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'Shame on us NRIs!'
E-mail from readers the world over
Date:
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 14:19:28 EDT
A few points: 1. Have the NRIs contributed less than they should have towards Kargil? Yes. Why? Speaking solely about Indians in the US, after 10 years here and at that point attaining the standard of living that you mention, they are no longer Indians. Loyalty towards India is just a passing thought. 2. Privileged people in India, probably such as yourself, are actually in a much stronger position financially and otherwise (security, standard of living, etc.) than most NRIs, and hardly the ones justified to levy criticism of low contribution. You're also in greater number. The jingoism displayed by some NRIs is just the same heartfelt feelings felt by people in Bharat. Don't forget, we all have loved ones in India. THIS particular government can be trusted to make the right decisions on crossing the LoC etc. 3. Very painful to see that funds donated towards Kargil are not reaching their destination... There should be better government mechanisms to deal with this and the larger issue at hand (rehabilitation, etc.), but our bloated and inefficient bureaucracy will never allow for getting value out of hard-earned money. We should send the extra babus from our bureaucracy to Kargil. 4. V P Singh, etc... their actions don't surprise me. There are very few politicians in India who genuinely serve the nation. Madhukar
Date:
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 11:25:34 -0700
Regarding contributions from NRIs, I wanted to mention two things: 1. A lot of people including me are sceptical that the money will go to the deserving people. I have a friend who has gone on a visit to India and he is investigating the right organisation to send the money. 2. There is no mechanism to send money directly through a bank. The State Bank of India or some other bank can provide a mechanism to contribute to the Army Welfare Fund. The Indian embassy only collects for the prime minister's relief fund on behalf of Kargil. I know some NRIs have contributed to that, but like you lot of people are sceptical that it will go to jawans's families. Barath
Date:
Mon, 05 Jul 1999 11:26:30 PDT
We, at the Oracle Corp, USA have just despatched $ 22,000 to the Army Central Welfare Fund. I have heard that Indians working in the CISCO, CA, USA have raised $ 35,000. A human chain was also organised along the famous Golden Gate Bridge to protest Pakistan's atrocities and had an attendance of about 2000 persons. Although I tend to agree with you that the NRI community by and large advocates morality without taking any responsibility, we have seen rare solidarity during the Kargil war. The blame lies not on the entire NRI community but on the pseudo-intellectuals, pseudo-secularists, pseudo-nationalists, misguided moralists and die-hard internationalists amongst us.
Vinay Deshmukh
Date:
Mon, 5 Jul 1999 19:46:42 -0700
How right you are! Sitting in the cyberspace and punching out those application programmes and periodically reading the Net does not give the NRI the right to give any war cries... However, there are some exceptions... You might have heard about the unique Golden Gate protest against Pakistan. It did not make big time news, but it helped bring about 2,000 of the 100,000 Hindus in SF together. Also, in addition to the Army Welfare Fund, recognise that there are other organisations doing their bit. But, you are right, the Hindu is absolutely tight on his money. He talks about sacrifice, but don't ask him to give a week's money or a month's... even when he has plenty. Someday, the Hindu will awaken and connect with the Samaj. Thanks for the reminder and the wake-up call.
Date:
Mon, 05 Jul 1999 21:52:13 -0500
I really liked this article. For the first time I found her sensitive and sharp. Of course, people like us, NRIs, have no business to show such zeal at the cost of others. It is true that those at the bottom of the economic and political ladder will lose the most if India goes to war. Then, we will be the first ones to give our "prophetic" views on their situation -- the Messiah complex that we have is frightening. Our pathetic attitude towards the 'have-nots' is also all over the Web from time to time. It is very convenient to wage a cyber war and still have all our dollars safe in the bank. The Internet, however, has become a platform for pulp patriotism. I feel the NRIs have lost touch with the ground realities in India. And sometimes I wonder, do they really care?
Seema
Date:
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 01:17:25 -0400
The figures showing contributions by expats to the Army Relief Fund seems to be shockingly low. However, several groups and organisations, especially those involving the 'big time' NRIs are involved in directly aiding the families of victims. Further, several mini-funds have been started in local communities, and the contributions will be sent to the army fund as a consolidated amount. As an example, The Rutgers Indian Graduate Student Association is raising money to be sent to the Army Fund, and the list of contributors can be seen at: http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/~wanchoo/personal/KargilRelief.htm This amount will be mailed in the third week of July. Strictly speaking, students are not expats and are not even allowed to open NRI accounts by Indian banks. We hope this will serve as an example to the NRIs to contribute in a way more commensurate with their incomes. A RIGSA member
Date:
Tue, 6 Jul 1999 00:22:57 -0400
Once again Varsha Bhosle has stated some painful but true facts. After 15 years abroad, I am amazed at how divided the NRI community is. While new expatriates are passionately devoted to the cause of progress in India, few if any of the "successful" old-timers appear interested. I tried hard to spread the word and drum up support for contributions to the War Widows Fund, but at most I got yawns or sceptical statements like "the money will never reach them". Maybe true, but does that mean we do nothing? I find it outrageous that some people treat the Kargil crisis as nothing more than another cricket match. We sure could learn a lot from the Jews of New York. I wonder how many NRI hearts bleed for the Indian jawan who climbs up a sheer rock face where a cold death and an even colder heart awaits. What is it that motivates this 22-year-old to give his life away? And what is it that motivates us NRIs? Shame! Thanks again Varsha, for showing us our own dark side.
