverting farm produce such as corn to bio-fuel. Our leaders have done the right thing by dismissing the statement. As CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat said, Mr. Bush’s observation adds insult to injury.

Seriene Mohammed,

Alappuzha

* * *

It is a matter of pride that our nation has risen to the level of making a difference to the global food scenario. The honourable President of the U.S. himself has called India a nation gaining in prosperity.

It is perhaps the weakening dollar against a steadily gaining rupee that forced him to make such a remark about India and its people.

P.V. Venkatakrishnan,

Rotterdam

* * *

Mr. Bush has made a highly erroneous presumption. India is an exporter of food grains and not an importer. It is self-sufficient on the food front. There is recession and unemployment in the U.S. There is a spurt in its defence expenditure, which has ruined the economy. The country has also diverted its food crops to manufacture bio-fuel. The Indian rupee is appreciating against the U.S. dollar.

Viewed in the context, it appears that the U.S.’ bid to attribute the food shortage to India’s middle class is the result of its inability to digest India’s growth and development.

Gururajan Ramachandran,

Udhagamandalam

* * *

Mr. Bush’s observation that India’s prosperity is also a cause for the rise in global food prices was avoidable. His popularity has already taken a beating because of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Saddam Hussein’s execution.

It appears that the U.S. is unable to digest the tremendous development of the Indian economy.

R. Sekar,

Visakhapatnam

* * *

President Bush deserves to be nominated for the Nobel Prize in two categories — economics, for giving us the causes of the global food crisis, which includes India’s prosperity; and the Nobel Peace for invading Iraq and making the world safer by destroying its weapons of mass destruction.

Amit Mehrotra,

Moradabad

* * *

I am a regular visitor to the U.S. One must see the food that is wasted in the restaurants, hotels, and fast food joints to believe it. It will be no exaggeration to say that a day’s food wasted in the U.S. is enough to feed thousands of hungry around the world. President Bush would do better to take corrective action at home instead of looking for reasons elsewhere.

K. Shiva Shankar,

Chennai

* * *

India has been contributing to the world food needs by exporting a considerable quantity of foodgrains every year. Thanks to the growing economy and job opportunities, the Indian middle class has at last got an opportunity to consume nutritious food. That cannot jeopardise the supply-demand equation at a global level. Instead of pointing fingers at developing countries, the U.S. should extend help to improve agricultural productivity in them.

T.V. Ramadasu,

Hyderabad

* * *

With his popularity on the decline, Mr. Bush has resorted to a new way of deflecting attention. His views on the global food crisis are appalling. They come after the comment of a high-ranking U.N. food official that it is a crime against humanity to divert food for bio-fuel. The U.S. is guilty of the crime.

Mr. Bush’s contention that the improved diet of the 350-million strong Indian middle class is also a cause for the world food crisis is laughable. If the richer among the middle class switch over to improved diet such as poultry and meat, there should be a reduction in rice and wheat consumption. There should be excess of rice and wheat and shortage of meat and poultry.

Kuppuswamy Thiyagarajan,

Abu Dhabi

* * *

The Indian middle class statement is typical of George Bush and bears the hallmark of American arrogance written all over. Let him look at his own backyard — the food Americans waste is enough to feed the poor in a country like India where many people cannot have even one square meal a day.

K. Anilkumar,

Tirupur

* * *

The cartoon (May 5) clearly portrays the arrogant attitude of the U.S. The U.S. never wanted any country to go nuclear although it continued to remain a nuclear power. Americans never compromised on their standards of living despite knowing that their lifestyle contributes the most to global warming.

The U.S. never took the issue of terrorism seriously until it was hit by terrorists. In the same vein, the people in the rest of the world have every right to decide what they want to eat.

Y. Suresh,

Hyderabad We need not be outraged at Mr. Bush’s statement because he has, in a way, repeated what our Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said — that the wheat shortage is due to the change in the dietary habits of south Indians who eat more chapathis.

Satbir Singh Bedi,

New Delhi

* * *

While the U.S. policy of diverting farm produce to bio-fuel has led to an acute shortage of food products in the country, the global economic recession, a fallout of the skyrocketing crude oil prices, is the result of its skewed war-happy foreign policy.

Nalini Vijayaraghavan,

Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

Mr. Bush’s comments, apart from being highly insensitive, are arrogant and exude the patronising American benevolence.

The theory of shortage due to excessive consumption is fraudulent when juxtaposed with the ever decreasing per capita food consumption levels in India.

Kasim Sait,

Chennai

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