Open your eyes

This is in response to Mr. Saikat Kumar Basu's letter published on January 30. Mr. Basu has lambasted the intellectuals, politicians and human rights activists of North America and Europe for their “sin” of pointing out violent incidents and abuse of human rights elsewhere.

Yes, human right abuses and killing of innocents plague the history of erstwhile colonial powers. But those very countries have not only reformed themselves, but also stand as a beacon of liberalism in this world today. When a fanatic laid siege at a Sydney cafe and killed two innocent Australian citizens, white people of that country consciously saw to it that not a single Muslim citizen gets assaulted or a mosque attacked. Canada displayed the same rational attitude when another lone wolf attacked the Parliament House a couple of years ago. 

Can someone in Europe and North America dare to violate traffic laws on a regular basis or any law for that matter as witnessed in South Asian countries? When elections are held in the most civilised manner in those countries, elections in Third World countries are nothing but a 'Third World War'. Mr. Basu should have a look at the Human Development Index and compare the Third World countries with the nations which he condemns so much. 

Kajal Chatterjee
Kolkata, India