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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 12:51:58 -0600 Excellent Interview and kudos to George on expressing his frank opinions on the existing and future political scenarios. Sunil Pai
Date sent: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 00:25:10 EST Good! Keep it up. George, I am proud of you.
Date sent: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 20:00:40 -0800 George Fernandes is, indeed, one of the most incorruptible leaders of the country. His assessment of the situation in Bihar is very correct. Laloo Yadav and his secularism is a camouflage for the illiterate and caste-ridden voters of Bihar. I wish George would play an important role in the governance of this country. If there was to be a National Front government, instead of a United Front government, which was ever so short lived, he would be the man in whose hands the destiny of India could be trusted. Dr Batu K Dutt Vancouver, Canada
Date sent: Wed, 14 Jan 1998 11:50:20 +0800 What to say? Even after 50 years of India Independence we get words like this from common people. Why? Finding the real solution is very difficult. Now Sonia and her daughter come to Tamil Nadu and ask the people to vote for the Congress. First she should clarify whether she was really behind bringing down the central government because of the Jain Commission report. If yes she should explain her stand on the Jain Commission report saying "the deep nexus between the Tamils of Tamil Nadu and Rajiv's killers." Then she should ask us to vote for the Congress . Anyway, if the Jain Commission referendum is the main issue in the coming election specifically in Tamil Nadu. Let us see how many seats the Congress will get in the coming election, even after campaigning by these royals. Arul
Date sent: Tue, 13 Jan 1998 22:07:01 -0400 This is in response to the article posted by you on Sonia Gandhi's campaign. I just want to ask one simple questions to the Indians out there. Can you name any President or prime minister of absolutely any country in the democratic world where the the top most leader of the country (prime minister in India's case) is not even born in that country? The answer is simply NO. Sonia Gandhi will always be a foreigner. She is and never was Indian. I hope we Indians have not fallen to such a low standard that we get fooled by some foreigner just because she wears a sari and her speech is dubbed in Tamil. Indian politicians are corrupt but this woman is not even Indian. In the US and Canada or any European nation, one can't think of becoming the national leader if s/he is not born in the country. I want to ask Sonia one simple question. Today she is contesting in the poll, then why is it that she did not accept Indian citizenship for so long? Why did she wait till recently?
Date sent: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 00:21:32 +0000 WHY DO YOU GIVE SO MUCH COVERAGE TO WHAT THE GANDHIS AND VADRAS ARE DOING AND SAYING?
Date sent: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 01:00:15 -0800 Your report quotes Sonia Gandhi while campaigning, ''Five Opposition governments have come and gone and still the truth remains to be revealed ....... I have told the authorities to tell us once and for all the names of all those who are involved in the Bofors scam..." Now, Mrs Gandhi, when exactly did you tell the authorities? Can you make a copy of such correspondence public, as mere assertions from you will not work? And exactly which authority did you tell? Pradip Parekh
Date sent: Sun, 18 Jan 1998 20:23:38 EST In Mr Tendulkar's commentary, I and WE have changed so strategically that it almost appears deliberate. Mr Tendulkar must have had a different upbringing. But he goes overboard to correct some of his guilt. I really couldn't care what Muslims eat, drink, wear or pray. I also admit that they are as much Indian as Hindus are. But my opinion about Islam is based on their role in driving out quarter million Hindus from the valley, killing innocent Hindus when pigs wandered into an Idgah (remember Moradabad ), attacking Hindu processions when these pass through their locality...and many such examples....why? Are Muslim majority areas always sensitive? If one wants to fight fundamentalism, it is to be fought in every religion. Combating communalism is a classical Marxist-Islamist- Evangelists document to fight their political battle against BJP and not against communalism. Like Tendulkar, is there a Muslim equivalent who is willing to share his/her inner secrets why do they hate Hindus at every opportunity?
Date sent: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 18:20:46 +1100 People must be at their wit's end if they have to resort to Pritish Nandy to write a column for them.
