|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | DEAR REDIFF | |||
|
ELECTION 99
|
|
|
'Which Indian sold the [curry] recipe for his thirty pieces of silver?'
E-mail from readers the world over
Date:
Thu, 2 Dec 1999 15:46:12 +0530 What Naidu says is 100 per cent correct but we are not ready for change yet. Our mindsets are still attuned to bullock carts rather than jet engines.
Date:
Sat, 27 Nov 1999 01:08:38 EST Amberish K Diwanji has translated "Dharma baki hai" as "only religion survives." That shows the depth of the interviewer, of how he understands the word Dharma. Dharma is not religion, neither is Hindutva. There is no equivalent word in English (that is the limitation with that language) for Dharma. Nagaraj
Date:
Sat, 27 Nov 1999 22:58:15 +0500 Pakistan was never considered an ally by the United States. It has always been a tool to be discarded when useful no more.
Saghir Tirmizey
Date:
Tue, 30 Nov 1999 14:31:28 -0000 The comments of the United States' Congressman were nothing short of appalling. America is seen as some sort of a Svengali to the rest of the world as far as freedom, human rights and tolerance goes. This man, Gary Ackerman, seems to defy all those notions and it confirms my belief that America has never been and will never be what it proclaims itself to be. It is a nation built on a silent genocide, a destiny built out of the blood of native Indians many years ago. Now, this man feels he has the right to dismiss Pakistan as an international pariah, despite the almost indifferent reaction of his own President. How this man can hold such outdated views on communism and the Cold war is beyond me. Ackerman obviously still lives in that parallel America where John Wayne is king. The temerity of the man to say that the US essentially used Pakistan in the war against Communism and then dumped her when she wasn't needed confounds me -- this man is a Congressman and he could have at least been more diplomatic. The man's comments about Islamic militancy are as ill-founded and bigoted as the rest of his views -- they represent a hangover from the McCarthy days of largescale witch hunts. What irks me is that supposedly intelligent people don't realise that any form of organised beliefs (including political parties etc) will always give rise to a certain strain of militants. It's inherent to any organised institution, not just Islam. I don't agree with a lot of things that Islam puts forward but that's a personal choice. Making sweeping generalisations and implications has long been a policy of the West as far as Islam is concerned -- it's there in the portrayal of Muslims in Hollywood blockbusters, it's there in their politics...
Date:
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 07:04:50 EST When the prime minister used the buzz phrase ''zero tolerance'' earlier he included both corruption and terrorism within its ambit. In this interview he is practically silent on the first. The government must tackle corruption too on a war footing. One of the teasers posed in any of the popular TV quiz programmes can well be: Is there something common amongst the following three leaders and if so what -- General Pervez Musharraf, chief executive of Pakistan; President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee of India? The answer is that all three have sworn that they will wipe out corruption of all hues -- political, bureaucratic and whatever -- off the face of their respective countries. While wishing them good luck in this gargantuan task it will be interesting to take stock of some of the underlying differences in approach. In Pakistan, endemic corruption on a large scale is now being exposed, starting with the deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharief and his family members. To General Musharraf's credit it can be said that his only-stick-and-no-carrot policy has yielded rich dividends even within the first month of its operation to the extent that 8.4 billion rupees have returned by defaulting businessmen to bankers who had loaned the money to them a long, long time ago. However, in their naivete, the Pakistani masses have been led to believe that graft, nepotism, favouritism and such wrongdoings belong entirely to the domain of the civil administration and the powerful armed forces are completely free from this malady. That the rich in Pakistan have already transferred most of their money out of the country to Swiss banks and the like is yet another problem being faced by the regime. The cleansing process in Pakistan is carried out entirely by executive fiat since the legislative back-up is totally irrelevant at this time. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has made the categorical affirmation that his government will have zero tolerance towards corruption and terrorism. Unlike the leaders of Pakistan he has to rely largely on the due processes of law in addition to public support. There are enough laws in this country to catch the wrongdoers and punish them. If more such laws are required to add strength to the elbow of the chief vigilance commissioner, these have to be legislated quickly. So long as the prime minister and his cabinet colleagues have the will to act, they will surely get the kind of public support they need and outdo Pakistan or any other country in the 'deep-cleansing' process. Yours truly,
Kangayam R Rangaswamy
Date:
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 18:25:36 +0530 The interview with the prime minister was more of ''drying the old wool in the sun.'' Now onwards, Atal Bihari Vajpayee has to mean business. My suggestion is that he should declare a "no visa regime" for US citizens, then of course the same could be done with other countries, especially the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada. Russia too should be included in this list. Let us do that first and see their reaction. Millions of dollars will pour into our economy with this step.
Date:
Sun, 28 Nov 1999 22:39:23 -0500 Thanks to rediff.com for carrying Dr M M Joshi's lecture as it is. I had to read it three times before I could fully understand his ideas on a holistic worldview. I think, because of a very shallow understanding, many journalists label Dr Joshi a fanatic. They have no capability to interact intellectually with this man. It amazes me on how quickly we form opinions about someone like Dr Joshi without knowing him fully. Mukund M Kute
Date:
Mon, 29 Nov 1999 09:53:21-0000 Sometime ago I heard on the radio that chicken tikka masala is a popular dish in the UK and of course very much in demand in India where, the irony of ironies, it is in short supply! Hence, there was a move to export it to India. And now this curry bit. The world knows that curry and chicken tikka masala owe their origins to India; but still such dubious claims are made.
Swaminathan Shankar
Date:
Mon, 29 Nov 1999 18:34:17 +0530 This is just ridiculous. The main failure is of the Indian government, which is not viewing these kind of patents seriously enough. The result is we lost Basmati, neem etc. It could well turn out to be an endless list if the government continues to be nonchalant. Yours truly, Amit V Jog
Date:
Tue, 30 Nov 1999 08:19:47 -0800 (PST) First the Americans claimed Basmati rice, neem and turmeric as their inventions. Where Uncle Sam goes, can the Japanese be far behind? By the way, which Indian sold the recipe for his thirty pieces of silver? Or did the Japanese get it translated directly from an Indian cookbook? What do we do to protest and, more importantly, to PROTECT what is ours? What will they think of next? The Vedas? In total anguish, an Indian (not the pink variety) school teacher.
Date:
Tue, 30 Nov 1999 13:53:02 -0500 It's really scary to know about the problems caused by those with AIDS and the pathetic reactions of society. I think most people with the disease are scared of telling it to other people because of society's perceptions towards them. But this should not happen ...no human being has any right to destroy other people's life because they are sick. I think before marriage both the partners should go in for a medical examination. I think there should be more sex education. In India, because of the conservative nature of the society and because of Western influences, teenagers and bachelors (especially those from blue-collar backgrounds) are sexually desperate and that leads them to do things which leads to disaster. Raising of public awareness should be supplemented with stringent laws.
|
||
|
HOME |
NEWS |
ELECTION 99 |
BUSINESS |
SPORTS |
MOVIES |
CHAT |
INFOTECH |
TRAVEL SINGLES | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS | MONEY EDUCATION | PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK |
||