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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 23:32:44 PST I really want to thank Rediff for bringing this article to everyone's attention, otherwise such inaccurate depictions go very much unchallenged. It has been a while since I read something written by Mr Biju Mathew. He and his likes have constantly been engaged in Hindu bashing through the guise of fighting communalism. Surprisingly, they are living in a country where Hindus are in a minority, but are used to such bashing in India. They can't help themselves but continue doing the same here in USA. Mr Mathew and his likes should realise that this is a country which has been founded on democratic principles and 'In God We Trust' is written very clearly. I don't think biases against Hindus which normally Communists have in India would fly here. Somehow, Mr Mathew and his likes have dreamt of this new idea of attacking the VHPA by saying that the VHPA 'works silently in the shadows of multi-culturalism.' VHPA is not a Communist organisation which has to work in the guise of 'fighting communalism. VHPA has very clear vision and broad objectives to fulfill that vision. It does not need to hide anything or be secretive to survive like most Communists do in this country. If Mr Mathew and his likes are really worried about communalism, why don't they write about the communal countries? I don't think they have guts to do that. They can only bark at those whom they think would seldom fight back. Mr Mathew and his likes have a one point agenda, attack Hindu organisations. They do it with the same mind set which compels them to think that it is like India where Hindus are in majority and Hindu bashing can continue in the name of 'secularism'. Wake up Mr Mathew and find some new constructive genuine issues which can work for the welfare of humanity. Stop using boring issues which no longer interest readers in the USA.
Date sent: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 19:13:59 EST I read his article, and felt very happy for the time and effort he has put in collecting statistics of the growth of the VHPA, HSC, etc. It was a nice article for anyone who wants to know the progress of VHPA which is working with the goal of Vishwa Bandhutva or Vasudaiva Kutumbakam. It hardly matters how it works, whether silently or with lots of advertisements and propaganda. But, as Mathew points out in his article, VHPA and HSC should learn putting some more effort in advertising, apart from just working. As long as it is a service to the humanity, it should not shy away from advertising itself. Mathew mentions that HSC has its chapters only in the well known universities. But HSC should make efforts to open its chapters in other universities, colleges and even high schools. Lot of teenagers are interested to serve humanity. Again, I thank the author for his article. Keep up the good work. Nagaraj
Date sent: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 16:23:49 -0700 I do not know if Biju Mathew has any journalistic credentials but his article on Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America (VHPA) was a clear example of what journalism should not be. I am not aware of any negative activities with which I can associate VHPA, but Biju Mathew describes VHPA as if he were describing a Mafia organisation. In American society it is easy to hear comments questioning or challenging Hindu beliefs. In this society Hindus constitute a very small immigrant minority with little religious, political, economic or violent clout. In this society India is not viewed as a powerful or rich nation. In this society, Hinduism with its pluralistic beliefs often finds itself in contradiction with the local religions. Given this scenario, I do not find it at all surprising that the VHPA keeps a low profile. What I find surprising, however, is that Biju Mathew used this low profile as an excuse to present an extremely unkind evaluation of the VHPA. What I also find surprising is that you published not one but two dispatches from Biju Mathew on this topic. Biju Mathew uses the discussions on the Internet to draw judgments on the VHPA. He cannot be more ignorant than that. Discussions on the Internet are known to get undisciplined, emotional, and out of control. Biju Mathew also maligns the VHPA, using the fact that the VHPA has a stronger presence on the Internet than on other mediums of mass communication. Who in this world has not found the Internet to be a relatively cheaper, non-imposing and free medium to make their presence known? Biju Mathew's article contains no merit. He proclaims that the VHPA is hierarchical. He implies that hierarchy is bad. I wonder where that leaves us with respect to the Catholic church or any other big organisation. I know that the VHPA has political views favouring Hindu interests. But my most frequent encounters with the VHPA or Hindu Student Associations have been during Hindu religious festivals and garba dances. I also often contribute to their support-a-child programme. I recently registered in a bone marrow donation registry, sponsored by the Hindu Student Council. I do not know which of these Biju Mathew finds objectionable. I do not have resources to evaluate all that is good or bad regarding VHPA. And I could turn out to be wrong. But given the available evidence, Biju Mathew seems to be more wrong than I. Neeraj Bhatnagar
