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August 13, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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How Readers responded to Amberish K Diwanji's latest column
Date sent: Tue, 28 Jul 1998 15:43:06 +0700 It is well thought out and worth looking at seriously. I support his proposal for a grouping sans Pakistan to promote the economic well being without any hindrance.
R Chandrasekaran
Date sent: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 17:06:35 -0500 It seems that the author is defending wicked Husain's heinous act. But the regrettable act is that the person holding a Hindu name is joining hands with a Muslim pervert. Just because of the so-called 'secular' intellectuals like the author, Muslims like Husain have the courage to insult Hindus.
V P Patel
Date sent: Thu, 23 Jul 1998 17:25:29 -0500 Amberish Diwanji comes under that so-called social society whose main aim is to blame anything that has a touch of religious sentiments, which they call fanaticism. He goes on to describe the meaning of nudes which is totally irrelevant and doesn't prove a point. If he wants to say that nudity is something which lies in the eye of the beholder then why should we have censor boards. What would have happened if a painter had painted anything on the Muslim prophets? I don't want to question the ability and the motives of M F Husain, as I am not fit for it. But every person of every religion and sect has some beliefs, some idols -- which he can't see get tarnished. We also have sentiments, Amberish!! Saraswati or Sita are our beliefs, our inspiration, which can't be picturised from a practical point of view. They should be made to be viewed as something sacred. If Amberish had really performed a Saraswati puja he would have thought twice before writing this article. I am fed up with this hypocrisy. Vishal
Date sent: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 09:27:41 -0700 The same old thing that Saisuresh wrote some time ago. Sadly, Amberish missed the point too. The cultural achievements of Muslims have no relevance to the painting of a nude Hindu goddess. No one denies any "artist" the freedom to paint nudes. Hindus have always been more liberal on this issue than the Muslims, who though indulging in polygamy and keeping harems do not let women bare an inch of their body in public. Khajuraho is a prime example of this freedom in ancient Hindu India. The point is, the moment one gives any painting or even graffiti a label, and that of a prominent goddess, one crosses that line into what most of us would call obscenity and I do not see why Hindus should not be outraged. Indeed, it is surprising that there has not been more anger. Just think how the Muslims would have reacted if the situation was reversed. Hindus traditionally have called Sita and Saraswati "mother," and it is ridiculous to say that their outrage is misdirected as the allegory was metaphorical rather than literal. I suppose only Christians can call the Virgin Mary "mother." Perhaps they would not object to seeing her in the nude, being more liberal. But I guess Husain has a passion for nude Hindu women, as per Amberish, his fondness for Hindu temples. To say that Husain painted all these years ago and nobody objected then and so why now is also ridiculous. The simple reason is that NOBODY KNEW! I certainly did not and I am sure most Hindus in the country didn't either. The thing that annoys me no end is the fact that in the only country with a majority Hindu population (Nepal doesn't amount to much), we have to take any insult lying down and then have to face bigots like Amberish and Saisuresh too. Sad... Perhaps these people should go and live in Saudi Arabia for a while. I am sure they would find India a much more tolerant place then. And if they think the west is the ultimate free zone, they should try the Bible Belt of the United States.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:25:31 EDT Your column may be interpreted as anti-BJP and anti-India, but in my view these columns are only an effort to bring light to the fact that the BJP has only taken India into a new era of insecurity. I don't understand how people can be so blind to the BJP's tactics of building their vote bank. If there was a snap poll today, they would win hands down. The fact that the BJP thrives on jingoistic pseudo-nationalist fervour is a matter of shame to a country which is the largest democracy in the world. As time goes by, more and more of my fellow-Indians whom I have talked to are coming to the conclusion that the BJP is a party that is going berserk in the chase of an elusive voting majority, even if it meant putting India's security and international "standing" at undue risk. If people think that India is now a great nation with nukes, then think again. India has always been a great nation. Okay, so we tested the nukes but the jingoistic rhetoric that was flowing out of the ruling party, and their ambiguous statements about security all strike a very hollow but dangerous tone. Mr Vajpayee has lost my respect. This man has shown his true colours when he says the people of Pokhran should make sacrifices for the security of the country, even if they are to suffer effects of radiation. Call me a traitor if you want to, it's time we woke up to reality. The BJP is not only as fallible as any other party, they are leading India into an era of uncertainty.
Date sent: Wed, 27 May 1998 18:29:30 -0700 I guess you wrote this article after you read the readers' responses to your previous article on India going nuclear. As was evident, there was not a single reader who agreed with your views. The responses ranged from calling your article 'stinking' to 'worthless.' What kind of an option do you have in such a situation? To call all these people who disagree with your views as 'just an insignificant portion' of the larger Indian polity. Your attempt to hit back at your critics thus, is really pathetic! I don't want to delve into your arguments regarding India's foreign policy. As rightly pointed out by many others, they do stink. But I would definitely want to address the pathological aversion you seem to harbour against anybody who is 'rich, urban and educated.'