Date sent: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 15:50:41 -0600 (CST) The write-up struck a chord. A few years ago, I was appalled to note the growing demand for baby names on the net. Especially in that most odious of forums: soc.culture.indian. I wrote something about it and got bashed all over the place. It's reproduced below. Enjoy! (if you get this message and if you find the time) Children -- Why the thinking person should abolish them Over the last few years, I have been watching with growing consternation the arrival of a train of babies in my circle of friends. This had never happened to me before, thus suitably alarmed I sat down to think about such things. I realised that I am in an age bracket when people tend to gaze longingly at babies and display a pathetic yearning to get married (at least in India). They do so, and then start reproducing frantically to make up for lost time. Like some kind of yeast colony, the house is a seething sea of wailing leaking babies, and then I stop visiting them because there is no entity more unbearable than a new father or mother, and nothing is worse than the disgusting scenes of nauseating baby noises that they produce as they pepper the conversation with the exploits of their newborn. "Did you see? I mean did you actually SEE what she said? She said 'Daa'!" Quite fascinating I am sure, but it bores me to death. We had a friend who proudly announced to us one day: "I am pregnant!" and then added redundantly, "I am expecting a baby." We didn't want to squash the poor woman's enthusiasm, so I politely added: "Really, but how terrible for you! Sunali here is also pregnant, but she is expecting a SUN workstation. They are so much more useful." She didn't see my point at all. She hissed at me. Strange woman. The most irritating question that people in India ask newly weds is: "Any good news?" I had this question popped to me within a week after my wedding. An even worse question popular among Iyers is: "Any issues?" Like we are the post-office or something. Fortunately, we left India soon after. After arriving here, I discovered that Americans are even more besotted with babies and reproducing than Indians. They go to astonishing lengths to document the distasteful process. With the possible exception of the process of conception, they have everything on film or video. Down to the gory details. So much of after birth, so many stitches, so many contractions per second, the babies heart beat, the mothers heart beat, the fathers heart beat. Cardiograms, angiograms, ultrasounds, EEG, ECG of the entire family if necessary. No wonder obstetrics is a thriving business. So are many eager parents lining up and ready to spare no expense just to be rewarded with a baby. They even have pre-natal specialists who specialise in foetal psychiatry, I believe. "Now you just relax there and tell me how long you have been obsessed with your mother?" Bizarre. Thankfully, I estimate that in a few years the flood will have dried to a trickle, and will eventually cease by the time I turn forty. After that, ah! bliss. The problem of reproducing in sufficient numbers having passed to a future generation, I can relax in the company of sane individuals. The darlings will have grown up to be thoroughly ungrateful who shoot junk and give their parents hell. Getting them to talk about their children will be a difficult thing. "Has your son appealed the death penalty?" is not a easy question to ask. What prompts me to write is the growing number of requests for baby names on the Net. I mean, Netters are reproducing in such prodigious numbers that they have run out of names. The mind boggles at the incredible dissipation of intellectual energy which this effort demands. Frantic e mailing, overloading of ftp sites, phone calls across the land. 'Please fax, or email new names.' This could be the basis for a thriving cottage industry. People will be patenting names and will be assured of royalties for generations. My request to all of you is, Please Stop! I mean stop reproducing and the problem of name hunting will also automatically cease. Babies are a biological issue. You don't really need them. They are purely vestegeal, like your appendix. No one has any use for them anymore. They leak at both ends, produce noxious and sticky effluvium, wail at all hours of the day. They are selfish, utterly uncaring of the trouble they cause, and ruthlessly monopolise your energy and time. They grow up with all these problems multiplying manifold. If they wail today, they whine in their adolescence. If they are leaking fluids today, they are consuming with ferocious energy tomorrow. They are never satisfied with what you do for them, they want more. They just aren't worth it. May as well put a stop to it. People in India should be especially warned. The worst nightmare could come true -- their little pumpkins could end up joining the IIT's. Society is proceeding to a point where one can't learn enough in a lifetime. Wonderful new avenues of education and new ways of pursuing leisure. So many ways to stimulate the intellect and do creative work. For gods sake who needs babies to come along and waste your time? Abolish babies. And along with them abolish the tyranny of ingratitude. Intellect cannot be fostered when the hands are busy changing diapers. Don't have babies. Don't croon over the next one you see on the street. Rather, draw the parents aside and counsel them on their moral obligation to future society. If they resort to specious arguments like -- "There will be no future society if there are no babies," point out that if humanity had spent time researching immortality instead of rearing babies, then the future we make is ours. With this admonishment, I conclude by stating that, as always, I believe in setting an example by doing. Or not doing as in this case. Yours etc, Ratnam University of Illinois