Pradeep Bansal
Date:
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 02:02:29 -0700
As usual, your column was most thought-provoking. I live in the United States and am surrounded by people of Indian origin who are rich and with stable lives and jobs. They can easily afford to donate $ 500 anytime. That they don't is most disappointing. We recently held an event called Cricket for Kargil where 16 teams participated and we raised $ 3,000 for the Army Relief Fund. However, the older generation, owing to one reason or the other, has always stopped short of sending funds to the brave soldiers who are braving the Pakistanis and weather elements to get our land back. The uncles and aunties who have been here for 15, 30 years talk about politics all day, blame the government for everything they do, blame the politicians and intelligentsia for getting into this situation -- but not for a moment do they think what kind of sacrifices these jawans make in hostile conditions. Varsha, your columns have made great impact on me and my friends. I have made sure that your column is read by my parents in India, my brothers and cousin. I think your columns are both hard hitting and to the point, and they carry a message, which I think people need to read. Thanks and please continue writing with the same intensity.
Pranav Shah
Date:
Tue, 6 Jul 1999 09:44:26 -0400
It is not up to you to give the NRIs a right to speak on whatever issues they wish to. Generally I find most of your articles very amusing and I agree with almost all of them, but to say that a person has a right to state their opinion only if they pay first is wrong. I am sure NRIs would be willing to send more money if they felt that the money would be put to good use and not line someone else's pocket. I do not see any point in sending money to fill up some corrupt bureaucrat's pocket. I agree that we can all send more money with or without feeling the pinch, but as I said give us some assurances.
Date:
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 10:53:43 -0400
In early June, I contacted the SBI in New York about contributing to the Kargil Relief Fund and the folks there did the usual thing -- namely pass the buck. After a few calls, and the help of the naval attache in DC, I found a willing SBI Washington DC person -- but he was then held back by the honchos in the SBI, New York. In the meantime, I had asked friends to send chain mails to other Indians. By the last week, the SBI official told me about 200 people had sent cheques totalling more than $ 25,000. But, this morning (July 6) the total listed (as of July 3) in the armed forces site was only $ 24,497! I guess the list of contributors and the money has still not reached New Delhi -- for the small circle from my own initial list had contributed more than $ 25,000 as per the SBI staffer. So, perhaps there are similar delays in efforts by those who were among the first to start the effort before the embassy and the PMO got their act together (initially, there was confusion about whether the Army Welfare Fund will take only Indian rupee drafts, so people had to come up with ad-hoc efforts like the one noted above). Be patient. I am certain NRIs have sent more money than what's shown on the army site. One interesting tidbit: I thought there would be many who would send $ 1,000 or more. I was wrong. The SBI staffer noted that there was only one other cheque for $1,000 or more. K Raghunandan
Date:
Tue, 6 Jul 1999 11:25:48 -0700
I agree with your thoughts. I have been thinking of sending a cheque for about a month now. It's your column today that has made me feel disgusted with myself for not sending in my contribution. I have made sure that my cheque was in this morning's mail before I left for work. Ravinandan
Date:
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 16:01:59 -0400
What Varsha says about NRIs in the article is true. Sitting in front of a computer in the confines of one's air-conditioned office, these well-fed expatriate computer programmers (I wouldn't call them well-educated) shout their heads off telling what India has to do. Donating $ 1,000 is another question. The car and house mortgage takes up everything, not to speak of the vacation cruise and mutual fund investment... These selfish individuals who have never even cared to vote when they lived in India, so busy were they in developing their careers in august institutions, now speak with a loud mouth in the comfortable anonymity which the computer terminal affords them. In some cases they have weird net names in an attempt to cover their perverted selves from identification by other netizens. I would request rediff.com to give this article some prominence so that our loud-mouthed visitors are told to hold their peace in no mean terms. Well, I'm sitting in front of my computer too in an a/c office and am being loud-mouthed, but I don't have any problem disclosing my name or address and am willing to face the flak. Manajit Sengupta
Date:
Tue, 06 Jul 1999 19:48:39 -0400
Quite a few of us sent here our contribution to Dr K V Rao as we do not know what the army fund really does! He is pretty reputable and the money will be given directly to the victims' family. Trying to avoid the bureaucracy. If I am right, the last time I checked the fund was around $ 70,000. Not much. But it's a start.