Date sent: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 18:43:55 -0800 And Biju, before I forget, what is wrong in Hindus lobbying for space either in the Holocaust museum or the likes? After all, for thousands of years, Hindus have been invaded, converted, looted, raped and killed by all and sundry, though not a single Hindu ever set foot outside the country to conquer other lands. As a result, you can see the likes of Biju Mathews claiming loyalty to the church. How long will you earn your daily bread writing junk like this? Srinivas
Date sent: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 14:32:21 -0800 I am surprised that Rediff On the NeT chose a person like Biju Mathew to write articles. His negative reputation is well known on the Net, especially in the so called 'progressive-India' news groups. His whining and Hindu-bashing comments are well known as well. In a country where Christian television and radio channels bash Hindus and their way of worship as equal to animalistic or of primitive beings, where an ordinary person like me has to explain and defend my religion for questions like 'why I have a last name with an animal god?' etc, I am not surprised why the VHPA has to play a low key with the public as its main intention is to interface with local Hindus. Hence there is no reason why their telephone numbers have to be listed in a local telephone directory. As another example of how the local people view Hindus: I lived in the San Francisco bay area for a decade or so sometime ago. There was a hell-bent resistance in allowing a Hindu-temple to come up in the Bay area which was meant for the benefit of the local Hindus (and finally allowed to be in the outskirts of Bay area, namely Livermore). Even then, in the early days, there were quite a good number of local people suspecting us to do some cult activities in there. People like me had to accept this kind of hurtful things while visiting our place of worship. That is the kind of knowledge the local people have about Hinduism. In these circumstances, the VHPA and and similar organisations help us to reassure our confidence and focus in our beliefs rather than remember the humiliations some people mete out to us knowingly or unknowingly. Moreover, people like Biju Mathew should not be allowed to write in your forum, leave alone such sensitive articles as this one. He does not have any professionalism or analytical mind as clearly visible from his own words (which in my opinion is disgusting to say the least) re quoted below from the article: "The early VHPA documents written in the 1980s show evidence indicative of the petit-bourgeois basis of its initial formation. The nature of the English used in some of these documents, for instance, indicate that these may have been produced by the non-elite small businessmen who had 'disadvantages of language.'" The above is typical of his abilities I have seen over the past in his articles. I hope this is the last article I see in Rediff written by him. Sundara Ganesh
Date: Sunday, January 04, 1998 6:33 AM Simply put, this article is 'Much ado about nothing'. The author makes contrived attempts at 'unmasking' the VHPA and HSC and engages in vilification of not only the two organisations, but also the Non-Resident Indian community in general. As a student studying in the USA let me lodge my protests with Rediff for Biju writing the following: "Products of their own uniquely narrow family prejudices, they are thrown into residential institutions at an early age and remain 'protected' from the social world outside. Yet, they have been instructed by the Nehruvian dream that to be technically competent is to be part of building the nation. This package of narrow social consciousness and technical arrogance is what the US imports every year from India. Jesus Christ, Biju, many of the students coming to the US are some of the best Indian brains. Give them more credit than that. We don't need Communalism Combat to understand issues. With Rediff lately training its guns on the Sangh Parivar, this continuous outpouring of material from Communalism Combat (or is it 'Communists out-of-job') does not come as a surprise. What surprises me most is that Rediff has chosen to ridicule its own readership which comprises mostly of non-Resident Indians with a good proportion of students among them! I don't care what you have to say about VHPA or HSC, though to the best of my knowledge they are perfectly within their rights to exist as religious organisations both on-campus and off-campus (as do thousands of other Jewish/Christian/Islamic groups) but don't lecture the NRIs as to what they should do and shouldn't do at every available opportunity. Raja
Date: Mon, 05 Jan 1998 19:09:37 +0000 Great piece. We need to tell NRIs what the VHP really stands for and what they have been doing to spread their message of Hindu supremacy and hatred for other religions. And their use of Swami Vivekananda is at best opportunistic. The VHP has been active in organising summer camps for young children and teenagers at various locations and temples in North America and Europe. Many parents of these youngsters do not know the connection between the VHP and the BJP and the RSS. We need to work together to fight these fascist groups.
