|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | COMMENTARY | UNCONVENTIONAL WISDOM | |||
|
July 13, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
|
How Readers responded to Dilip D'Souza's recent columns
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 07:34:09 +0900 Excellent writing. Hinduism needs a revolution. But how?
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 16:37:36 -0500 If a Korean plane catches fire in Honduras, blame the BJP. If Bombay's beaches are dirty, blame the BJP. If the bhel puri you had yesterday was too salty, blame the BJP. Dilip bhai's article seems to be straight out of a 'Hate-BJP, Hate-Hindu' Pakistani newspaper. Did these tribes ever exist before the BJP came to power? Of course they did. Was casteism around before the BJP came to power? Of course it was. Was Islamic fundamentalism prevailing in India before the BJP came to power? Of course it was. These problems always existed. Why blame the BJP for it? The policemen who were responsible were not employed after the BJP came to power. We had 50 years of Congress rule which has brought the state of the nation to such a disastrous downslide, with their casteist and religion based policies [appeasement]. Shri Vajpayee is the first prime minister who has promised, or at least spoken of, 'Educating India' and seeing to it that 100 pc literacy is achieved in 10 years. The Congress government did not even talk about schooling. Education is one of the basic things which will slowly remove the blemishes in our society as mentioned in your article. Education will also see population control. Rome was not built in a day. And here we have a country which has been broken down brick by brick by the 50 years of non-nationalistic rule of the Congress, which has resulted in the termites from Pakistan chewing away into our foundations. Time should be given to the BJP. I am sure 5 years should make a difference for the better. If the BJP fails us then where do we look ??? Probably at the "Defence Forces". Jai Hind! Prashant
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 16:43:21 -0700 Dilip has done a good job of highlighting the plight of the "Pardhis". We, as Indians, need to provide justice to the community. What I fail to understand is how this is associated with Hinduism. By holding the Hindus or Hinduism responsible for their plight, Dilip has (yet again) shown how narrow minded his thinking is. When I started reading the article I thought that Dilip, for a change, is writing something constructive -- but alas, as always, Dilip is full of crap! Parveen
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 16:30:10 -0400 Dilip, This is truly a sad state of affairs for the Pardhis and, thereby, our society. Makes you feel ashamed. Here is what I have to add: The problem is that the public perception about most of the backward castes is not good. That it's ok if they are beaten, must have been their fault. That they are lazy. Probably. Even if they are lazy, who is the cause? In that sense, all of us can take some of the credit for the atrocities by police etc. We have all the degrees but need an education about these simple things, else we will continue to have Pardhi blood on our hands. Ajay Chavan P S: Keep up the good work. Your articles are different and good.
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 14:56:35 -0400 It is indeed sad to to see that even after 50 years of Independence, nomadic tribes have no stable society, no jobs and no skills. It is not that the society is not doing anything. But the attempts are really insufficient. Unless these people are imparted some skills they will not be stable at any place. This adversely affects the education and skill achieving attempts. I understand there is some maha mandals for the welfare of these people in Maharashtra, but as usual only few favourites get the benefits. While saying that we need to do a lot more for these people, I want to point out that a die-hard habit of D'Souza is to bash Hindutva organisations by hook or crook. D'Souza cannot resist an attempt to blame Hindutvawadis. We all know that hundreds of workers from the RSS's sister organisation Vanavas Kalyan Samiti are actively working in many tribal areas of Maharashtra, MP, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh. The RSS is running hundreds of schools all over India. But we see these poor people simply because the enormous nature of the problem. We have millions of poor and justice starved people like these in India and we will need several thousand more active workers to deal with this situation. But we must not make politics of everything. D'Souza did exactly this by taunting the Hindutva fellows. Rather than genuine concern for these poor people, D'Souza seems to have gone to Phaltan to gather ammunition against Hidutvawadis. This is not the correct way to bring all sections of the society together to tackle such problems.
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 15:45:12 -0700 I never even knew these people existed, let alone be aware of their anguish. Your column changed that. This is one of those times when I feel mortified and plain ashamed of the things that pass as everyday life in our country. My heart goes out to them, and I hope and pray that we change things so that my children will be spared the shame of knowing what living in rural India means. Please continue your good work.
