Historicity of 5/18: After the results for the Election 2004 were declared, hectic political activity at 10 Janpath increasingly projected Smt. Sonia Gandhi, a naturalised Indian of Italian origin, as a claimant to the prestigious post of Prime Minister of Bharat. Madam was also for it, as her statements and overtures during the period show. A submissive (or captive?) Congress Parliamentary Party unanimously elected her as its leader in her own presence. This meant that she had desired prime ministership. All of a sudden, she retracted on 5/18. Why? What compelled her to do so? Disgust of power? A serious sacrificing spiritual mood? It would be a travesty of truth to believe that it was so. Everything was going fine and according to the plan. Of course, the real reason for this sudden U-turn would never be disclosed officially. But, surely there were deeper and compelling reasons. But, whatever the reasons for such a retraction by Madam, this act of her, probably providentially ordained, has saved Bharat from an utter disgrace. For, if she had got herself installed as the Prime Minister, it would have been a mockery of the sacrifices made by the untold number of patriots during our freedom struggle. The situation today is somewhat tolerable, though not quite happy. Bharat still continues to suffer at the hands of political opportunists?all of whom have ganged up to undermine Bharat and its future.
?N. Badarinath, Karnataka
Sowing dragon'steeth: HRD Minister Arjun Singh'sstatement that there is nothing wrong ideologically in allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in education is quite confusing. If education in India is considered to be not for profit, then what will encourage foreigners to invest their money in the field of education in India? Once FDI is allowed in the education sector, none can stop the foreigners from mildly injecting their own sets of values in the minds of our posterity, which, gradually, will further weaken their moral fibres and serve the interests of those who are in a hurry to evangelise the whole country as soon as possible.
?Dr. Balram Misra, New Delhi
Disgraceful deed: The induction of some tainted persons in the Union Cabinet is a grave act of irresponsibility on the part of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA leader Sonia Gandhi. Although such Members of Parliament may claim that they are innocent till convicted by a court of law, the leading Congress Party and other constituents of the UPA are dutybound to ensure that people of good character should enter Parliament.
?Bhagwat Goel, New Delhi
Today Congress is at the mercy of those regional parties that are constituents of the UPA and finds itself placed in a straitjacket. Indeed, the Congress is compelled to eat the crow as it has to induct persons facing criminal charges. A party that had treated Fernandes as a pariah and refused to break bread with him on the floor of the House, even though there was no chargesheet against him, is now brazenly hand-in-glove with Laloos and Taslimuddins, with no sense of shame or compunction, sordidly blinded by the greed for power.
?S.P. Nayar, Guruvayoor
?Supreme sacrifice?: Sonia says that she declined the offer to become the Prime Minister in accordance with the dictates of her ?inner voice?, while the real hidden reasons are somewhere else to search for. The foreign origin issue might be haunting her day and night like a ghost. To head the government and lead the country, a leader should have a mass base and appeal and also adequate skills to inspire the electorate. Above all, the leader should be well acquainted with the flora and fauna and culture of the country. In the midst of her fears of inability to withstand the onslaught in Parliament, inexperience in debates, lacking the talent to interact with her colleagues, she had to withdraw.
?Dr. L.S. Madhava Rao, Hyderabad
The ?secular? media says that 13 parties expressed their confidence in Sonia'sprime ministerial candidature, but she declined to become the PM. Here it is worth mentioning that seven years ago, Sonia, without the requisite numbers, approached the President to appoint her as the PM of India, but Mulayam turned his back. Where was her ?inner voice? then? How can the Congress say that Sonia sacrificed the PM'spost?
?L.A. Pramod, Hyderabad
Now we suddenly hear that Sonia Gandhi has declined the Prime Minister'spost on her ?inner voice?. But the question arises: Why Sonia's?inner voice? spoke when she had been elected Congress Parliamentary Party leader? If she really wanted to be out of the race for the Prime Minister'spost, then why did she not show her desire during the elections and soon after the election results were announced?
?Deepak Kumar Vidhyarthi, [email protected]
Questions answered: Organiser has carried two letters in response to my articles. One has asked whether animals were sacrificed in a Vaishnava temple (Organiser, 9-5-2004). The answer is ?yes??in the Bimla Devi temple in the premises of the Jagannath temple, Puri, Orissa, there has been this practice. However, in the context of the Ayodhya excavations, the excavators of the Archaeological Survey of India have stated that the animal bones found in the excavations came to the site from outside the Ramjanmabhoomi premises along with debris that the temple builders, at different points of time, brought to the site as ?filler materials? to raise the ground and lay down a new floor. In other words, the animal bones have not been found in situ since these pieces do not belong either to the temple premises or to the mosque premises. The other question by A.T.M. Anwar of Hyderabad (Organiser, 30-5-2004) is a highly confused one. The mosques in India are west-east oriented, i.e. the quibla faces west because Mecca is located to the west of India. The temple at Ayodhya, in all probability, was oriented east-west, i.e. the garbhagriha (sanctum sanctorum) faced east as the Batesara temple, Rathari temple and Bilenvara temple in Madhya Pradesh. Temples in India face north and south as well. Shri Anwar should, therefore, understand that the Hindu temples have no constraint of the kind the Muslim mosques have; ?west? alone should not be fixed with a mosque because mosques in Europe face east and not west, since Mecca is located on the east of Europe.
