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ASSEMBLY POLL '98
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'Imagine if Christians were to hound Yesudas for singing Hindu or Muslim devotional songs'
E-mail from readers the world over
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 12:45:30 -0700 Bravo! You are far ahead in reports from India than most leading newspapers. Keep it up.
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 14:10:12 -0400 Read Rasheed's story. Is there some way we could give financial help to Rasheed's family, would be glad to help out with the little I can. Please let me know if this is possible. It is ridiculous that in this day and age people hide their personal prejudices under the guise of religion, and insult it while claiming in some perverse way of honouring it! Not that Indians as a rule either respect or understand passion, specially in context other than the carnal -- which is strange since we have the most magnificent trove of knowledge and wisdom on this planet. Best wishes and prayers for Rasheed and his family. Tell him to hang in there. Sonal
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 23:48:09 -0400 The story of Palathody Abdul Rasheed is very unfortunate and touching. Who would have thought that a Muslim learning Kathakali would have to live in such fear in a so-called democratic country? But it is not very surprising either. My family hails from that region of Kerala and I know what it is like there. This is what religious fundamentalists are about -- people with such rabid intolerance and hatred. There is nothing religious about them -- they just use religion as an instrument for hate and violence. They cannot just keep it to themselves either. They are few in number that destroy the peace and beauty of the very land they inhabit and make it difficult for the majority of peace-loving citizens to live. Imagine if Hindus were to ostracise or threaten to maim another of their kind for learning Urdu or singing ghazals? Imagine if Christians were to hound Yesudas for singing Hindu or Muslim devotional songs. Kathakali is an art form with Hindu roots and not an expression of religious faith. It is part of the culture and tradition of Kerala where all its citizens -- Hindu, Muslim and Christian were born and read from the same history books and share a common heritage. We need to prevail over these negative forces in our society. The big question is -- how? With politicians stooping to all time lows to forge alliances of convenience, there are very few that stand up for true principles. Let us hope and pray we will come together as a society to fight such evil -- not with knives and axes or the strength of our arms, but with the courage of our souls. Till then, I feel truly concerned for the well-being of this courageous young man, his family and others like them. Let us hope his will be an example that will open the eyes of the indifferent, if not the intolerant. In the name of religion, let us not commit barbaric and heinous acts which no God will forgive.
Narayanan Ramachandran
Date: Tue, 27 Apr 1999 10:33:09 -0700 (PDT) Thanks for carrying this excellent article, there are a lot of us out there looking for a balanced view. Like Mr Alap R Subramanian, I too am willing to help out Abdul Rasheed if he's indeed serious about his learning. Can you please put me in touch with Mr Subramanian so that I can discuss this further with him? SB
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1999 08:52:11 +0530 The column is well researched no doubt. My concern is please spend as much time to research the innermost feelings of the BJP as a party, its very ambivalent attitude towards the minorities and its definition of India as a nation.
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 10:56:53 PDT Till I read this report, it seemed at least there was some hope in the form of our President. But by giving more time to Sonia Gandhi, he has done the greatest harm possible to the democratic ways of our country. Does he not understand that this will lead to more intense struggle for power and horse trading by power hungry politicians? He seems to have forgotten that the real power in a democratic set-up should always be with the people and hence as a President he should never have been shy to call for a general election in case no party/group/coalition etc is able to give us a stable formation. It is up to the people to decide who should be their leaders. Or does our President think that he is answerable to only the Parliament members and state assembly members since they elected him and not the people of India? Does he know how much harm he is causing the august office by behaving in a way which causes doubts regarding his impartiality? An argument is always made up for why elections are not necessary for India at this juncture. It seems that only the politicians who are afraid of losing elections are saying so. If the election expenses have gone up, is it because of the people of India want to spend more and more on these? Don't we have certain laws and rules to be followed when we spend something for elections? Why doesn't the President not interfere and try to reduce the expenses on elections instead of acting in a manner which indirectly helps the politicians to fill each other's coffers? Is it that the President's responsibility ends only by somehow administering the oath of office to the people that would suit his purpose and vice versa? By giving more time to Sonia Gandhi, the President has indirectly shown that he somehow wants to install her as a prime minster even though the people of India have not stamped their yes on her even once. Instead of asking for fresh elections in this crisis, he is trying to prolong the current problem and is not allowing the people to judge the situation. Since Sonia Gandhi could not cobble up the majority even in a week, elections surely seemed the most correct way out. But because of some masters working behind the President, he has shown the people that he has scant respect for the best judges in the democratic set-up which are the people themselves. While asking for the cleansing up of politics, election process and so on, we must think about how important the office of President has become in circumstances like these and should start the cleaning at the top even if it means cleaning up the President's post. Just because a President is elected by indirect election, he should never forget that he is the servant of the citizens of the country and not the master dictating and forcing his own wishes on the people. It appears that the President is trying to favour only the people who elected him and not the real ones ie, the citizens of India. Otherwise how can he explain the unnecessary delay in either calling for fresh elections or showing us the real party/combination which has the confidence of the House? Sunil
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 09:50:07 -0500 Why is that the politicians (I refuse to call them leaders) of India are so apprehensive of mid term elections? There is no truth to the assumption that they have all become conscious of the prohibitive cost of holding new elections and are somehow determined on saving the state exchequer. When the two largest parties are not allowed to form governments, how on earth could an alternative fraction form a viable government, when the largest single block of this fraction has a measly 18 representatives? The more likely (and perhaps cynical) reason is that they are afraid of peoples ire. That is all the more reason for the President to order a mid-term poll. People's memories are notoriously short and a year from now, a few months from now, the shenanigans and idiosyncracies of the Jayalalithas and Yadavs may be forgotten by the body politic. Holding elections now is a good way of getting rid of our political system of these malcontents. People may be sympathetic to the way how the BJP was toppled. Or they may be unhappy with the way the BJP ruled the nation for 13 months. Either way, the results of the election will be resoundingly for or against a single party. If the majority feels the BJP did a great job, then the BJP will be voted in with a greater majority and will not have to worry about the fence sitters and rule with a measure of confidence and stability. On the other hand, if the majority are dissatisfied with its rule, the Congress will be the beneficiary of their dissatisfaction and again the country will have the opportunity of having a single large party at the helm. It is a win-win situation for the people of India. Order a mid-term poll now.
