Shadow Warrior:

• Shadow Warrior: "hindu rate of growth" is racist

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  • to
    
    paul beckett
    bureau chief
    wsj, delhi
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  • dear sir:
    
    i read your well-written article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124840931940378415.html on the sad lack of charitable giving in india.
  • "hindu rate of growth"? this was a racist and insulting term coined by a communist, raj krishna, for whom this is his 15-min -- and sole -- claim to fame.
    
    as a paper that does not believe in equal-opportunity denigration of religions, you should stop using this horrible term forthwith. after all, i have read your paper for decades, and i have never seen you refer to pakistan's or somalia's growth rate as the "islamic rate of growth", or rwanda's or haiti's as "the christian rate of growth".
  • and we have good reason to believe (see angus maddison) that the historical and actual "hindu rate of growth" was the highest in the world -- after all, india was the richest country in the world till around 1700.
  • once again, let me request you to abjure the offensive phrase "hindu rate of growth" in your writing. it is demeaning, it is not historically accurate, and it is racist.
    
    thank you
    
    rajeev srinivasan
    management consultant and op-ed writer (rediff.com, new indian express, the pioneer, mint)