?S.P. Gupta, New Delhi
The true controller: Now the CPM is not part of UPA government. But it pokes its nose in every issue of the government. The Common Minimum Programme was more or less prepared by the CPM. The other allied parties simply signed it. But the CPM refused to sign it arguing that it was not part of UPA. If it is not part of UPA, why should it intrude into all its meetings? It should sit out and extend issue-based support.
?V.A. Gopala, Bangalore
Now that Congress is running the government with the help of communists, appointments to key posts are likely to be made taking into consideration the fact whether the incumbent is faithful to Marx or a cardholder of the Leftist parties. They will systematically destroy traces of Hinduism in the polity.
?S.D. Laghate, New Delhi
Appreciable change: Since the last 30 years I have been a regular reader of Organiser. But there has been a perceptible change in the weekly after you have joined as the editor. I do welcome the change.
?Dr. Priyabrata Rath, Orissa
I am a regular reader of your nationalistic periodical. I find the new outlook of the weekly quite impressive, which carries articles with correct perspective on the current political scenario in the country.
?Prof. Arawind M. Patwardhan, Pune
Use other means too: Needless to say that Organiser'swebsite is one of the best that I have come across. The articles are very well written with facts and figures. But how many people in India have access to Internet? In the modern age, we should adopt all possible ways and means to reach people in remote areas and villages. Therefore, we need to focus on radio and TV as a medium. This will have a long-term effect, as it will not only provide normal entertainment to the common man but will also propagate BJP/RSS ideologies. This way we can keep in constant touch with the masses and understand their problems
?Vaarrun K. Walia, [email protected]
The great traitors: The veteran commentator of Indian affairs, M.V. Kamath, has exposed the nasty treacherous role of communists in our freedom movement (Organiser,9-5-2004). But he has forgotten some other very important matters. While talking of Gujarat riots, which is actually a child'splay compared to the ?great Calcutta killings of 1946? (which took place in response to Jinnah'scall for direct action, in which lakhs of Hindus and Sikhs were butchered within two days), the ?secular? brigade with Marxist leanings seeks to show its holier-than-thou attitude and blame Hindus for the riots and have written scores of books on the matter, ignoring the fact that the CPM cadres are great organisers of riots in Bengal as and when required.
?Shalil Ghosh, Mumbai
Unworthy stuff: I read the article Every reformer has paid a price: Greater the reform, higher the price by Rajendra Prabhu (Organiser, 30-5-2004). I don'tthink even an IMF-World Bank servant would have got the courage to write the views that you have allowed to publish. Either the RSS has changed its policy on economic views, or Organiser has become mouthpiece of BJP and discarded views of RSS. Surprisingly, in the same issue, you have published an article on WTO and its policies of duplicity. As a Swayamsevak, what should I follow? It pains me no end that closeness to power has not only corrupted BJP leaders but other Swayamsevaks also. On one hand, the Sangh emphasises the cow-based economy, but on the other hand, you make fun of rural economy, labour rights and wisdom of our rural folk, who may not read and write English like Mr Rajendra Prabhu. Another hopeless piece is by Arabinda Ghose. One full page has been wasted and a lot of time of readers also. Who is Mr Ghose? What are his intellectual capabilities to find a place in Organiser? Please stop publishing such trash immediately.
?M. RAZ, [email protected]
(Organiser is a forum to express all nationalist viewpoints. We don'tdoubt the integrity of our contributors. Shri Rajendra Prabhu is a very respected, senior writer, and has been associated with Organiser for over three decades. Shri Arabinda Ghose, similarly, is a very senior journalist, thinker and presently editor of BJP Today, the central Party organ of the BJP. For us, both our readers and our contributors are equally valuable. And this relationship is of mutual respect and trust. Our readers, however, are free to hold their views.?Ed.)
Stop suicides: Suicides by farmers are still continuing even after change of guard in Andhra Pradesh (Organiser, 13-6-2004). In addition to short-term measures, the state government should involve the Union Government for long-term measures to end the malady.
?Madhu Agrawal, [email protected]
Party with a ?difference?: In view of ?India shinning? campaign, BJP should have performed well but it came increasingly under pressure from the ?secular? brigade and finally yielded to it and started appeasing the Muslims. Once the leaders indulge in opportunism, the cadre gets confused and disgusted. If BJP goes the Congress way, what difference does it make as to who rules the country!
?S.S. Mavinkurve, Mumbai
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