Posted on 11/08/2010 8:55:32 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
He came, he saw, he conquered. Every bit of India that US president Barack Obama mentioned in his 35-minute speech was received with thunderous applause in the Central Hall of parliament.
The immediate chord he stuck with the dignitaries, including MPs and chief ministers, probably made Obama’s day as he carried out a perfect public relations exercise to capture the Indian mind.
The charged atmosphere in Central Hall became evident as soon as Obama entered. He was greeted by a standing ovation!
Obama’s speech constantly referred to Indian themes, all of which were applauded by the audience. He began by pointing out that his India visit was his longest overseas trip, spoke about how Panchatantra has guided Indians for centuries, and referred to the fields of Pujab, bylanes of Chandni Chowk, modern highways of Bangalore or localities of Kolkata when he said that everyone deserved a chance to prosper.
The US president said he felt honoured to visit Gandhi’s residence, where decades later Martin Luther King had stayed, and the memorial at Rajghat, adding, “I am mindful that I might not be standing before you today, as president of the United States, had it not been for Gandhi and the message he shared with America and the world.
“Throughout my life, including my work as a young man on behalf of the urban poor, I have always found inspiration in the life of Gandhiji and in his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world."
And just as he summoned Indians to seek their destiny, he influenced champions of equality in my own country, including a young Martin Luther King.
Obama also quoted Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore when he spoke about recalled India’s contribution to world civilisations and the message Swami Vivekananda delivered in 1893 at the Parliament of World Religions in Chicago, his hometown.
He referred to Ambedkar when he spoke about his belief that “every person can fulfill their god-given potential” no matter where he comes from “…just as a Dalit like Dr Ambedkar could lift himself up and pen the words of the Constitution that protects the rights of all Indians...”
While talking of India’s discoveries, he did not forget to credit Indian with having discovered ‘zero’.
In his speech, while thanking Indians for their hospitality, he spoke in Hindu, saying, Bahut dhanyavaad (Many thanks) and ended his speech with the triumphant Jai Hind! (Victory to India).
Later, as he came out of Central Hall, he wrote in the newly introduced Golden Book, “As a representative of the world’s oldest democracy, it is a true privilege and honour to address the world’s largest democracy. May the friendship between the two countries continue to grow in the years to come.”
He actually said that the Jews should voluntarily march to
the gas chamber to score a moral victory over the Nazis.
Change your name to Gandberg and go first, bud.
Oh if I could only also owe it to Ghandi ping.
And we thought Indians were intelligent. They were taken in by the same huckster that our welfare class and university dimwits fell for in ‘08. People with common sense could see right through this charlatan.
It’s amazing how similar his Egypt and India speech are.
It seems one could almost overlay them and change a few words here and there.
_________________________________________________________
India: At every stop, we have been welcomed with the hospitality for which Indians have always been known. So, to you and the people of India, on behalf of me, Michelle and the American people, please accept my deepest thanks. (Applause.) Bahoot dhanyavad. (Applause.)
Egypt: Together, you represent the harmony between tradition and progress. I am grateful for your hospitality, and the hospitality of the people of Egypt. I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: assalaamu alaykum.
___________________________________________________________
India: My confidence in our shared future is grounded in my respect for India’s treasured past — a civilization that’s been shaping the world for thousands of years. Indians unlocked the intricacies of the human body and the vastness of our universe. It’s no exaggeration to say that our Information Age is rooted in Indian innovations — including the number zero. (Applause.)
Of course, India not only opened our minds, she expanded our moral imaginations - with religious texts that still summon the faithful to lives of dignity and discipline, with poets who imagined a future “where the mind is without fear and the head is held high” - (applause) - and with a man whose message of love and justice endures — the father of your nation, Mahatma Gandhi. (Applause.)
Egypt: As a student of history, I also know civilization’s debt to Islam. It was Islam - at places like Al-Azhar University - that carried the light of learning through so many centuries, paving the way for Europe’s Renaissance and Enlightenment. It was innovation in Muslim communities that developed the order of algebra; our magnetic compass and tools of navigation; our mastery of pens and printing; our understanding of how disease spreads and how it can be healed. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.
______________________________________________________
India: And it is my firm belief that the relationship between the United States and India — bound by our shared interests and our shared values — will be one of the defining partnerships of the 21st century. This is the partnership I’ve come here to build. This is the vision that our nations can realize together.
Egypt: I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. Instead, they overlap, and share common principles - principles of justice and progress; tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/04/obama-egypt-speech-video_n_211216.html
http://obama-mamas.com/blog/?p=2100
Wonder if they spelled everything out phonetically on his telethingy...
What a frickin moron.
Gandhi most surely would have taken a gun and raised an army against the British were it not for their banning and confiscation against gun ownership 6 years before he went on his hunger strikes and peaceful marches.
I watched the speech this morning and a large portion of the audience were sitting with their hands in their laps or had their arms crossed...its not as if there was universal adulation.
without the benefit of arms.
The British weren’t stupid and knew they could not hold India under their boot without banning and confiscating all forms of armament.
Gandhi was committed to losing the British and took the only route left.
Good Point! His intended method is to swipe it from someone else...i.e. you and me.... and give it to them in return for their votes.
As me old Irish uncle Seamus would say “Feckin liar”
Bet we never hear Obozo quote his hero on this subject:
“Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest.” —Mahatma Gandhi, An Autobiography, p. 446
>Wonder if they spelled everything out phonetically on his telethingy...
Would a native Indian know how to do PAK-EE-STAN?
It rang so hollow, didn’t it? The guy is so consciously playing up to the cameras. I’ll bet Chris Matthews wept, and said “We’re not worthy!”
I get the sense he thought Gandhi's was a nice try, but it's nothing compared to the challenge of reading from a teleprompter while all those cameras and bright lights are on you.
Obama... Dip$hit exceptionale’
He didn’t soak up any humility from Ghandi.
Hitler killed five million Jews. It is the greatest crime of our time. But the Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs. As it is, they succumbed anyway in their millions.http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi
So, it wasn't just pandering; 0bama does owe his philosophy -- such as it is -- at least in part to Gandhi.
"He was trying to make that his JFK moment; i.e; the East Berlin speech."
Is a Jai Hind a kind of Indian jelly doughnut?
:-)
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