Reader´sForum

Reader´sForum

IthappensonlyinIndia: Areyouasecularist?Thenpleaseanswerthesequestions:Therearenearly52Islamiccountries.IsthereanyoneIslamiccountrythatprovidesHajsubsidy?ShowoneIslamiccountrywhereHindusareextendedspecialrightsthatMuslimsareaccordedtoinIndia.IsthereanyoneMuslimcountrythathasanon-Muslimasitspresidentorprimeminister?Hasanymullahormaulvideclaredafatwaagainstterrorists?TodayHindusare85percentinIndia.IfHindusareintolerant,howcomemasjidsandmadrasasarethriving?HowcomeMuslimsoffernamazontheroad?WhyaretemplefundsspentforthewelfareofMuslimsandChristians,whentheyarefreetospendtheirmoneyinanywaytheywant?Whyistherenouniformcivilcodeforallcitizens?InwhatwayJ&KisdifferentfromMaharashtra,TamilNaduorUttarPradeshtohaveArticle370?IfMuslimsandChristiansareminoritiesinMaharashtra,UP,Bihar,etc.,areHindusnotminoritiesinJ&K,Mizoram,Nagaland,ArunachalPradesh,Meghalaya,etc?WhyareHindusdeniedminorityrightsinthesestates?WhenChristianandMuslimschoolscanteachtheBibleandtheQuran,whycanHindusnotteachtheGitaortheRamayana?AbdulRehmanAntulaywasmadeatrusteeofthefamousSiddhiVinayaktempleinPrabhadevi,Mumbai.CanaHindueverbecomeatrusteeofamasjidoramadrasa?WhenHajpilgrimsaregivensubsidy,whyareHindupilgrimstoAmarnath,SabarimalaiandKailashMansarovartaxed? ?SureshMenon,harikartha@asianetindia.com

Illogicalblame: ThisreferstoShyamKhosla´sarticleNomudslinging,please(Organiser,27-6-2004).WhatsoevermaybethestatusofAtalji,butbygivingaventtohisfeelingsinpublicandattackingtheGujaratChiefMinister,hehasloweredhisimageintheeyesofSwayamsevaks.HehasjustifiedthepositionofCongress,theLeftpartiesandevenMuslims,whotimeandagainprojectedModiaspersecutorofMuslims.Todaywhenpowerhungrypoliticiansarechangingtheirstancetograbpower,NarendraModiisdefendingthecauseofHindus.AsectionofBJPleadershipisinfectedbythevirusofpseudo-secularismandhasalsostartedwooingMuslimsinlinewithCongressandother´secular´parties.Therefore,theBJPleadershipmustintrospecttoidentifythetruecausesofitsdefeatandstopattackingModi. ?DrNarayanSinghRao,NewDelhi

Millionswerestunned atShriAtalBehariVajpayee´sstatementmadeatthecoolHimalayanresort,Manali,thatBJPlostbecauseofGujaratriotsandNarendraModi.ManalistatementhasdonemoreharmtotheBJPthanthedefeatintherecentelection,notonlytotheranksbutalsotoanordinaryBJP-mindedHindu.Atalji´sopponentsarenodoubtgleefullysayingatthemoment,?Didn´twesayso??Likehisopponents?politicalparties,mediaandothers?Ataljitoohasignoredthecause-and-effectlogicindelinkingtheGodhracarnagefromGujaratviolence. ?SuryaNarainSaxena,Delhi

ShriVajpayee´sstatement thattheGujaratriotsundertheModigovernmenthavecontributedalottothedefeatoftheBJPistotallyillogical.ItmayberecalledthatintheelectionstotheProvincialLegislaturesandtheCentralLegislativeAssemblyinDelhiin1945,lessthan2percentofMuslimsvotedfortheCongress;therestvotedforthePartitionandPakistan-demandingMuslimLeague.Nomosquewasthenpulleddown,norweretheHindusmassacringtheMuslims.WhycouldtheCongressnotgetthetrustoftheMuslimsandwhydidIndiahavetobepartitioned?Anyeducatedandanalysingpersonshouldbeabletounderstandthephenomenonofrejectionofnon-MuslimsbyalargesectionofMuslims?whetheritbeinPhilippines(Mindanao),China(Sinkiang),Russia(Chechnya),Kosovo(Serbia),Northe-astarea(Cyprus),Kashmir(India)andsoon. ?Parijatha,Hyderabad

