Is the US, under President Barack Obama (D) obsessed with reaching out to Muslims at the expense of, or even ignoring other groups? Recent events in Nepal, a mountainous country bordered by India and China, raise the question.

According to the CIA World Fact Book , Nepal has a population of nearly 29 million people the vast majority of whom, over 80%, are Hindu; another 11% are Buddhist while only 4% are Muslim. So why is the US, as reported in The Himalayan Times, in the words of US Ambassador Scott DeLisi, "committed to further engagement with the Muslim community in Nepal for cementing mutual relations and interests?"

Earlier, the US Embassy had organised the outreach programme for the country's Muslim community in December 2009, reaching more than 3,000 individuals in 19 areas. Stating that such contact between Nepali and US communities was a must to better know each other, DeLisi said he had served in Pakistan with a predominantly Muslim population."I have seen the strengths and challenges of Muslim communities first hand. Through our outreach, I hope to learn more and expand mutual understanding and partnership with the Muslim community in Nepal," he mentioned.

Certainly the US ambassador should "expand mutual understanding and partnership" with all major--and even minor--population sub groups wherever stationed. However there is little or no indication that Ambassador DeLisi has also attempted "to learn more and expand mutual understanding and partnership" with the Hindu and Buddhist communities of Nepal; the latter still painfully recall the destruction by the Muslim Taliban of treasured thousands of years old Buddhist statues in nearby Afghanistan.

Does DeLisi know about this? Does he care? Does he even know that Hindus and Buddhists live in Nepal?

hat tip: www.NaomiRagen.com