Two issues seem to be dear to your heart in this regard. Amberishji, face it! Their opinion is the one which will prevail. And it is mostly they who are going to read your articles, not the poor child on the street. In any country, it is always a smaller group of people who hold things in control. Be it opinion making or law making. If something good is going to happen in India, it will happen because of these people. Just as most of the earlier social reformers were all from upper castes. So if 90 per cent of these people feel proud about India going nuclear and disagree with your opinions thoroughly, what does that say about you? These people are feeling proud, for your information, not because they are jingoistic, not because they are bored and this incident has provided them with kicks, but because they are more informed, better read, to understand issues and the nexus between a strong national security policy leading to a stronger country. They are proud because they can rise above the issues of 'roti kapda and makan' and see the big picture, which needs to be seen, if these three basic amenities need to be available to everybody. Which leads us to the second point: 2. Any 'non-food-producing' activity is automatically a wasteful one. If you take opinion polls about nukes from the people you mentioned in your article, ie, the child begging in the street, the woman selling her body, you would get only one response. That they are more interested in 'roti' than anything else. However, it is not just nukes. They would probably say the same thing about fine arts, cultural festivals, sports, erecting the statues of celebrities, and a host of other 'non-food-producing' activities. But are they all really useless? Of course not! Human spirit and anything which enhances it is equally important just as human body and its basic needs. The fact that we are strong enough to face any external threat, has raised our nationalistic spirit and it is as important as any other need. Please stop writing such articles. You will never be able to sell your argument to the 'rich, urban and non-resident' (sic) Indians. You are in the wrong market. You have better chances to sell your logic at say, a national convention of a moribund party like CPI. Murali
Date sent: Wed, 27 May 1998 18:15:26 -0500 This is nonsense. I wonder if China is facing a threat from India. Is that also the reason behind stationing missiles and nukes in Tibet (targeting India). The nukes in Tibet are not ICBMs targeting US or Russia, they are targeting India. I don't know, if a typical Indian like Diwanji should ever realise this. Please don't express your opinions on this platform. I guess Rediff realises this. The Indian government is elected by majority in India. If you did not vote for the BJP, it's not the BJP's fault. The BJP is elected by the people of India, and it has been given the right and authority by the people to make any kind of crucial decisions on their behalf. On the otherside: Did you know that India had 25 per cent of the world's wealth before 1200AD? We lost our wealth because we did not make enough security arrangements to defend it and we ultimately lost it. Our ancestors never realised this in the past 800 years. And now you talk about the poor and the poorest. We understand that the world has changed a lot from then. Within days of signing the Panchasheel, China attacked India and took 90000 sq km of Indian territory. Does it bother you? India has to face the world's wrath some day or the other because it is too late for any country to go nuclear (I accept, but it's not worse and it gets worse if you wait). Four decades of futile efforts by India on nuclear disarmament was a long time to wait. The US did not have a stockpile (only had few bombs) when India started developing its nuclear know-how. Now can India catch up with US? Forget America, can India catch up with China? Diwanji, think rationally. Don't be partisan.
Satya Modugula
Date sent: Wed, 27 May 1998 16:32:40 -0700 Can't totally agree with you except on the VHP issue (many may not be aware, but the VHP and the Bajrang Dal guys are a pain for Vajpayee and Advani too! However those guys support the BJP.) Venkat, Ohio
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:25:31 EDT China (or other powerful countries) has the same tough attitude in their foreign policy as its internal and person-to-person policy. They dare everybody, because they know very well that everybody will shout when somebody acts smart, but on the other hand they also know that in today's world everybody is scared of smarter countries or leaders. War does not break out so easily. Everybody knows the consequences. But to prove your standing in the world, you have to show that you have something. If only India's sports team had such a gutsy attitude as the BJP government showed, they could have defeated big teams. Mr Diwanji's attitude says that India should bow down to China (because it's big). Men! what about Pakistan, India is much bigger than Pakistan, than China is to India. Again, don't wake up the giant. It's a shame that because of these so-called Indians, India has such a weak name, even after having one of the greatest brain pools in the world and such a big military. The BJP has the guts to do things that other governments couldn't. They are showing their lost-chances (or covering their weaknesses), by attacking the government. Sometimes they support the government's motive, the other time they oppose. They are confused. The BJP followed the same tactic as China did while dealing with the US and the rest of the world. I, being an NRI based in New York City can tell you that India's position or standing has improved. It's not the other way round. The current world plays mind games. They do these things to test what guts you have (China always proves well in it.) In reality the more angry you get, the more they worship you. We Indians or NRIs know very well, that there is a sense of fear amongst outside powers of India's dominance. Respect comes from fear. Also they are observing the amount of trust Indians have for their leaders. We should all support what the BJP government has done. We should not listen to people like Diwanji. Shantanu Chakraborty New York City |
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