Hereisamanwhoisfighting forthecauseofHinduismagainstalloddsandheisbeingtargettedbynoneotherthanthetallestleaderoftheBJP.ModisetthetoneforBJP´svictoryinGujarat.TheGujaratriotsdidnotaffecttheBJP´sprospects;otherwisethepartycouldnothavegotthetwo-thirdmajorityintheGujaratAssemblyelections.ItwastheMuslimappeasementbytheBJP-ledNDAgovernmentthatledtotheBJP´sdefeatintherecentelections. ?AnilApte,Mumbai

Womenpower: AbravewomanwarriorbyPramilaMedhe(Organiser,27-6-2004)wasanarticleworthreading.Itgivesanewstrengthandconfidencetothewomentofacealltheproblemscourageouslythatcomeintheirlives.LakshmibaiKelkardideverythingpossibletoempowerwomen.Shepreparedthemtoplaytheirrolesintheprocessofnationbuilding.Itcameasasurprisethatshedidnotspendevenasinglepaisaonherself.Ifeachwomandecidestowalkinherfootstepsthennonecanstopthisnationfrombecomingtheworld´smostpowerfulnation. ?UrjaKumar,YamunaNagar

RememberingApte: ThisreferstothebookreviewaboutShriBabasahebApte(Organiser,6-6-2004).In1977,IwasinIndia,studyingSanskrit.ThetextbookonthesubjectbyShriApteimpressedmealot.ShriApteservedBharatverywell,indeed. ?AratiBanerjee,England

Valuedviews: AproposofDrD.B.Thengadi´sarticleHinduviewofsocio-economicorder(Organiser,13-6-2004);hadhisvaluedviewsandadvicesbeenconsideredtobefollowedbytheBJP-ledNDAgovernment,perhapselectiondebaclecouldhavebeenavoided.Neithertheeconomicpolicy,northesocialpolicycanachieveanygoodforthecommonmanandthecountry,unlesssuchpoliciesarebasedonspiritual,moralandhumanvaluesorframedwiththe´objectofservingsociety´bymeetingthebasicneedsofeverycitizenwhileacceptingthe´societytobemanifestationofGod´,etc.,ashasbeenstatedbythewriter.Thewriterhashitattherootcauseofcorruptionandshortcomingsvis-?-visfailuresofsuchpoliciessofar. ?SubodhChandraDutta,Kolkata

Roleofrevolutionaries: AproposofthearticlePrison-cellturnedintoplaceofworship(Organiser,30-5-2004).ItisunfortunatelytruethattheroleofrevolutionariesandalsoofINAinthefreedommovementandthenavaluprisingin1946havenotbeenproperlydocumented.AllthecreditforgettingfreedomfromtheBritishruleisgiventothenon-violencemovementlaunchedundertheleadershipofGandhiji.ButsuchmovementmadeonlyamarginalimpactontheBritish.WhenChurchillaskedthethenPMAttleeintheBritishParliamentastowhytheywantedtoleavethe´jewelintheBritishcrown´(asIndiawasknownatthattime),Attleeisreportedtohaveremarked:?Ifarmedforcesofacountryrevolt,wecannotkeepthatcountryundersubjugation.? ?DrVidyaSagar,Delhi

Realreasons: VariousreasonshavebeengiveninOrganiser(23-5-2004)abouttheBJP´sdefeatinthejust-concludedLokSabhaelections.Othernewspapersalsogavevariousreasons.Buttherealcausebehindthisunexpecteddefeatliessomewhereelse.ItgoeswithoutsayingthatBJP´sshareintheMuslimvotesisalmostzero,andBJPhastomanageitssuccessfromtheHinduvotes,whicharebadlydividedonthebasisofcaste,language,andvarioussocialandeconomiclines.BJPmustacceptthisrealityasapermanentfeatureofIndianpolitics,andstopcompetitionwith´secular´partiesinappeasingMuslims. ?AnandPrakash,Panchkula

