Readers? Forum

Do the due:
When Jagmohan was Urban Development Minister, he had ruled that no more samadhis or memorials would be created by the government. But at last one more must be allowed in the honour of Swatantraya Veer Savarkar. Was he a lesser son of his motherland than Sanjay Gandhi, Ch. Charan Singh or others? This should have been a priority for any government headed by the BJP but till now only Port Blair´s airport is named after him. Swatantraya Veer had asked his followers not to observe any shutdown to mourn his death as it hurts the national interests. But since this government has already declared Dr Ambedkar´s birthday a holiday, it should also show at least the same amount of respect to Swatantraya Veer and declare May 28 a holiday. Mere mention of him fills the hearts of those who know who he was, with emotions and eyes with tears. Government should pay homage to him and Bhai Parmananda on their birth anniversaries and to Shyama Prasad Mookerjee on his death anniversary (June 23). This is the least that can be done to honour these great nationalists. Lastly, even as the HRD Ministry is rightly trying to correct many wrongs?half truths, omissions and falsehoods in the curricula of history?it is still not enough to highlight the life and thoughts of Swatantraya Veer Savarkar, Bhai Parmananda, Lala Hardayal and Shyamji Krishna Verma.
?Nilendra Bardiar, Bokaro

Secular servility:
This refers to the book review of The Indian Musalmans by M.V. Kamath and the article Wanton disdain to Hindu sentiment: Kowtow before Muslim clerics by Vaidehi Nathan (Organiser, 2-5-2004) on the withdrawal of the film Meenaxi: A Tale of Three Cities by M.F. Hussain. It is a strange phenomenon of Indian polity that the so-called secularists and the media openly defend derogatory remarks about and even insult in various forms to the Hindu deities. But none would dare do so against even the casual remark about Muslim prophets or the holy Quran. The reason is that the Hindu religion has no prophet or book. All Hindus are free to worship any god or goddess according to their belief. Whereas all the three Semitic religions?Judaism, Christianity and Islam?are not only book based but also they consider their religion to be the only true religion and believe in converting the whole world to their religion.
?Dr Vidya Sagar, Delhi

Ascendant India:
M.V. Kamath´s article India: Asia´s rising star detailing how India is rising (Organiser, 25-4-2004) made me feel proud about our unique achievements, unknown to most of the Indians. It is very strange that our print media does not care to focus on such matters. Instead, reader”s mind is poisoned with negative matters.
?Shalil Ghosh, Mumbai

Impressive and fascinated:
I have been reading Organiser for the last few months and am very impressed with its contents. But I was shocked to learn from a famous newspaper agency that in a big city like Jabalpur, only a few copies of this journal are received by them.
?Dilip Bhattacharya, Jabalpur

Roots of riots:
As per Organiser (25-4-2004) and also reports in the press, the apex court has ordered the retrial of the accused in Best Bakery case. But one cannot overlook a very important point?what happened in Gujarat was a reaction by the Hindus to what Muslims´ well-organised mob of more than two thousand did at Godhra. Shri Narendra Modi did not incite the Hindus. Muslims burnt alive the innocent Hindus, which resulted in riots. And why Muslims indulged in that killing of Hindus is the point that needs to be analysed. Teachings of hatred against kafirs are taught in most of the madrasas, which make them violent and intolerant towards others. Why does the apex court not take notice of this reality and ban such teachings that spread hatred?
?Anand Prakash, Panchkula

Voters´ list omissions:
It is indeed a matter of great concern for the electorate to know that lakhs of eligible voters did not find their names in the electoral list and thus had to be disappointed. It is no valid argument by the Election Commission that the draft electoral list could have been checked by them to make sure whether they were duly enrolled. What is absolutely necessary in this regard is that the EC should publicise the process through all forms of media and must make the process more voter-friendly by keeping the lists of the voters at various public places. Besides, Internet could also be utilised for the purpose. It is lamentable that many of the EC staff visit home when most of the people are not at their homes but are out working. Hence, a thorough reform for the preparation of the electoral rolls along with an inquiry to fix the responsibility of the staff should be undertaken by the EC.
?R.N. LAKHOTIA, New Delhi

Hail Atal!:
Hail Atal, who is courageous and peerless leader of the independent India.

