[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 12 (Monday, March 27, 2000)]
[Pages 616-617]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks in a Discussion With Members of Village Council in Nayla Village

March 23, 2000

    Q. I have a question to ask. There is a stereotypical image of 
Indians all over the world as backward people. You have been in India 
for a few days. How would you respond to this? Do you think we are 
backward? [Laughter]
    The President. No. But what I hope my trip will do is to help people 
all over the world see India in a more complete way. There are many 
people here who are poor, but you are proving that democracy can be used 
to lift the poor, can be used to end discrimination against women and 
keep children, girls and boys, in school, and can be used to bring 
people of different tribes and casts together. That is very important to 
me and to my family, my wife, who has been in Indian villages, and to 
our whole administration.
    What I think you should know is that the problems you have here are 
problems that people have faced all over the world. My own country 
became independent from the British Empire in the 1780's, and it was 
almost 150 years before women could even vote. It was almost 100 years 
before the slaves were freed, and more than another 100 years before 
they acquired equal rights, African-Americans, under our laws.
    And today, all over the world, there are wars where people are being 
killed--in Africa because they're of different tribes, in Bosnia and 
Kosovo because they were of different tribes and religions. So if in 
India you can prove that people can lift themselves from poverty and, at 
the same time, end discrimination against women and their girl children 
and learn to work together across tribal and cast lines because of 
democracy,

[[Page 617]]

you will give the world the greatest gift it could have now.
    The only other thing I would like to say is I believe that the 
computer will make it happen more quickly if it is used wisely and put 
in every village in this country. And I think that those of us who would 
like to be good partners and to help you must also listen to what you 
have said today.
    The biggest public health problems I think in India and many other 
countries throughout the world are based on the fact that there's not 
enough clean water and too much of the soil is washing away or blowing 
away in the wind.
    And the last thing I would like to say is I hope you will not lose 
your enthusiasm and your spirit when things don't change as fast as you 
would like. I know it is easy to get discouraged. I know there is still 
injustice and unfairness. But what you are doing is astonishing. And you 
have a chance to overcome problems that are still crippling other places 
in the world more quickly because you have these institutions of 
democracy. You must believe in them and use them and not give up when 
you're frustrated and cannot succeed in a short time.
    Thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 12:45 p.m. in meeting room A at Nayla 
Village, near Jaipur. A tape was not available for verification of the 
content of these remarks.