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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 16:31:00 +0530 On one hand the Opposition is trying to pull down the central government. On the other hand, they warn against the dismissal of the Bihar government. Isn't it the Centre's right to take action against the Opposition to ensure the stability of the government? What's wrong in that? If the RLM and the Left can try to pull down the central government, then the central government can pull down the Bihar government as well. Let's give them both a level playing field.
Date sent: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 16:45:05 -0400 I am a regular reader of Rediff and think this site is one of the best platforms to reach a large number of India-interested surfers. I came across something yesterday and was aghast at the audacity of a particular web site in bashing India with a link that can be best described as an India-bashing one. The site I am talking about is www.whitehouse.org. This deceptively official-sounding site which seems (on the face of it) so harmless has on its home page three links: Politics (50+) that takes one to the www.whitehouse.gov site (the official site of the office of the US President); Sex and Bondage (18+) that links to www.bondage.com and the last one Violence (All Ages) linking to (hold your breath) alfa.nic.in (one of the official Indian government sites). It is worthwhile to note that while www.whitehouse.com is an adult site with the sole intention of benefiting from domain typos of people trying to connect to the official Whitehouse site, www.whitehouse.org is a site that can similarly attract a large number of people who would equate org with gov and end up associating India with whatever the site is trying to project. A quick look at the Internic database with WHOIS revealed a contact person Mark Pace, whose email is pace@ILLUMINATI.ORG. I strongly urge Rediff to alert its readers about this and appeal to them to mount an intensive campaign to either remove the link or change its reference. I know Rediff is not the watchdog of India on the web, but if we take such things for granted, it will portend a dangerous trend for the future. Rediff which is attracting hordes of India lovers should take the lead in disclosing such things to the readers who can decide what they want to do with such sites.
Krish
Date sent: Sun, 20 Sep 1998 08:09:28 PDT This is with respect to article The N men about Narayanan and Naidu. I really appreciate the work done by Naidu and I would like to pay my respects to him through your site.
Satya Prasad
Date sent: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 11:08:55 -0700 Answers from Sarath were very crisp and clear. Good to have such minds entering politics. Kannan
Date sent: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 11:08:55 -0700 I do not understand why Indians feel proud when Madonna sings in Sanskrit. Her pronunciation was deplorable, she wore a Vaishnav tilak while singing a Shiva song, she wore skimpy clothes which did not hide much from her nipples, and gyrated her pelvis on stage, all while singing Hindu mantras and in the presence of pictures of Hindu gods. She angered Christians during her Like a Virgin tour, so why do the Hindus feel proud when Madonna minces Sanskrit? Give up your slave like attitude, Indians. Satish Sanapareddy
Date sent: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 11:54:35 -0400 Read the following: 'Now, if we want to make this great state of Pakistan happy and prosperous we should wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in cooperation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matters what relations he had with you in the past, no mater what is his colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights, privileges and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you will make.' 'I cannot emphasise it too much. We should begin to work in the spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim community -- because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on and among Hindus you have Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on -- will vanish. Indeed if you ask me this has been the biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and independence and but for this we would have been free peoples long long ago.' Building up from this powerful passage comes the vision of a brave new world, consciously an improvement in its spirit of tolerance on the old world he has just rejected: 'You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan... You may belong to any religion or caste or creed -- that has nothing to do with the business of the State... We are starting in the days when there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.' I wonder, really wonder, given this background for Jinnah's thoughts on the State not having to do anything in regards to a person's faith, that how is it that he could bring himself to demand a separate state for Muslims. That is truly absurd for me: To demand a separate state for Muslims and then say that all will be equal in the new State of Pakistan. Why demand a new state at all? Do you see the irony? Ashish Chandra
Date sent: Tue, 15 Sep 1998 05:00:46 +0530 At the international level we are represented by the government authorities and not by anyone else. And no one else needs to interfere outside the country. Under the circumstances, it's not an intelligent idea to visit any country like China. The Opposition should let the the ruling party do their tasks in international politics. We already have not only burnt our fingers, but our hand with these people's policies with China and Pakistan. Now if they have anything to say they should say it only in the Lok Sabha and within the country. If they feel the government has done some thing wrong they must speak of it only within the country.
Date sent: Mon, 14 Sep 1998 10:03:46 -0400 Please accept my heartiest congratulations for having broken the misnomer that E-zines cannot be serious. This one article is sufficient to put you in serious contention for some of the best news sleuthing I have ever seen in India. This article should have raised questions in Parliament. How is it that the government is unaware of this kind of dissatisfaction? Why has this been allowed to breed? Why are the problems of the poor not being addressed so as to prevent a move toward Balkanisation of the subcontinent? A very deeply disturbed Indian
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 13:41:58 +0800 Dilip Thakore's article is too simplistic. There are several fundamental differences between India and Indonesia such as: India has democratic institutions. The Indian corporate sector does not have a foreign debt problem which is at the root of Indonesia's crisis India is self sufficient in food, unlike in Indonesia. This further exacerbates Indonesia's social problems. The quality of manpower in business and industry in India is far, far superior to Indonesia's. The corporate sector is not dominated by any one ethnic community in India -- unlike in Indonesia. The banking sector in India is not overexposed to the property sector -- unlike several countries of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. Crony-capitalism in India is of a far lesser magnitude (although it exists) than in Indonesia and Malaysia. The Indian economy is not driven by exports (while this is not a virtue, it is still a difference that sets the countries apart). The socio-political structure of Indonesia, its economic situation and its ethnic balance are completely different from that of India. While I appreciate Mr Thakore's good intention behind the article, I am afraid I have to disagree with his very simplistic comparison of the two countries. R Ananthanarayanan
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 1998 03:32:31 EDT Ashok Mitra is a well known Leftist so his criticism of the BJP is natural. I wonder what Mitra has to say about the CPI-M welcoming MNCs. Personally, I oppose MNCs no matter who brings them -- the CPI-M or Congress or BJP. Mitra should oppose the BJP on nationalist grounds such as the letter to Clinton, but he comes across as if he is delighted to see India being slighted by US and he seems to be in awe of China as he calls it the great People's Republic of China. There is nothing great about China. It is India's enemy number one. Instead of recognising this and denouncing China, the Communists talk as if India is the villain. Then, it really should not come as a surprise. Amulya Tyagi
Date sent: Sat, 12 Sep 1998 07:48:12 -0700 Very good. I was surprised to know that Madhuri was 36! All along we thought she was 31. Wow, she's my favourite actress. Nice article. Amrit
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 21:51:10 +0100 Well, I guess, the movie review is really well done. But from my point of view it's a very strict mark. Well, sure, there are some weak points (we don't know the exact place, where Amar goes etc, etc), but these little things are not that important. Well, tell me, if you knew the name of the place what would you do with it? I think the main idea of the director was to show true love -- one that has no future, as well as the main problem of India (it is true that not all people are very happy with their lives.) Anyway, I hope the movie will do a good business because it is the first really well-done film in India. It is very realistic. Although Amar was the hero he could very hardly hit the terrorist. I guess in other films he'd just kill him, which is more like a fairy tale. I think you understand what I'm hinting at. So this was my point of view. Tina
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1998 20:05:51 +0500 An irksome fairy tale. Unimaginative. How Readers reacted to Varsha Bhosle's recent columns
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