Readers' Forum

R

Might is right:
Reference to Comradisation of education (Organiser, 4-7-2004); there is no doubt that the Communist historians will use their influence to whitewash the barbaric deeds of the Islamic invaders and attempt at ‘creating’ a history that never existed. There is no doubt that Dr Murli Manohar Joshi was one of the most effective BJP minister and would have purged all the prestigious educational institutions of all the Communists. However, to blame the new government for sitting over the rich archaeological finds in Gujarat is not correct. Why was the BJP government not more active on this issue, when this site had been excavated in 2002? The reason is that all these bogus historians and a section of the ‘secular’ media had created a hue and cry, and the BJP leadership proved itself to be totally weak in facing any hostile reaction. I think that the key thing that lacks the Sangh Parivar is its aggressiveness. It is this, which is absolutely required. I belong to a family who has always been an active supporter of the Hindutva movement, beginning from the Hindu Mahasabha, but now my brother (he lives in Pune) is closer to the Shiv Sena. He has correctly said that while ideology is important, so is show of might. As a genuine well-wisher of the Hindutva movement, my humble request is to be more aggressive; don’t let the BJP’s passiveness and politics prevail on your great organisation.
—ATUL MARATHE, Bangkok

Dynastic hold:
The Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi’s assuming the office of the National Advisory Council only proves that despite renunciation of the PM’s office, which made Sonia a great person by the media, she has the complete control of the government and the party (The story of a Super PMO, Organiser, 11-7-2004). Even otherwise, Dr Manmohan Singh is only keeping the Prime Minister Office warm for Rahul Gandhi, the next link in the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty.
—Dr Vidya Sagar, Delhi

Inadequate information:
Apropos of First World Congress on Vedic Sciences in Bangalore (Organiser, 4-7-2004); the organisers of the above conference ought to provide the appropriate information so that the persons interested may contact them.
—B.K. Chaudhari, UK

Not that helpful:
This refers to Boot out the casteist (Organiser, 4-7-2004); while both the solutions (presidential form of government and two-party system) offered by M.V. Kamath are good and welcome, the third suggestion that the two largest parties together should form the government by a certain amount of ideological sacrifice does not appear to cure the rot in context of Bharat. This is a coalition and coalition politics is a good thing. But it should be out of option, not out of compulsion. Ideological sacrifice, even temporarily, as was experimented by the BJP during its regime, may not help much.
—Bishnupada Misra, Bhubaneswar

Beware of HRD panel:
Apropos of Communalising textbooks (Organiser, 18-7-2004); it has been reported that the members of the HRD history panel are scrutinising the history books published by some publishers selected arbitrarily. This puts a question mark on the integrity of the panel members. Perhaps they do not know even this fact that most of the private publishers ask their authors to copy the pattern of NCERT books and reflect the same content in their books. There seems to be something fishy in this entire exercise.
—Man Mohan, Gurgaon

Deed of denunciation: The dismissal of four governors has set in an unethical practice (Minorityism as the ideology of UPA, Organiser, 18-7-2004), which deserves to be condemned. In accordance with Article 156-3 of the Constitution, they should have been allowed to complete their term. What is lamentable is that no satisfactory reasons were given for their ouster. The statement of Union Home Minister on this matter was ridiculous and loathsome. However, the governors appointed during the Congress regime were neither dismissed nor asked to vacate their post by the former BJP-led NDA government.
—Shridhar V. Kulkarni, Kalyan (West)

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The removal of four governors, for not fault of theirs, except that they belong to a certain set of ideologies, is a blatant misuse of power. Neither the Indian National Congress’ nor the Communist parties’ ideologies are ‘sacred cows’. The Congress has changed a lot from the days of Mahatma Gandhi and does not deserve to hold the Mahatma’s ideology now.
—N.R. Seetharam, Bangalore

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There can be only two ways of appointing/removal of governors. One is to adopt the US system, where all the governors and ambassadors resign when a new government takes charge. Second option is to appoint only retired judges of higher courts or senior bureaucrats to gubernatorial posts.
—Madhu Agrawal, Delhi

Website blunders:
I am an ardent reader of Organiser. Earlier Organiser’s website would be updated by Monday. But from a last few weeks, it is being updated by Tuesday mornings. This time (Organiser, 18-7-2004), I had to wait till Wednesday morning to see the latest issue. This is a slow but a disappointing rot. But I was glad that at last it was updated. But to my utter surprise, the website isn’t functioning correctly. For instance, if I clicked on Readers’ Forum, it took me to London Post. If I clicked on India that is Bharat, it takes me to At Random. I hope you will look into the matter at your earliest convenience and set it straight.
—Alec Sloyger, alecsloyger@yahoo.com

Betrayal of trust:
This refers to Comrades and their remote control (Organiser, 27-6-2004); in Kerala, West Bengal and Tripura, Communists fought Congress tooth and nail and killed each other’s workers and leaders during the recent Lok Sabha polls. Lo and behold! The same people are propping up the Congress-led minority coalition with tainted ministers. The Communists’ votes were against the Congress. So for the people of these states, it is nothings but a betrayal of the trust.
—K.V. Kamath, Udupi