Date sent: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 05:57:51 +1100 Until now I had enormous respect for Rediff on the NeT. It has been totally eroded by Biju's sniping at the VHP. He makes a fantastic connection between the VHP, Swami Vivekananda and Muslims's sexual prowess. Apart from the illogicality of it all, it is in sheer bad taste. No more of such pieces, please. Of late, Rediff has become totally anti-BJP, preferring to call it the "saffron brigade," while other parties are "anti-communal" or "secularist." I do not sympathise with any political party, but it is a shame that you squander away your potential to mould public opinion and impose your paranoid fears overtly. This attitude is responsible for people like Sitaram Kesri and Laloo Yadav occupying seats of power today. For heaven's sake, get real. J Balaji Sydney, Australia
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 10:45:03 -0800 Mr Mathew obviously has a lot to say about the VHP. What has he got to say about Christian missionaries in India who convert poor Hindus by dubious means? We don't need people like him in India. These people, with their double standards, have perverted secularism. I am an atheist, and belong to no religion. Obviously Mr Mathew is not like me. He has agendas that he would not like to make clear. I read Rediff "religiously" every day. I was disgusted to see something as biased as this in your esteemed newspaper. Vinay Deolalikar
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 20:24:56 -0600 Thank you for the excellent essays by Biju Mathew on the VHP and HSC. I hope you will continue to post similar pieces in future. I'd greatly appreciate if you could provide me information about Communalism Combat. If it is a "site" could you please give a link? Congratulations on the excellent job you are doing and all the best for the New Year! Manu Shetty University of Chicago
Date sent: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 00:15:33 -0600 I have been compelled to write few lines after going through this article. I am a Muslim and I think that's enough as introduction, but for the sake of the curious lot, yes I am a Indian. As a Muslim I strongly believe that there is no force on the face of earth or any where in the universe which can inflict harm on Muslims. They can give some finite hardships. So, if the persons involved in the VHP are reading this response don't take this as an outburst of an individual, but I can assure you this is the conviction of every Muslim.
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 23:04:13 -0800 The article shows how ignorant Biju Mathew is about life in the US. He writes, 'For the Asians, to be a model minority means not just to distance oneself from the black American, but, far more importantly, that he/she must integrate him/herself with the model white.' It's baloney. I have lived in US long enough to vote for four Presidents. I did not change my name from Prakash to something like Peter to make it easier for an American tongue. Believe it or not, all my American friends and colleagues can pronounce my name correctly, albeit not at the first time. As an employee of a multinational corporation, most of my friends are Americans, Blacks, Whites, Jews and Hispanics. Racism does exist in the US, although it does not surface quickly compared to the 50s. The beauty of Americans is that they do not start with bias. One needs to prove his/her technical / social skills and bingo, all the barriers melt down. This is far different attitude from Europeans. Whenever I landed in Frankfurt from the US, nobody was present at the door of the aircraft. When I landed at the same place from India, the immigration officer would check my passport right at the door of the plane, even before I entered a terminal. I am not and never was a Sangh Parivari so it is better that I refrain from entering in a debate about your views on them. I have serious doubts about the motives of the author, who happens to be a member of Communalism Combat. If Christian Democrats in Germany are secular, even though they circulate anti-Jewish pamphlets, if US Congress / Senate is secular even though they passed five resolutions in last two years decrying "Christian persecution", what right does Biju Mathew have, who was baptised and attends religious ceremonies, to criticise persons like me who were born Hindu and are proud to be so?