Aarti Kamalahasan
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 13:02:02 -0400 I think the report should be sent to the BJP high command and the VHP. I am sure that the VHP will do nothing about it (unless it helps them build the Ram temple) and the BJP will do nothing because there is no political gain, no vote bank to be won. The Congress may come up with a novel scheme -- to convert these people into Muslims promising them miracles. I appreciate Dilip for writing about such an unfortunate group of people, our people. I hope Dilip, you follow it up with something better than writing and forgetting about it. Tapas
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 15:57:35 -0400 (EDT) This brings forth the author's religious bias. He made thinly veiled attempt to be sympathetic to the oppression and exploitation of the Pardhis by the higher caste. But eventually, he ended up patronising Hinduism. Mr DSouza, do you want to know what memories Hinduism/Hindutva evokes? Hinduism's historical tolerance let all the religions flourish in India, not in Iran, Iraq or Ireland and as a direct result of such functional principles, today in India we find citizens with their last name D'Souza! Like other religions, Hinduism is not perfect and we need to strive hard to address the historic ills of casteism. The Pardhis of Maharashtra are not the only victims of Hindu casteism. Mr D'Souza is one of the few journalists who personally met the victims and instead of suggesting constructive solutions to address their problem, he chose to further exploit their plight by twisting their despair in his own convoluted, chequered thinking and giving lop-sided religious gloss to it. It is truly disgusting to see him viewing everything with jaundiced eye and doing so once again he missed a golden opportunity to hone his investigative journalism skills, if any he has, and contribute to the Pardhis' cause.
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 14:38:33 -0400 Really sad. I hope something is done for them.
Date sent: Fri, 12 Jun 1998 17:10:32 -0400 (EDT) Dear Mr Dilip D'Souza, Simply Excellent! Is there anyone from the political house listening to/reading Mr D'Souza? Keep writing please. At least, I get a chance to feel that I am not the only day dreamer! With regards, Balan
Date sent: Thu, 11 Jun 1998 07:50:13 -0500 However sensible his article "Agenda For A Post-Nuclear Vajpayee" is purely from a logical viewpoint, it is naive and impractical for one reason at least. The operative phrase throughout his essay is "We expect Pakistan to do the same." Expectation is not the same as reality. And as long as opposition parties exist and survive only to decry any such moves, it will not happen. While in India, there is at least some opposition to the recent moves, as exemplified by his article, there is hardly any sane voice coming out on the other side. When such is the case, the practicality of his recommendations is in serious question. But in principle I do agree, much as I hate pointing out that it is little more than wishful thinking.
Date sent: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 23:01:11 -0500 A very well thought out agenda for starters. Any past government should have pursued the agenda first before detonating the nuke. I don't think we do have very far sighted leaders. Each one of them is selfish. The country is the last item on the agenda. I was surprised to see that leaders do not realise that the country is not standing properly, it is merely floating. Without a foot we cannot think about fire. This is exactly what both the countries did. Forget about the P5, they always maintained a double standard. But they do think about their own welfare first.
Date sent: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 15:33:57 -0400 Hi Dilip, I am not going to discuss the details of your article and try to make some point. I just want you to know that there are few of us who are in total (almost) agreement with your ideas. I can see that you don't receive a lot of encouraging comments, but please don't stop writing. Regards, Sathya
Date sent: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 14:19:28 -0400 I agree with Dilip on the first two points, but to me, police reforms won't help as much as judiciary reforms. How about pumping some fraction of the budget every year to reforms of judicial system? In a democracy like India, the judicial system is key to the law and order situation. I have a strong belief that if India's judiciary was more active, we would have been in a better position today. In any country people should have a fear of the law. They should know that if they do anything illegal, consequences will follow. But I am sorry to say that in India that fear is not there. Result is... well you know that. I even have a feeling that all we require is a strong judicial system, efficient courts, where processing of a case does not take too long. And I am sure the rest of good things will follow automatically. Chander Navani
Date sent: Thu, 21 May 1998 21:13:18 +1000 If Dilip D'Souza cannot find media quotes on the Srikrishna report to put in a tailpiece anymore, it probably means that this issue, along with all the others, has also been blown away by the nuclear explosions! All the same, a typically well written, excellent article -- and it is nice to see that there are still Indian commentators who haven't been swept away by the jingoism of those who equate patriotism with warmongering. I commend Rediff for having columnists like Prem Panicker and Dilip D'Souza in its ranks, and wish that more Indians within India can read them - I would guess that they are more widely read by Indians outside India through the Web. But Dilip - even if you can't find quotes about the Srikrishna report to put in, don't forget the issue - the BJP-Sena government still needs to be continuously reminded about it.
Shekar |
| Tell us what you think of this column | |
|
HOME |
NEWS |
BUSINESS |
CRICKET |
MOVIES |
CHAT
INFOTECH | TRAVEL | LIFE/STYLE | FREEDOM | FEEDBACK |
|