Britain feels the heat:
Reference to The source of jihadi terror & money power (Organiser, 18-7-2004); in Britain, Muslims have outstripped other communities in crime and violence. They have increased the inmate ratio in British jails. Now they are indulging in terrorist activities too. Recently some Muslim youth were caught with explosives. They burn the British flag and chant very provocative slogans. Britain did not take terrorism in countries like India very seriously. Now that its own fingers are burning, it is realising how it affects others. Furthermore, the same Muslims who complain about the ethics of Western world as inferior do not hesitate to use it for their selfish gains. Muslim kings, scholars, clergymen, terrorists and immigrants rush to it for refuge and utilise its freedom of expression.
—Puneet Choudhary, Worcestershire (England)

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Safety, security and national integrity of Bharat stands threatened from within the country and from across its borders by Islamic jihadi forces as never before. The threat is accentuated by patronisation of anti-national forces by vote-bank hungry pseudo-secularist politicians ganging up under the deceptive banner of secularism sheltering all hues of criminals even in the Union Cabinet. In the name of jihad, the Islamic fundamentalists have been indoctrinating the impressionable young mind in countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya, etc.
—B.L. Sharma ‘Prem’, New Delhi

Vote power:
It is highly unfortunate that in the Lok Sabha elections, the polling percentage was very poor in urban areas. They forgot the fact that government affects our lives in every manner. One example will prove the point. If Laloo Prasad Yadav succeeds in turning Indian Railways into Bihar Railways, can you travel safely in trains? Then loot and criminal activities will be at India level instead of being Bihar centric (Laloos’s train to disaster, Organiser, 11-7-2004). Here arrogance that no candidate or party is good enough for ‘my vote’ or some other excuses of couch potatoes only show their ignorance of functioning of a democracy.
—K.R. Kumar, krishnar_kumar@yahoo.com

True colours of ‘secularists’:
The self-proclaimed secularists are more communal than those described as ‘communal’ (Modi bashing is pseudos’ pastime, Organiser, 11-7-2004). A wise man has rightly said: “Self-praise is no recommendation.” Instead of binding all communities and castes together as Indians, they have been designing disunity and division by sweet words with gall in mind. ‘Secularists’ leave no stone unturned to defame India and Indians for vested interests. For this they shake hands with scamsters and wash their linen in dirty politics without knowing that rubbish cast on others strikes back.
—N.N. Mujoo, Panchkula

Tit for tat:
It has been observed that Congress, its allies, Leftists, etc., use invariably the adjective ‘communal’ for BJP. One major reason for doing so is to please Muslim vote bank. In my opinion, it would be appropriate to coin forceful and matching adjectives for describing the real nature of the anti-BJP, anti-Hindu and minority-appeasement forces. Such adjectives, used frequently against anti-BJP parties, would help in awakening the dormant nationalist feelings of Hindus.
—Anand Prakash, Panchkula

Homes as armouries:
Israel is being denounced for demolishing hundreds of Palestinians’ homes in the Gaza Strip. Hamas, Hizbullah and Al Fatah have been publicly, repeatedly and stridently declaring that they are at war with Israel. They use children and women as suicide bombers and have converted ‘homes’ into factories to produce arms, ammunition and missiles. Therefore any place, be it home or mosque, if used as an armour, an amunition'sfactory or a cover for warriors, will not only be desecrated but will become a legitimate target for attack and destruction by the victims of terrorism—Israelis, Americans, Indians, etc.
—Usha Balaji, Hyderabad

Achievements & failures:
Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure as Prime Minister had mixed results. Shri Vajpayee did an excellent job in conducting Pokaran nuclear implosions and made us a nuclear power. Nation made progress in many areas and we earned respectability at the international level. However, the biggest credit goes to him for managing a motley coalition and giving us political stability. At the same time, we can’t overlook his failures in many fronts, Kargil was an intelligence failure. The Kandahar episode, yielding to the US pressure on the Pakistan issue are some of his glaring failures.
—R.K. Mani, Mangalore

Only Hindutva parties to be fined?:
When a bandh was declared by BJP and Shiv Sena to protest against the bomb blasts in Mumbai, a former bureaucrat, B.G. Deshmukh filed a writ petition in the Mumbai High Court to punish the two pro-Hindu political parties. Very recently, the matter was heard by the High Court, which fined the two parties. Now it is to be seen whether B.G. Deshmukh takes the same stand against the bandh in Mumbra in support of the terrorist Ishrat Jehan, killed in an encounter in Ahmedabad, and protest against the encounter. The parties to be fined must be Samajwadi Party and a large section of media trying to create an impression on the Muslims that she was innocent, thus infuriating them.
—K.G. Acharya, keshavacharya@yahoo.com

Where’s ‘secular’ brigade?:
It is reported that attracted by the state government’s propaganda, a Kashmiri migrant, Som Nath Talashi, after languishing for over a decade in a refugee camp in Jammu, decided to resettle in his native village in Kashmir. When Shri Talashi visited his land and thought of converting it into a profitable asset, he was found dead the next morning under the mysterious circumstances. The reason probably is that the return of migrants from minority Hindu community is seen against the interests by a large section of the majority community people, who have usurped the left-over properties of the Kashimiri Pandits. It is an irony that while the human rights activists and ‘secular’ brigade made a great hue and cry over the recent killing of four terrorists in Gujarat, they showed no concern for the mysterious death of Som Nath Talashi.
—Avtar Thaploo, avtar_thaploo@hotmail.com