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'We need to stop feeling guilty about what we do to protect our country'
E-mail from readers the world over
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Tue, 11 May 1999 10:56:14 -0700 Thank you Prof Chellaney for a refreshingly accurate picture of India's nuclear situation. We need to hear from strategic thinkers like Prof Chellaney and not grovellers like Amberish Diwanji who are beholden to Western interests. SC
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Tue, 11 May 1999 12:47:06 -0400 Well said Mr Srinivasan. Thanks. Might I add... Those who are screaming bloody murder about money spent on weapons, know better that if that money is not spent on India's security, it will be swallowed by people like Laloo Prasad and Rabri Devi, Jayalalitha, and many more. How much of the Union Carbide money in Bhopal actually reached the people who really suffered? We need to stop feeling guilty about what we do to protect our pride, our honour, our country. And then again, we need to expose the modern day Jai Chand's like Jayalalitha and many more, who for their own benefits, make their business to topple down a government, that for a change was working to clean up their predecessors' acts. Neil Razdan
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Tue, 11 May 1999 21:40:37 +0800 That was a very informative and thought provoking article. I hope that a consensus will emerge amongst our political parties on our nuclear and foreign policy before the year end.
R S Kannan
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Wed, 12 May 1999 00:34:27 -0500 My salutes to the honourable minister of external affairs Shri Jaswant Singh. I have seen his television interviews by the US media and I'm convinced that he is one of the best ministers we have had in Shri Vajpayee's government. I sincerely wish he continues to benefit our country with his deeds. The only increment hope for our country is BJP and I wish they come back to power with absolute majority. The interview was good but Mr Diwanji's question to the honourable minister about "India continues to remain marginal on the world stage....." was very much self-incriminating and very stupid. I've read Mr Diwanji's articles on Rediff before and wish to tell you that he is just another of those BJP bashing guys who writes self-incriminating articles on our country. He should not have been assigned to interview Shri Jaswant Singh. Jaswant was too good even for the American media when he was in the US after India's nuclear tests. Bharath
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Tue, 11 May 1999 19:23:45 +0530 'It was the absence of weapons then that we are living in a poor country' now is an excellent piece of thinking and convincing logic. I must complement Mr Srinivasan and hope that these words send a resounding echo in the ears of Arundhati Ghose and the bunch of so called progressives and their willing or unwilling partners in Sonia Gandhi's party. Thank you for the column.
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Mon, 10 May 1999 15:35:37 -0700 Very well argued article. The BJP should try to rope in people like Mr Srinivasan if it wants to emerge as a smart and savvy political outfit aiming to lead India into the 21st century.
Jit Dutta
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Tue, 11 May 1999 19:50:49 +1000 I agree with the overall approach of Rajeev Srinivasan to the nuclear question. Until everyone renounces nuclear weapons, there is no point in India agreeing to surrender its sovereign right to protect itself. I begin from where the author ended -- India becoming a big economic power. I hope it happens in my lifetime. But all of us Indians know that there are too many obstacles to that. A few simple things will speed up our realising this dream faster. First, there must be a significant push to the national literacy mission. There should be 100 per cent literacy in ten years. This calls for phenomenal effort but with today's technology this is not impossible. This project will give a boost to the Indian software industry which has been almost fully export-oriented. Also, it will increase skilled employment for a lot of educated Indians and help them lead a respectable life rather than keep waiting for jobs forever. Secondly, there must be decentralisation of powers. Schools and the police force must be accountable to the local authorities and not to some official in a distant national or state capital. This will force the teachers and police personnel to be more accountable. A concomitant of this would be to leave the selection of the candidates for elections to the local party units rather than a central election committee of a party doing it. This will force the elected representatives to remember that they owe their positions to the local population which is their constituency. Thirdly, the government should encourage start-up ventures by eliminating the intervention of multiple agencies and harassment by lower level officials. Why has the Indian software industry done well? One of the reasons is that the government has kept its hands off by granting them tax exemption. If decent treatment is accorded to other industries (not necessarily no taxation), they too will develop. Fourthly, simple laws capable of easy explanation must be enforced strictly. If a law cannot be understood by an ordinary citizen, it is unlikely to be followed. Most of our laws will fail this test and must be dumped. The history of nationalism and patriotism in Britain, Germany, Japan and the USA clearly shows that empty words won't work. Producing products that are safe and reliable, providing better services at a reasonable cost, following a disciplined way of life, and respecting fellow Indians are among the minimum prerequisites to our genuine, long-term success as a people which we Indians so richly deserve.