Ithinkthemainreason wasthatAtaljiacceptedoneadviceofthepartyleadersandrejectedtheother.IamreferringtothereportthatBJPleadersadvisedthePMtoappointaseniorpersonoftheirchoicetheChiefElectionCommissionerandthendissolvetheLokSabha.ThePMrejectedthefirstoneandacceptedtheother.Ifhehadrejectedbothoracceptedboth,thensuchadebaclemightnothaveoccurred. ?B.V.R.Rao,Bangalore

Hindu-Muslimunity: AproposofSaynotoviolence(Organiser,23-5-2004);MuslimsdoseemtominglewithHindusandHindusgivethemequaltreatment.ItdoesnotmeanthattheyalsogiveHindusthereciprocaltreatment.RealchangeinMuslimswillmakethemrealisethatHindudharmahasbeentreatingthemasequal,inspiteofalonghistoryofatrocitiescommittedbytheirco-religionistsagainstHindus.Norealisationofthissortisvisibleasyet. ?S.D.Laghate,NewDelhi

Changetheformat: ShriA.Y.Ghaisas´ssuggestionthatOrganisershouldbechangedintoa´magazineformat´andpricedatRs10(Readers´Forum,Organiser,2-5-2004)deservesconsideration,notonlybecauseofitsbecominghandybutalsobecauseveryoften,werequiretopreserve?preferablyazeroxcopy?interestingandinformativearticles.But,thepresentformatoftheweeklymakesthetaskdifficult.Ahandyandattractiveformatwillalsodrawtheattentionofagenerallyindifferentreader. ?BimalenduGhosh,Kolkata

Selectivesecularism: IamanNRIwhospentmostofmylifeinUSA.IrecentlycametoIndiaandamsurprisedattheloosetalkaboutsecularisminthiscountry.USAclaimstobeasecularcountryandthewholeworldacceptsitassuch,but,inpractice,isaChristiancountry,wherealltheimportantStatefunctionsareprecededbyprayersbyaChristianpriest.YettheUSclaimstobesecularbecauseitdoesnotdiscriminateonthebasisofreligionorofworship.Thereareuniformlawsforallreligion.Ontheotherhand,evenafterfiftyyearsoffreedomandintroductionofthepresentConstitutioninIndia,theprovisionsoftheConstitutionregardinguniformlawsforallcitizenshavenotbeenimplemented.Muslimsherecontinuetohavetherighttohavefourwivesanddivorceanywifebyorallydeclaringtalaqthreetimes.Thisispreposterous. ?SanjaySehgal,Noida

Whizkids: Recently,IreadoneBritishschool´sreport,whichsaysthatChinesechildrenarethebest,thensecondaretheHindukinds,thirdaremixedkids,fourtharewhitekids,andfiftharePakistaniandBangladeshikids.LastyeartheUSpickedthetop30highschoolkids;outof30,sixwereIndiankids.Thatcomesto20percent;however,theIndianpopulationislessthan1percent.Indiankidsexcel;oneofthereasonsisthatthefamilyisverystableandcasesareveryfewofdivorce. ?ProfBharatJ.Gajjar,Hockessin(USA)

Congress´double-talk: TheCentralLawMinisterofIndia,ShriBhardwajrecentlyaddressedtheIslamicCentreofIndiainDelhi.HedeclaredthatthosewhodemolishedtheBabriMasjidandwereriotersinGujaratwouldnotbespared.TheMinisterfurtherassuredthattheservicesoflawexpertsofoutstandingcalibrewouldbeutilisedtosecurejusticeforMuslims.WilltheLawMinisterexertsimilardeterminationtosecurejusticeforseverallakhsofKashmiriPanditsandvictimsofmassacresatChittisinghpura,Akshaydham,RaghunathMandir,Amarnathpilgrimsandothers?OtherwisetheCongresswillbeplayingthecommunalcard,ofwhichithypocriticallyaccusesothers. ?B.K.Chaudhari,UK

Confusingdesignations: Thedesignation´ministerofstate´causesconfusion,astheyareallministersofCentreandnotofstates.Hence,thisdesignationneedstobemodified.Theministersofstatewithindependentchargemaybecalled´associateministers´andthosewithoutindependentcharge´deputyministers´. ?M.M.Gupta,NewDelhi