Date sent: Thu, 15 Jan 1998 15:04:00 -0500 I am writing to voice my displeasure of an article published recently entitled, "In God's Name" by Biju Mathew. Mr Mathew is a well known bigot and has publicly voiced his hatred of the Hindu religion and culture. Because of this, most Christians even avoid him. I have always thought that Rediff had well thought out articles by respected journalists and leaders. Biju Mathew is neither respected nor a leader, and his material lacks tolerance, facts, or balance. Rediff and its readers are not served by having his material on your web site. Mihir Meghani
Date sent: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 15:37:45 -0800 (PST) Very interesting article. However, I do want to point out that people with good intentions can sometimes be misguided too. Medha Patkar has done a lot of good but that shouldn't bias us into an agreement with her on all opinions. There is a group of people, including myself, across the world who have formed a new party BDP (Bharatiya Democratic Party, http://www.BDP-India.org/) which believes in very similar principles, and is debating on exactly such issues. Hope you can help spread our message. Here are some of my concerns/questions on the article: 1. I quote: "Elections! I do not believe in contesting elections from anywhere. In fact, the National Alliance Of People's Movements, which is a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations, has decided not to contest the election." Why does she not believe in contesting? It is our responsibility to vote the right person into a position to make the correct decisions. If it is a person's firm belief that there is absolutely no one they trust it is worth considering looking for the right person, maybe that person is you, your organisation. 2. "We have realised that all the political parties are pro-liberalisation which is an anti-people policy.... Mahatma Gandhi told us to fight against the foreign companies..... The East India Company came as traders and started ruling the country. In the same way the MNCs have come to India and are ruling the country..." Traders can be our enemies, not free trade. An open economy can do us better than a closed door policy. We have to implement liberalisation in a regulated way that is beneficial to both parties. It is a very restricted and phobic view to assume that foreigners are here to loot us. At the same time it would be naive to assume that any act of theirs is purely out of the goodness of thier hearts. Neither is a true structure of a dependant society (truly the word dependant is unnecessary and serves only to overemphasise the fact). The entire world has something to share with us. At a time when boundaries are dissolving to generate social welfare world wide, it will be prudent for us to reconsider any dogmatic stance such as this. 3."Thirty per cent of the tickets should be given to women... ...recommendation of the Mandal Commission Report...." However she also goes on to say: "No selection should be made on the basis of caste and religion" The justification of selecting candidates without consideration to caste or religion is based on a simple truth that all are capable of the job, no matter which religion or caste they belong to. It is also an assumption that they are "capable." A policy of reservation in jobs, positions, entrance seats etc is counter to this first theory. The assumption is that by providing such reservations we will gap the bridges that currently exist in the society. It is my belief that though based on good intentions this is a solution in the wrong direction. The true solution would make them capable of these jobs, positions, seats and open the vacancies to be filled by the most capable person. The true solution will promote creation of more opportunities, by placing capable people in the right positions which in turn will promote growth for all. 4. "To stop the craze for big dams...prevent the handloom sector from extinction and restart sick units..." Again the intentions here are good. However, the solution space is misdirected. The fact that big dams were constructed without proper studies, relocation plan implies a poor implication of ideas. Medha needs to suggest alternate solutions to problems such as power crisis. Is nuclear waste buried for the next decade an acceptable solution only to find out that the base water gets polluted down the road? Or do we increase the electricity bills on the already strained budgets? Can we prevent the burning of coals at home or kerosine in autorickshaws? Unless we provide a less harmful source of energy, people will be forced to resort to these which will contribute to increased levels of pollution. The solution lies in going with proven, scientic ways of generating energy with minimal impact on cost, pollution, people and such decisions should be made by capable people after a careful study. Of course everything else in the article I whole heartedly agree with. And as I've said before, her intentions are unquestionable, but let's not assume she has all the right answers. Puneet Singh San Jose
Date: Wednesday, January 14, 1998 12:09 PM These chaps make the same old, rut of movies -- hero, heroine, father, villain, roll around trees, sing and dance. Ultimately the black money sits in their bank account. What does the nation gain? One more lousy "hit," more "fillum magazines" making a livelihood out of these people. Can they jerks make one good movie nowadays, without copying from a Western theme or resorting that moth eaten love triangle, villain politician and heroic cop stories?
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