The answer is a clear NO according to Ian Buruma. He refers to the incident at Davos where the Pakistani President had accused someone of imposing his ‘European values’ on the Pakistan situation and also the response of the Chinese government that they know best about human rights and don’t need lectures from the West. Buruma points out that “..culture is often a poor excuse for inhumanity. Slavery...stoning of adulterous women...are undoubtedly part of certain cultures . This is not a good argument for continuing such practices”.
Buruma wisely admits that it is not clear to what extent the West should intervene in such situations stating that “Local support is the crucial factor when we talk about promoting reforms and cultural changes”.
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Submitted by karamat on Sat, 2008-03-01 09:45.