Date sent: Sun, 04 Jan 1998 16:07:22 -0600 The article was totally uncalled for. The writer's prejudice, he being a Christian, is well-known. What I do not understand is that why the BJP, VHP, and especially HSC are condemned to be Hindu, nationalist organisations that spread communalism. How come you have never attacked the Muslim Students Association? I think the bias is clear. You, or at least the writer, has a clear tilt for "secularism" and you use it to wield power among the moderate Hindus who, even after a millennium of serfdom and slavery at the hands of Muslims and Christians, are committed to "secularism." The VHPA and others have a clear agenda: to set the matter straight and to proclaim India a Hindu state, which, I assure you, will be just as much secular as the present India is, minus the Muslim Civil Code and other Nehruvian ideals that have only helped in ruining the remaining Hindu culture. I urge you, if it is not possible for you to help in this great cause, then at least not hinder its progress. The VHP has done nothing wrong to you, please don't make enemies out of people who are just following their religion. Himanshu Vyas
Date sent: Fri, 09 Jan 1998 17:57:43 -0800 Biju Mathew has referred to the 'Hindukush means Hindu Killer' article, and its style as well as the references. The mention of the article 'Hindukush means Hindu killer' as well as Comrade Biju's way of criticising it, brought back memories. Comrade Biju has used the oldest trick in the book to attack the article. In India's premier medical or engineering and other science schools, prior to thesis preparation and the defence, the advisors drill into the students to make sure the references are accurate and laid out correctly, because attacking the references requires the least cerebral exercise. This is particularly true if the examiner has a gripe against the project, and guess what, Comrade Biju Mathew attacks the references as 'thin' and 'discredited.' No, he does not bother to negate the thesis, nor do his cronies try to find out other historical sources from Afghanistan from the period in question. All he does is quotes some quaint person named Janki Nair (who?) and it is based on this self-proclaimed expert's unreferenced essay that we must accept Biju's unsubstantiated allegations. Since Rediff readers are getting only Biju Mathew's biased views without reading the article itself, it will only be fair journalism that they are given a pointer to the original article itself before they buy Biju's arguments hook, line and sinker. Since the debate was over 4 plus years ago, I had to search the Internet for the article and found it located at: http://rbhatnagar.ececs.uc.edu:8080/hindu_history/modern/hindu_kus h.html Now about Biju Mathew's arguments about references -- If one checks the article at the above site, it is evident that the article gives 21 references. Of those 6 references are from Encyclopedia Britannica, 3 references from National Geographic Magazine, 1 each from Encyclopedia Americana, World Book Encyclopedia, Standard dictionary of Persian Language, and Hammond Historical Atlas. 2 references to Advanced history of India edited by the doyen of Indian historians R C Mujumdar, a reference to Cambridge History of India, and a reference from J W McCrindle's Invasion of India by Alexander the Great. If you add up the above list it turns out 17 of the 21 references are standard references or standard history books. 2 others refer to Koenraad Elst's best selling books and a reference to Savarkar's magnum opus on Indian history. Yet Janki Nair (who?) whom Biju quotes calls them as "'spurious scientifically flourishing 'evidence' from discredited colonial sources." Now is Encyclopedia Britannica a discredited 'colonial source?' or are other encyclopedias spurious? Or is Advanced history of India by R C Mujumdar a discredited source on Indian history? What more proof of Janki Nair and Comrade Biju Mathew's negationist tendencies is needed? Instead of searching for truth, Janki Nair calls the evidence as 'thin!' No one has stopped that self-proclaimed practitioner of 'art' of history to look for 'fat' evidence. Ah! but then that would be politically incorrect and contrary to principles of combating communalism. After all for Biju and his ilk, search for true history is unimportant compared to the immediate challenge of 'combating communalism'. And in that goal some times even true history or even its search can be an impediment. Apparently Comrade Biju Mathew wants Rediff readers to accept arguments from an unreferenced essay of an unknown author over the information supported by 17 references from standard encyclopedias and history books. Does this make sense? But Comrade Biju Mathew goes even further, he accuses the Hindus of fabricating history. We must not forget that Comrade Biju views the world from the Communist outlook. Commies have falsified history where ever possible, so by his logic, why not Hindus? Right ? (Ever read Mir publications? You will find everything except Newton's law was discovered by Russians!)
