Arun Gandhi: Bush is a Warmonger

Mahatma Gandhi's descendants called Bush's plan to lay a memorial wreath in Gandhi's honor a "trivial exercise:"

"Merely going to Raj Ghat doesn't make him (Bush) a votary of peace. His faith in war and weapon supremacy is to be criticised," Tushar A. Gandhi, a great-grandson of the Indian freedom campaigner, told AFP by phone from the western city of Mumbai.

Tushar Gandhi said that though he opposed Bush's "war policies", he was not against the US president honouring Mahatma Gandhi, who advocated truth and non-violence in leading a fight against British colonial rule.

"I think it is a good thing that Bush acknowledges that he must honour the man who stood for non-violence.

"But it is a trivial exercise unless he changes his outlook," said Tushar Gandhi, who runs the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation based in Mumbai.

Tushar's father Arun Gandhi, who is based in the US, called Bush a "warmonger".

"The only way that Bush can honor Gandhi is by ... showing greater compassion for the poor people of the world and not by laying a wreath at his memorial," he said in a statement released by the Washington-based Institute for Public Policy.

Isn't it ironic that the main purpose of Bush's trip is to secure a deal for US nuclear aid to India?

So what does it take to protect the man whose mission is to spread 'democracy' to the rest of the world? Only 5,000 snipers, commandos and US marines using helicopters, bomb detectors and electronic jammers.

How is he being greeted?

Indian members from non-governmental organizations hold placards and shout slogans during a protest rally against U.S. President George W. Bush in the southern Indian city of Bangalore March 1, 2006. Bush arrives in India on Wednesday on his first visit to the world's largest democracy, hoping to elevate a new friendship between the two nations into a strategic partnership. (REUTERS/Jagadeesh)

Women look on during a demonstration against US President George Bush in Bangalore, India, Wednesday, March 1, 2006. U.S. (AP Photo/KPN)

An Indian woman holds a placard during a protest against U.S. President George W. Bush in the southern Indian city of Bangalore March 1, 2006. (REUTERS/Jagadeesh)

An Indian girl holds a placard during a protest against U.S. President George W. Bush in the southern Indian city of Bangalore March 1, 2006. (REUTERS/Jagadeesh)

An Indian activist hangs anti-US placard during a demonstration in Kolkata. Some 50,000 Muslims staged angry protests in New Delhi before the arrival of US President George W. Bush, who on his first trip to India is hoping to seal a landmark deal on sharing civilian nuclear energy. (AFP/Deshakalyan Chowdhury)

Indian protesters burn a poster of U.S. President George W. Bush during a protest in the central Indian city of Bhopal March 1, 2006. (REUTERS/Raj Patidar)

A few facts about India from American Progress:

India is home to the world's largest democracy and the third largest Muslim population. Its economy is "exploding at the seams with building, investment and trade," benefiting from a trade surplus with the United States that has "nearly doubled to over $10 billion between 2001 and 2005." Its middle class is now estimated at 300 million people, larger than the entire population of the United States. India is also home to 500 million of the world's poorest people, millions more living with HIV/AIDS, and serious fears over avian flu. Politically, it is "increasingly playing a role not only in South Asian affairs but in global affairs," and its growing energy needs will increasingly impact global fossil fuel markets. Unfortunately, rather than tackling any of these critical issues, Bush's trip is "likely to be dominated" by efforts to patch together a misguided nuclear technology deal that does not improve U.S. security, promote regional stability, or seriously address India's energy needs.