Date:
Tue, 6 Jul 1999 22:51:16 -0700
Have been a regular reader of your column for sometime. Agree with most of your views but not all. BTW, I am one of those "NRI fundies" that you have blasted. I agree that there are many armchair warmongers out here but that is not the full story. In my company alone, we have raised $ 8,000, which will be matched by the company for a total of $ 16,000. That will be donated by our Indian branch in rupees. I see more enthusiasm here for fundraising for the ASHA, CRY etc than I have done in India. It is not that people here are insulated from the war. I think, out here in the US, we see one more way of international behaviour. India has always been peace-loving. We go to war only when we are pushed to it and under extreme provocation. And this is used as a weakness by anyone who wishes to cause us harm. It feels like you can make small cuts to India and keep bleeding her but she will not retaliate until you go for the jugular. The US policy is "you nick me a little and I take off your arm". India is big. India is militarily and industrially more powerful than Pakistan. We need to use that strength. Forget Kargil. Pakistan can keep a low-key insurgency going on in Kashmir for ages, keep killing our soldiers there 5/6 a day, and India will keep tolerating it. Blind anger is bad. But controlled anger can be very effective. We should follow an Israeli policy: they kill even one of our soldiers, we go in and bomb a few camps of theirs out of existence. Sounds brutal and jingoistic but that is the only way to control fanatics. You cannot reason or "have a dialogue" with people whose only reason for war with India is "religious duty." Could rave and rant about this for ages... Amit
Date:
Tue, 6 Jul 1999 23:27:51 -0700
I agree that the NRIs can do more. However, your numbers do not add up. Just from one company, Cisco, they collected over $ 60,000. From Oracle: $ 35,000. In many small Indian-owned companies, owners have matched employee contributions.
Date:
Wed, 07 Jul 1999 09:42:37 +0300
I could not agree more with your article! Having got around getting the guys in the office to contribute and having sent it to the Army Fund, I sent messages on the Net to various guys on my mailing list -- but nothing seems to have occurred. It is amazing how during the dinners everyone is gung-ho but when it comes to dipping into their pockets and contributing the zeal vanishes! Shame on us NRIs really! Hope your piece stirs up some shame and gets in more funds! Cheers! As ever, a great fan of yours, Satya Dayanand
Date:
Wed, 07 Jul 1999 08:09:37 -0700
Set your house in order, Varsha. You say "Even as aid pours in from all over India, many are wondering if it'll ever reach the intended beneficiaries. I, for one, do not trust the Chief Minister's Fund, the Prime Minister's National Defence Fund and what have you." Then how do you expect the 'NRI fundies' to keep pouring in money? You know the living standard of America's Indian community? Yeah right! And we know the amount of black money that circulates within the Bollywood community. Or the business community. It is interesting to see how much money has been collected from people who earn millions for a song and a dance. Without paying due tax, that is. Hey, you know what? The NRI community sends foreign currency to bolster Indian foreign exchange. Bollywood gets money into Swiss banks to hide from taxation! I don't know whether the paltry money I sent to Kargil relief fund reached those war widows and kids, but I sure know that my meagre earnings do support my family that still lives in India and the dollars go into the government coffers. In your next article, you will try to tear this argument trying to show us the 'negligible' part NRI money plays in Indian economy. Srinivas Murthy
Date:
Wed, 07 Jul 1999 10:36:05 -0700
The stats provided in this column regarding NRI contributions are not accurate. During the very initial days of the Kargil conflict, the only way to send funds to the Army Relief Fund was through an NRI account in rupees. The Indians in the company I work collected and sent about Rs 300,000. I also checked with two of my friends working in two different companies. Their companies had pooled about $ 60,000 each (Rs 25,00,000 each) for the fund. My point is that it is naive to think that the NRIs would have contributed a NET of about Rs. 12,00,000!! The actuals I have mentioned above (to Rs. 53,00,000) comes from just three technology companies in the US. There are hundreds of other companies (conservatively put), where Indians work in significant numbers. And the US is just the tip of the iceberg. I am quite sure that the NRIs contributed significantly from scores of other countries as well. In all this, I can only assume that the Army Relief Fund's reporting of the fund sources is either (a) fraught with error (b) incomplete or (c) does not attempt to distinguish contributions made from NRI funds in India from other contributions made locally in India.
Pradeep H
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