June 16, 2004 ☼ Foreign Affairs
This is an archived blog post from The Acorn.
The Religious Policeman reports that the Saudi ‘mutawwa’ arrested and brutally tortured Brian Savio O’Connor, a native of Hubli, Karnataka on the suspicion that he was trying to preach Christianity.
It doesn’t get any better after that, in fact it gets worse. Upsetting stuff to read. One of his misfortunes, of course, is that he is an Indian National, and the Indian Government needs the Saudis more than vice versa. Not that it helps being a US or UK national, but they do tend to get listened to more readily. [Religious Policeman]
Its quite clear that the Indian government’s groveling before the Saudis does not guarantee the security of its citizens in the Kingdom. That springs from the tendency of paleo-con Congress governments to see the Arab countries as a homogenous entity. The Arab world has changed - there are countries like Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, who although under constant pressure from Saudi Arabia are trying to become progressive nations. India should improve relations with these elements. But as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, there seems to be little difference between official Saudis and the al Qaeda terrorists as far as attitude towards Indians is concerned. It appears that the dominant image of India in the eyes of the Saudis is that of a supplicant. It is time that is changed.
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