Date sent: Sun, 4 Jan 1998 18:19:37 -0800 I don't know from where Biju has picked up statistics regarding either the "petit bourgeois " or "professional bourgeois." If you look at the statistics of Indians entering the US in the 90s, it is not certainly "This package of narrow social consciousness and technical arrogance is what the US imports every year from India". I did not grow up studying in residential institutions and remain "protected." For that matter, none of my colleagues, friends and my limited circle of Indians did. They are well aware of the various issues facing the country as a whole as well as the current movement for Hindutva. There are people on both the sides of the fence and some sitting on it. Biju Mathews has beaten around a lots of bushes but clearly manages to confuse the reader about the actual issue, namely "Why does VHPA operate from the shadows?" He certainly seems to be proficient in the language, but unfortunately it doesn't reach average readers like me with limited vocabulary. And I find the sites of VHP and BJP better than "www.bethany-wpc.org,", or the programmes aired by the likes of proselytarians like Billy Graham Srinivas
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 21:50:25 PST This article was good to read. But I experienced a lot of bias and predetermined aggressiveness when I read it. How long did Mr Biju research on the institution before composing this column and how is he as a person oriented against any religion? This question is just intended to judge "how true?" the author of the column was when he wrote it. Very fiery articles are appearing in Rediff (cricket for instance), is it good natured or just for something else? I read every edition of Rediff, thereby I put forth these questions as a person interested (but confused -- by the columns) in the journal. It would be great if I could receive a mail from you and Mr Biju. K Viswanathan
Date sent: Sat, 03 Jan 1998 14:17:11 -0500 I am unable to understand the purpose of this article. Is it meant to educate the readers or is this another attempt to paint the VHP as a fascist organisation merely because it speaks for some Hindus? Anyway, why bring in Vivekananda? Is there anything wrong in the VHP eulogising this great Indian? There are many organisations that claim to speak for Jews, Christians Muslims etc. The VHP is one such for Hindus. The USA is a free country and if some Hindus want to be a part of a Hindu organisation, why not? Ven Hari
Date sent: Sat, 3 Jan 1998 12:27:52 EST Now people like Mathew do not want Hindus to even discuss Vivekanand. Their target is not the VHP but Hinduism. Is it a coincidence that a vast majority of "secular forces" are either D'Souzas, Mathews, Akbars? Where is their penchant for fighting communalism in their own religion? Their lies and hate war is no longer taken at their face value, people can read between lines. The mask of secularism to spread hatred against Hinduism is half uncovered. They will be naked soon. We Hindus are no longer taking any lessons on secularism from hypocrites of other religions, who basically are bigots when it comes to their own religion. Let them remove inadequacies from their own religion first.
Date: Tue, 06 Jan 1998 15:32:21 -0500 This article by Biju Mathews is provocative, biased and serves no useful purpose. The author particularly takes pot-shots at what he calls the petit-bourgeois (the usage of that term perhaps lending him a sense of grandeur), without bothering to realise that the products of the so-called elite urban institutions have played more than an adequate part in fueling the Hindutva movement among Indian immigrants of North America. Added to this are his: 1. Dwelling on the irrelevant; like his insistence that second-generation Indians running HSCs were both male (and, in sharp contradistinction) female, as if to imply that first generation coordinators were exclusively of one particular sex. 2. His biased representation of activity on the Usenet -- everyone knows that almost all SOC news groups have their share of hate messages, and there are enough anti-Hindu postings on the Indian news groups with even the topics outlined by the author drawing a large anti-Hindu hate propaganda. It is one thing if Rediff has a serious shortage of talented authors who can take an unbiased stance, but if there are such persons in your organisation, but they are being suppressed in order to provide opportunities (perhaps due to pressing moral, political and and social obligations) for the more disruptive elements such as Biju Mathews, it is indeed a sad story.
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