C S Ramarao, Ph D
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 13:09:44 -0400 Most current politicians, including Chandra Shekhar, indulge in double talk. He now suddenly finds Sonia acceptable! What sort of an elder statesman is he to somersault so quickly? Shouldn't he have taken his earlier negative position against Sonia, after a more mature consideration? He also complains of people 'unable to use other's good points'. Didn't he see anything good in Vajpayee as the country's prime minister? Shouldn't he, as a so-called 'elder statesman,' carry some responsibility for creating this crisis? He could have supported Vajpayee, and the crisis would not have occurred. It is not clear why these politicians can never use common sense. Does he really mean it, or is he playing yet another game to make the BJP look like a bunch of fools? Why should they change the leader, when the current leader is the best for the country? Isn't he indulging in cliches, or tied himself in knots of so-called 'meaningless precedents'? What precedents is he talking about? Might be, that the precedent was created by yet another stupidity? Or totally different set of circumstances? So must we continue to act like bunch of stupid precedent seeking robots? Every situation is not identical. Precedents are only as a guide, not cast in stone. If a decision needs to be taken in the national interest, it must be taken on its own merit, as the situation warrants. The need is that it must be evaluated honestly, rationally, and logically. If bringing the BJP back is in national interest, so be it. If not, order fresh elections. Which is the lesser evil? What is in the national interest, based on the current set of circumstances? That is what the President is meant for, and the elder statesmen if any, can help the President evaluate. Sooner we develop precedents of honesty, responsibility, integrity, and decision making in the national interest, and not hackneyed cliches, and self interest, the better for the nation.
Rajendra Aggarwala
Date: Fri, 23 Apr 1999 17:55:35 +0530 After a long time one gets to read an excellent inquisitory analysis of the Indian press. Congratulations to Arvind Lavakare for his piece on the Indian media. Just a few points. Does Mr Lavakare know that the Star TV owner, Rupert Murdoch was given a special award by the Vatican last February for "services rendered to the Holy See". Obviously they were not about reporting the Chinese repression against Christianity. In fact, this February, China passed a special cabinet decree prohibiting conversions to Christianity with all missionaries asked to register or get out of the country. Of course, Murdoch's Star TV would dare not report this because China has his media empire by its testimonials in Hong Kong. But even a small incident like quoting Gandhi, Vivekananda and Ambedkar against conversions became a big item to report in its peak evening hour news. I think Indians should drive out Star TV using every tactic possible. One method would be not to advertise on it or not allow their reporters anywhere at an event. Another method is the Chinese method -- Chinese torture. Regards to Lavakare and more poison to his pen. Ashok Row Kavi
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 10:41:38 -0500 When Prime Minister Vajpayee signed the Lahore pact, he represented India and not just BJP. Hence there should not be any doubt in Sharief's mind. I do not know why he thinks India will not value it in future. As far as political stability is concerned, he need not worry. It will be decided by the people of India, he should concentrate more on the problems in his country. Mahesh
Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 12:03:56 +0530 It is unfortunate that when we were seeing light in our relations with Pakistan, the so-called secular front hit the rock. The Congress is not willing to have better relations with Pakistan because they see no personal intrest in it.
Date: Sat, 24 Apr 1999 13:47:00 +0530 I feel that these kind of articles should be published in a media which is more far-reaching than the Internet. I must stress upon the fact that the Internet is accessed by the educated mass who are already quite capable of analysing these points to a great extent. Of course, the onus of publicising these facts and views are also to be shared by us, but the more appropriate media for this type of publications has to be something more common than the Internet.
Sudhanshu
Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 10:14:40 -0400 Saifuddin Soz deserves the support of all principled, democratic and secular Indians, in his courageous stand against the authoritarian dictates of Farooq Abdullah in the recent confidence vote. Time and again he has played a puppet to various prime ministers and political parties simply in order to become chief minister of Kashmir. He is a flip-flop politician who constantly changes his allegiance. Soz is absolutely right when he says the people of Kashmir do not want to have anything to do with communal parties and forces. Over the decades they have supported the National Conference on this simple principle. How can Abdullah make the National Conference support a rabidly communal party like the BJP? What right did he have to thrust his son Omar Abdullah on the people of Kashmir as their representative in Parliament? How long will the people of Kashmir tolerate the Abdullah family? Let us hope the National Conference will throw out both Farooq and Omar Abdullah and elect upright politicians like Saifuddin Soz as their leader.
Kaleem Kawaja
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