R Narayanaswamy
School of Accounting
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Tue, 11 May 1999 09:43:53 +0530 The article "Pokhran II, still the right decision" by Rajeev Srinivasan is an excellently written document. The writer has a very good insight and the beauty with which he defends the Pokhran issue is worth noting. The analysis of the post-event management of the blasts is also quite good. Good writing. Keep it up. We would like to see such good writings also in the future. Snehal
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Mon, 10 May 1999 17:13:20 -0400 I enjoyed your column. I think many Indians (educated) are realising the fact that US (led by leaders like Clinton) could attack any country. With no Russian help, Indians will look feeble. Hats off to the BJP in demonstrating that India should be taken seriously. On the lighter side, if at all some country was to bomb some part of India, I hope it's some deserted place where politicians who like having tea parties are having a get-together!!
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Mon, 9 Aug 1999 22:54:58 +0530 You hit the nail on the head. The possibility which worries me most is Chinese money flowing into the Indian system to support the anti -BJP movement . They could be the reason behind the sudden shift of the BSP. It would be extremely presumptuous of us to assume the Chinese would pour in a billion or two. India is still too insignificant for that. Missile or no missile, they are better off than us . Well, let's just hope the next election gets us a stable five-year Parliament. Hope is after all, everything I have. Everything the average Indian has... Prakash
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Wed, 12 May 1999 08:32:43 +0530 Mr Natwar Singh obviously is hoping his party would win the next elections and then claim the moral victory of signing the CTBT, so that they could be deemed to be peace loving. Vain hope Mr Singh. Omaramar
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Tue, 11 May 1999 19:30:28 -0400 I have only one comment for Natwar Singh -- the word 'party' in his statement on India's nuclear programme is perhaps indicative of his stupidity. Open your eyes and you can see that the global pressure India is facing because of the tests is tremendous. To sign or not to sign CTBT is not the question. The question really is will the 'leaders' entrusted with delivering India into the 21st century as an economic and defence power will come through or not. Will they rise above petty politics and understand how to make India a prosperous place? When will we understand that the Indian identity is being trashed on the outside while petty politics is ravaging it from the inside. With an alarming rate of change in governments, spearheaded by 'secular' parties like the Congress and driven by people like Jayalalitha, we shouldn't be looking too far beyond for a solution. Wake up, look around, it will not be too long before these internal squabbles will take a heavy toll on an already damaged Indian psyche. Sanjay
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Mon, 10 May 1999 16:43:29 -0500 China is improvising its nuke stock, Russia is not going to dismantle its stock pile after the NATO macho man attitude, US wants to not only keep and improvise its stock it also reserves the right to a first nuclear strike. Where is the rational for any sovereign country which wants to retain its sovereignty to give up, roll back its nuclear weapons and open itself to a bully's whims and fancies. Get real! If NATO types demonstrate blatantly the law of power by bombing any nation they don't agree with -- sovereignty has been made a relative term for a country which cannot defend itself and how a country appeases the US. To give up nuke deterrence is stupidity. Would the US dare bomb Russia? Why not? Because Russia is a great economy? No, but because they have a nuke deterrence and are better kept trading partners. Some European NATO countries may not agree to the US Kosovo bombings, but their economies are so very intertwined with the rest they force themselves to agree. Now that's the recently demonstrated proof in world politics. I suspect in future the US would rather have every country pay a toll for its defence needs and let US or NATO enforce it. So if a country is not yet a great trading partner and still wants to remain sovereign, it must have credible nuclear deterrence. The missile control treaty has a flip side as well, it's a lucrative ever growing multi-billion dollar satellite launching industry which not too many country have perfected. The US was forced to allow Chinese rockets to launch its satellites because they could at a fraction of the cost. With overwhelming commercial demand they don't want this card totally out of their hands. I sincerely hope that the India perfects and earns from this industry. So no signing these discriminatory treaties which will be tools for any invasion type control regime. It would be great if no one had nukes and hope there is never a nuclear war, but to say that it's good for some and not for others in a polar world is something like global dictatorship no matter how you look at it. http://www.nv.doe.gov/news&pubs/newsreleases/bagpipe.htm http://www.nv.doe.gov/news&pubs/newsreleases/cimarron11.htm http://www.acda.gov/treaties/ctb.htm
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