European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 2, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse June 2, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 13a m. Rosenthal commentary is this the death of India will this terrible new crisis at last end the dream of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru that such a country could exist in Unity and Freedom a for 43 years Ever since Nehru stood on the parapet of the red fort in new Delhi to proclaim India s birth there have been those in his country and around the world proclaiming its death. Forecasts of impending doom began almost at once when hindu and Muslim slaughtered each other until the streets stank with corpses. Then the Mahatma was murdered walking to prayer. War came Between India and Pakistan the two parts of the partitioned subcontinent. Caste and language divisions Between hindu and hindu exploded into conflict. Hindu and sikh once proud of the brotherhood be. Tween their religions fought in the villages and cities of the Punjab. Nehru died. His country was still one and living in Freedom As he had dreamed. But he left it tight in the swaddling clothes of the outdated economic Doc Trine he cherished a a stunting mixture of state ownership and Over regulated private Enterprise. Indira Gandhi Nehru a daughter eventually became prime minister. She tried to Rule by decree failed and was killed by. Sikhs who saw her As their persecutor. Now her son Rajiv is dead. Once again indians collapse is prophesied. A a Rajiv Gandhi never wanted to be prime minister he just wanted to go on being an airline Pilot. But the Congress party once the engine of indians political Freedom had become Slothful with Power and corruption and turned in panic to him. As prime minister he never took the Steps necessary to liberate India from suffocating economic regulations. But he knew they were necessary and if he had lived and triumphed perhaps he would have found the strength to move i India is so huge so varied and the past so much a part of the moment that almost anything said about it will be at least partly True. Most indians Are brought up in a religion where there Are Many truths not just one Many faces of god not just one. To westerners trained to by Lieve in one truth whatever that happens to William Safire be this can make indians infuriating. But while it is realistic to face indians failures it is just As important and a realistic to examine the Many truths Alfrec indians achievements. Since Freedom India has conquered the famines that once killed More indians than any War. That has meant not Only increasing production but getting food to the right places at the right times something the soviet Union is now asking the rest of the world to do for it. Free India has not Only brought electricity to scores of thousands of villages but built a Strong Industrial base that meets about 90 percent of the country a needs scientific establishment and created a Large Middle class where almost none existed. Industry and business once entirely in the hands of a few has been spread throughout the country a City town and Village. Most important four decades of political Freedom have accustomed 500 million voters to the Power of the ballot and they use it cannily. Indians Are no longer passive but demand fulfilment of expectations a in itself freedoms Triumph separatist movements exist but Only one or two have any real popular strength. In the words of an article in the financial times a few countries have changed so radically and so quickly by democratic Means and with less Vio--lence.�?�. a a a. A a. Rajive a death Brit Fps out the dangerous demagogues of Quot right and left eager to break up the Union or Rule it in tyranny. Perhaps some Day one or two parts of the Union forged out of hundreds of princely Stales will break away. Even that will not mean the end for India. Political Freedom was the essence of thy dream of Nehru and of the Mahatma and has kept India United. Only the end of political Freedom can destroy India. For four decades of struggle defeat and Triumph India has Clung to democracy a except for the years of Indira Gandhi a Rule by Fiat. When lie was prime minister Sajiv Gandhi Hung the portraits of his Mother and Grandfather on Liis office Wall. But in his loyally to democracy it was not Indira he followed but Jawaharlal. That was his Gilt to India. There could be none of greater value or c new York time casinos a bad Gamble for american indians thanks to a bizarre combination of state sponsored gambling and court protected tribal rights lands reserved As the heritage of the american Indian Are soon to be turned into Sites of casinos Trumps 1 a mahal. Main differences the Indian Casino will be set in pretty forests and its profits will be tax free. The Pequot indians who in the last five years have established themselves As the Bingo Kings of the Northeast have won their Case against the state of Connecticut. As a result the 263-member tribe is planning a $50 million gambling Palace to attract suckers who Are addicted to Roulette craps Blackjack and off track betting. The pc quote expect to be hugely successful preying on a Pool of potential gamblers in a highly populated Region. Other tribes in gaming states gaming is the euphemism for gambling a from the utes in Colorado to the Choctaw in Mississippi to the Flandreau in South Dakota a Are Likely to also Likely to follow Are the vices always associated Voth great accumulations of Cash Money laundering of drug wealth prostitution mob influence political corruption. A How did it happen one Root was a guilt Ridden paternalism that wanted to make up for past crimes against the tribes and to a Downtrodden ethnic group break out of poverty this led to a kind of sovereignty that put reservations on a Legal Par with states. The other Root was the moral laxity of state legislators who saw gambling As innocuous or a Boon to tourism or a worst of All a As a Way to raise revenues without new taxes. Put those two together and you create what Connecticut a governor Lowell Weicker Calls a a states that permit gambling Are forced by Law to permit indians to conduct gambling operations on reservations. Because Connecticut which operates a lottery also allowed Casino style a Las vegas nights to Charity fund raisers the Pequot demanded the right to operate a Casino full time on their land a and won. To slip out of that trap Weicker tried to ban All. Those glorious a Las vegas nights a but the legislature would not go along. As a result Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan is now circulating the approved agreement Between the state and . A who besides the governor and a few lonely moralists is against this the Casino operators of new Jersey and Nevada Are grumbling that lax Connecticut regulations will. Invite in the mob and that the tax free operations Are unfair Competition for the patronage of new Yorkus High rollers. My heart does not bleed for the free Enterprise Casino operators they take their chances. Who is in favor of the gaming action of Indian reservations people who tend to Call indians a native i was born Here which makes me a native american if american indians want to abandon a Fine if mistaken appellation they could accurately choose a aboriginal their argument and that put Forward by Many ear nest tribe members is that the Money from gambling will banish poverty from the reservation and indeed save tax dollars by ending welfare payments. With Money enough Pride Wiff Iii lease and native dignity so Long racially repressed will return. The gambling profits Are to go to , not to individual members and will be used they say for schools and museums libraries and better housing for the excessive enrichment of the Indian card dealers bartenders Roulette mechanics and entertainment personnel. L % lets Grant All that and attribute Only the most selfless motives to the indians who pledge a Casino Quot so environmentally pure that Deer will wander into the cocktail lounges. Lets even stipulate More that to the poor Indian has As much right As George raft the Rich White Smoothie to run a Casino. A a. In a against it because gambling leads the get Rich Quick illusion that debilitated society because gambling causes individual ruin despair and suicide and corrupts a state that seeks a piece of its action. _ in a against it because i respect american indians and do not want to see them isolated and despised As americans new class of professional croupiers on tax free islands of false dreams. It no a a York to i x
