How to Acquire an Underclass While Doing Good
TRANSCEND MEMBERS, 5 Mar 2012
Vithal Rajan – TRANSCEND Media Serivce
Winston Churchill once famously declared that the British Empire was acquired in a fit of absence of mind. Most probably he was right. The British first came to Madras in the 17th century to sell wollens to the Tamilians and finding few buyers tried their best to make a living any way they could, and within a hundred years or so had gotten an empire. By the middle of the 19th century they knew what they were about. Lord Dalhousie promulgated the ‘Doctrine of Lapse,’ by which if an Indian kingdom did not have an indisputable heir, the kingdom was taken over and became a part of the territories ruled by the British. Of course this taking over of kingdoms, lives, and resources by a foreigner could not be justified by any logic; so the British went to great pains to say they did this, taking over onerous responsibilities over an alien people only to protect them, and give them the benefit of a superior civilization. They were very vehement about their good intentions, and convinced themselves and several others for a short period. The historical result was that Britain grew rich, and its empire had a hard-working underclass. Even after Indian Independence, Britain still remained the richest country in Europe for a decade or so, and few of its own people were then willing to do all the dirty jobs that needed to be done, like sweeping streets, running underground trains, cleaning toilets. So, Britain continued its broadminded protection of its former subjects by inviting droves of browns and blacks to settle in England and do the dirty jobs. Fair enough.
Decades pass, and such immigrants, once welcomed in Britain, France, and Germany to do poorly-paid, dirty jobs, have become social problems. When the economy is in a down-turn they do not want to leave, they stick out in neat European streets like sore thumbs, and now are even suspected of harbouring terrorists. These rich governments do not know what to do, but they have taught a lesson to smaller and newer rich countries like Norway, which before the windfall of North Sea oil was a country of kindly hospitable people. But wealth brings disdain for poorer people. Suddenly, this once kindly society produces an Andres Breivik, who massacres young people in a left-of-centre youth camp, and then says he feels no remorse. He has been declared mad, but he is not; he is a fascist in a Europe fast going to the right.
Of course Norwegian authorities condemn such horrible acts, but being human they cannot but be influenced by the right-wing ideals that produced Breivik as an extreme case. These ideals are not for ‘inclusion’ of different cultures; they underline the belief in the superiority of traditional Western culture; they know that anything out of the ordinary, out of line with their own experience, is wrong, bad, and must be dealt with firmly. Such self-Euro-centredness brings about bizarre results in least expected ways. Mr. Bhattacharya had gone to Stavanger to work for a few years as a consultant, and taken his family along with him. The Child Protection Services of Norway found that he and his wife were neglecting their two little children and taking them away put them in foster homes. All hell broke loose. Indian media broadcast the plight of the distraught Indian parents and the grandparents. The Indian government usually lethargic was forced to act under media pressure. A diplomatic row has now been moderated with a face-saving formula through which the Norwegians will hand over the children to an uncle! But the matter does not end here. Marianne Skanland, Professor Emeritus from Bergen, has said that this sort of authoritarian highhandedness is a regular practice and has happened many times before to immigrants or foreigners staying in Norway for short periods. She hints at a corrupt nexus between the authorities and foster homes which are very well paid for offering shelter to children who are taken away. Many other accounts of such ‘kidnapping’ – to use the phrase of the leader of the opposition in the Indian parliament – are coming to light. Indian TV extensively interviewed a Russian woman who lost two of her children to Norway and who wants the Russian government to act tough like India.
It seems thousands of such children have been acquired by Norway, and all in the pursuit of doing good to these alien children! Now, everyone knows that social welfare hostels, orphanages, and foster homes can never give the love and affection of real parents. In many experiences they produce only delinquents, and at best persons at the bottom rungs of society. This Norwegian innovative practice of taking away children from poor people or foreigners, if their home-life does not conform to a set Norwegian standard, and one may be justified in thinking that in most cases the home-life of immigrants and foreigners cannot possibly conform to such a standard, then hey presto Norway will soon get itself a homegrown underclass to do all the dirty or difficult jobs, and who moreover will not create trouble like immigrants, and all acquired in a fit of absence of mind!
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Vithal Rajan, Ph.D.[L.S.E.], worked as a mediator for the church in Belfast; as faculty at The School of Peace Studies, University of Bradford, and as Executive Director, the Right Livelihood Award Foundation. He has founded several Indian NGOs, is an Officer of the Order of Canada, and a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace, Development and Environment.
This article originally appeared on Transcend Media Service (TMS) on 5 Mar 2012.
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