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ELECTIONS '98
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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 16:43:00 -0500 Well said, though this will give rise to under the counter deals in local video shops. I wonder if the BJP ministers would be among the first to go to such shops? Pallab
Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 15:34:23 -0800 Your report, "Manifesto Punctures BJP's Secular Drive" clearly does injustice to the contents of the report. Perhaps the headline should read "Vision, Boldness, Justice, and Secularism as it should be." The BJP has earned people's trust the hard way. A few more points: Must your refer to BJP, the largest national democratic party as some rag-tag "saffron brigade?" Such looseness reflects very poorly on our nation. I can assure you the BJP is far more considerate than the conservative Republican party in USA. Lately the IMF has come under intense stricture in the USA, especially by conservative economists. They blame the IMF for the current woes of various Asian economies. It is thus refreshing to see that the BJP has seen through the machinations of the IMF. Pradip Parekh
Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 17:17:18 -0700 The title of the article does not seem to go well with the contents. While the BJP has promised so many good things, the author has taken great care to pick out the most controversial issue and label the party as non-secular.
Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 21:58:00 -0500 Hi, I liked the BJP manifesto. I hope they will stick to it. BTW, what is meant by puncturing the BJP's secular drive? Are you putting your own bias into the report? Please understand your role. You are the means of getting news, not the means of fabricating news. Anil M Dubey
Date sent: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 10:00:18 -0500 I do not understand why any report about the BJP should only harp on their Hindutva policies. As your report itself suggests, there are various other issues they have covered. Why should their Hindutva issues become the headline and matter of the first paragraph, which is what most people read and thus, get a coloured opinion? I think this report should have had its first para a summary of the total manifesto, than simply branding them as carrying their 'communal' policies. What do your think?
Date sent: Wed, 4 Feb 1998 21:00:03 -0600 This is in reference to the above 'news item' in your pages. "...the party pledged its allegiance to Hindutva and reiterated that "a magnificent Shri Ram Mandir at Ram Janmasthan in Ayodhya "would be built." Don't get me wrong, I do like some of BJP's ideas, but the above excerpt got me thinking and I sort of began to think aloud, and said to myself :- "Oh great, what a great idea and while at it may be they can also build a mosque, a gurdwara, a Buddhist temple, a cathedral, and may be a synagogue and why not, we have a few Jews left don't we? This way perhaps we can have a 'stable' government for a change. Old Machiavelli would have been around these Indian politicians (bar none) if he were alive today. Mohan Marette
Date sent: Tue, 3 Feb 1998 20:35:56 EST I am very happy to know about the BJP's manifesto. In this news report, I could not read about the BJP's education plans. Next time if you get a chance, please write about it.
Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 11:20:18 -0800 It appears that Mr Nair has no intention of reporting the truth. Nor does he care for the truth. He is hellbent on slinging mud on the BJP, but he may not be aware that the Kamal (lotus) thrives in mud. So Mr Nair finds problem with the Uniform Civil Code. I hope he knows the idea of the UCC is to be SECULAR and not favour anybody. This is also a part of the Constitution. So what is wrong with this, Mr Nair? And I ask the same question to Muslims friends as well. Muslims living in the US are not asking for their own civil code. Why not? Yet, they are more than willing to live in the US. Mr Nair finds problem with the winding up of the Minorities Commission, but does not care to think that the National Human Rights Commission can do the job. This is typical of the Congress-bred mentality of more bureaucracy. He finds problem with the banning of job advertisements which require applicants to declare their religion. What is wrong with this? Is this not being secular? As for the Ayodhya temple, Mr Nair does not care about how they wish to achieve it. Nor does he care if there was a temple, nor about Hindu sentiments. All he cares about is Muslims, Muslims, Muslims. Gaurang R Desai
Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 14:27:53 -0800 This manifesto can really bring glory to India, if implemented in full faith. It does not guarantee anything which is not possible in the near future. Certainly it does not try to please anyone. Guarantee of a riot-free society, equal treatment for all and unshaken faith in democracy is what everybody wants. There is really no need to go beyond that and start pleasing everyone. And if one is bent upon pleasing someone, why not the majority people who are Hindus? Despite a good record of BJP/Sena governments in riot control, if the minority community is not taking any clues and blindly supporting the Congress and Communists, they must blame themselves for their state after this election.
Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 13:39:31 -0500 I wonder what gives this person an idea that improving roads and generating more electricity won't create more jobs in the country? Growing industry and infrastructure is a sure way to create millions of jobs. I think we should create more awareness in all of us, especially in those people who have such misconceptions.
Date sent: Tue, 03 Feb 1998 11:38:07 -0600 I am an Indian Christian on a year-long assignment in the US. The other day after I read the article 'BJP incurs wrath of Christians in AP,' I felt bad, quite similar to the way I felt some days ago when I read the article about the massacre of the Pandits in Kashmir. I was discussing this with a Hindu colleague of mine, and I asked him about what he thought of the alleged beating of the Christian pastor by a BJP leader in AP. To my utter dismay he said, 'It is correct considering what the Europeans did to India some years ago!' It was the first time in all my 12 years of schooling, 5 years of college and 5 years of work in India, I managed to meet an extremist! For all these years after meeting many great Hindus who treated me (a Christian) equally, that colleague's words were just shocking. For the first time in my 27 years of being an Indian, I am feeling insecure amongst fellow Indians. I hope and pray that the vast majority of Indians understand that being an Indian is not a question of religious preference. Solomon J Ebenezer
Date sent: Mon, 02 Feb 1998 13:51:50 -0800 I hope our leaders and people of India learn something from these kind of writings. Anuj
Date sent: Mon, 2 Feb 1998 13:33:35 -0800 I am proud to be an Indian and have my roots in a country with such great culture. But when it comes to politics and ruling the country, I have to hang my head in shame. A foreign born to become and hold the most powerful post of the country, I think it is high time we should pass some ammendments asking that the PM should be at least born in India, like in the US (not make it so bad as Zambia where even the parents of the president should be born in Zambia).
Date: Saturday, January 31, 1998 12:29 AM Can you feel the sublime magnificence of Samskrutham? Can the language fanatics achieve the beauty of these lines in any other language? I do not feel any magnificence or beauty in Samskrutham, simply because I do not understand it. The language is not spoken or understood anywhere. Sanskrit was anyway the forbidden language. It was a vehicle of oppression. Diabolical edicts which are practised even today are formalised in this language in the form of Manusmrithi, Varnashrama dharma etc. Manusmrithi classifies humans as high and low, based on birth. Varnashrama dharma as the name says it all, discriminates humans based on colour. For a vast majority of Indians it is better if the priest chants mantras in a language that can be understood. The author has misrepresented facts and presented fallacious scenarios, projecting the Brahmin viewpoint. Dileepan
Date sent: Sun, 01 Feb 1998 20:11:15 +0800 Dr Gore appears to have missed the main reason for the persistent illiteracy in India. It is often said that the people get the government they deserve. I do believe that, and I think most of our politicians, however clueless they appear to be, use it as an important guiding principle. Money is poured into a few higher institutes, but the majority of India is herded into poorly maintained schools teaching vernacular gibberish. An educated India definitely deserves more competent leaders and on the same token, will demand for better politicians than the Laloos, Kesris and Jayalalithas we have. Most of the current leaders owe their survival and power to ignorance, and the narrow mindedness it begets. Educating Indians works against their interests -- Dr Gore, please don't expect any government to do anything about this matter.
Date sent: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 21:00:38 EST Thank you so much for this profile. I just finished reading The God of Small Things and believe it to be one of the most beautifully written, poetic, brilliant books I have read.
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