Hail Atal, who is valiant and whose glory shines like sun and who is the grandfather (pitamaha) of the real democracy of India.

Hail Atal, who like the holy Ganges is cleansing the corrupt politics of today of its accumulated impurities.

Hail Atal, who like Narasimha Bhagwan is tearing apart the ugly demon of misery and mutual hostility.

Hail Atal, whose poetic creations are like an ever-flowing spring, which quenches the thirst of people sorely afflicted with heat.

Hail Atal, who crushes the heads of venomous serpents of all hues that menacingly obstruct the path of progress and development.
?Bhairab Datt Tewari, Delhi

Ineffective Tewari:
Of late, the holy city of Haridwar was in turmoil and there were unprecedented disturbances. The old N.D. Tewari, Chief Minister of Uttaranchal, once known for his expertise, now appears to be helpless. Surprisingly, Sonia Gandhi is keeping mum over its party´s performance there.
?B.K. Chaudhari, West Midlands (UK)

Secular mukhota:
Sri Ram Krishna has said: ?Remain always strong and steadfast in your own faith, but eschew bigotry and intolerance.? Secularists of today say that BJP is the mukhota of Hindutva. These words come out of the mouth of such secularists as apply vermilion on their foreheads to woo the electorate and thus deceive them with fake mukhota of tilak. One is bewildered to hear secularists having pleaded for militants to hide their true character under the mukhota of manipulated patriotism. It is mockery of secularism that secularists, involved in massacre of Sikhs in 1984, to attract voters, wear the mukhota of secularism. It is a tragedy that various mukhotas involved in scams and scandals are patted by brother mukhotas to fight and share loaves and fishes of power on the plates of corruption and nepotism.
?N.N. Mujoo, Panchkula

Rashtriya mandirs:
The report Sangh work takes a giant leap; Shakhas increase to 48,329 (Organiser, 28-3-2004) brought some very precious moments of my life back to my mind, which I want to share. ?Shakha is rashtriya mandir, far bigger than Hanuman mandir,? said Kapur Chand Jain, Mukhya Shikshak, Sialkot Shakha, in 1941, when my brother-in-law Manohar Lal Tuli, wanted him to spare me for a family function at a local mandir. He however accompanied us to a Shakha to see the rashtriya mandir, a new thing for him. After the Shakha was over, he asked: ?Is this rashtriya mandir; no murti or bhagwan?? ?Bhagwan se bada bhagwan ka kaam, is Vedic scripture and that exactly Swayamsevaks are doing at Shakhas, i.e. to take Bharat to param vaibhav, without even Tuesday rests,? he said with a smile. Only a year ago, the day I entered the Shakha first time, on May 10, 1940, he rejected my plea for strengthening Hindu Mahasabha instead of wasting time in RSS for uniting Hindus. ?Hindu Mahasabha unites the Hindus, whereas, RSS not only unites them but also disciplines them,? he said. So, the more the Shakhas, the more the disciplined Hindus, the more powerful the Hindu rashtra.
?Pran Salhotra, Gurdaspur

Reservations for Muslims:
The Congress manifesto promises, among other things, reservations for Muslims. This amounts to betrayal of India. Before Independence, there used to be separate electorate for Muslims. In the 1945-46 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly, 98.7 per cent of the Muslim electorate rejected the Indian National Congress of Gandhi, Nehru, Azad and Patel (who were opposed to the two-nation theory and the Partition of India) saying that Muslims are a separate nation, that India should be divided and that they should have the Islamic State of Pakistan. The introduction of separate electorate by Viceroy Minto in the first decade of the 20th century was the beginning of separatism of Indian Muslims, leading to the Partition of the country. This separatism is being kept alive even today by the ´secular´ parties, especially the Congress appealing again and again to Muslims as a minority to vote en bloc for them. The Congress will begin with the reservation for Muslims and may end with separate electorate for them and then one more division of the country as already demanded by a Muslim intellectual, Prof. Samar Abbas. In the prestigious Economic and Political Weekly, he suggested that the northern areas of Bihar and UP must be constituted into Mughalistan for Muslims and that such a Mughalistan shall have freedom to associate itself either with Pakistan or with Bangladesh.
?T. Mani Chowdary, Secunderabad