Dear Chairman Engel,
Thomas Jefferson’s June 28, 1776 draft Declaration of Independence – had sequentiality built into what’s more important as in – “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” – in that order. That is what I testified to on October 22, 2019 in the Sub-Committee, and thereafter, timely supplemented. Sequential rights is the key to good and proper governance, as defined by Lincoln’s Gettysburg recipe, which I paraphrase with affection: “of, by and for” the people.
After 9/11, there is a 24/7/365 days-a-year blackout – a freeze of communication, cell and internet, including, the instruction not to use the phone – in the immigration area so as to enhance public safety and thwart Terror. Since communication is a necessary “trigger” for Terror, it’s interruption in necessary to enhance public safety. While all good people want normalcy returned to Kashmir ASAP, and I’m a strong proponent of same, I don’t second guess the decisions made on the ground in real time that affect life and death, to prevent the avoidable and unfortunate swap between them. While I welcome a CoDel to Kashmir since my testimony, and hope India will accept my urging, it ill-serves to willy nilly beat up one of the most important and vibrant bilateral relationships that will not only define the 21st Century, but extend more American Freedoms to more of humanity.
As such, Rep. Jayapal’s Resolution is ill-advised at best, and misguided at best. That she is unfamiliar with Terror, as all New Yorkers and Indians are after serial Terror attacks, or she is unfamiliar with, and has never had the duty to provide public safety is visible in her utopia-based resolution. Terror is real; utopia, a book written by Sir Thomas More in 1516, is still a dream. I attach a copy of an article, citing Thomas Jefferson, that reports my urgent concerns to avoid a bilateral mishap.
I urge in lieu of such misguided action, that we, the United States, as an honest friend of the Sub-Continent use our good offices, and you, Mr. Chairman, have global reach and impact as a result of your principled and deliberative action, enriched with infinite calibration, help change the cross-border ground reality to aid in fastest return to normalcy. The internal matters of foreign sovereigns are always helped by genuine well-wishers, rather than opportunistic interlopers.
As a patriotic American, proud of my ancestry, India’s several-millennia history of religious freedoms – not just to pray, but for new faiths to be born, and secular, and India’s vital role in the American Revolution, I urge bipartisan restraint on a bilateral relationship important on a bipartisan level. If needed, I am happy to come testify and add knowledge and nuances that wisdom requires.
Unlike a jury, creating policy – especially foreign policy – requires expertise and nuance – and hence, being non-sequestered helps. Two weeks ago I was in Delhi, and had a conversation with our Amb. Ken Juster at a dear friend’s event; I’ve spoken to good folks, with a Pakistan-centric or India-centric view. I applaud State SCA’s A/S Alice Wells’ efforts to keep things “normal,” even as prompting an early return to a new normal, that is Terror-Free. A CoDel will do more good than an intrusive and ill-advised resolution.
Respectfully,