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1971 tapes expose sexist, anti-Indian rants of disgraced US ex-prez Nixon
Chidanand Rajghatta / TNN / Updated: Sep 5, 2020
WASHINGTON: Richard Nixon, who resigned in disgrace as US president in 1974 in the face of certain impeachment following the Watergate scandal, and sent in the Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal to intimidate India in 1971, made a slew of sexist and racist remarks during the nadir of US-India ties in 1970-1971, which have only now emerged.
“Undoubtedly the most unattractive women in the world are the Indian women,” they are “pathetic”, they “turn me off”, Indians are “repulsive”. These are just some of the tropes essayed by him , according to archival material unearthed by Princeton academic Gary Bass.
In that conversation, Nixon says, “Undoubtedly the most unattractive women in the world are the Indian women,” repeating “undoubtedly” in a venomous tone. He continues, “The most sexless, nothing, these people. I mean, people say, what about the Black Africans? Well, you can see something, the vitality there, I mean they have a little animal-like charm, but God, those Indians, ack, pathetic. Uch.”
On another occasion on November 4, 1971, during a private break from a contentious White House summit with Indira Gandhi of India, Nixon makes disparaging remarks about Indians’ sexuality to Kissinger. “To me, they turn me off. How the hell do they turn other people on, Henry? Tell me.” Kissinger’s response is inaudible as Nixon continues, “They turn me off. They are repulsive and it’s just easy to be tough with them.”
A few days later, on November 12, 1971, in the middle of a discussion about India-Pakistan tensions with Kissinger and secretary of state William Rogers, after Rogers mentions reprimanding Indira Gandhi, Nixon says, “I don’t know how they reproduce!” The full content of these tapes reveal how US policy toward South Asia under Nixon was influenced by his hatred of, and sexual repulsion toward Indians, Bass notes.