On the other hand, if you are politicising an issue to get more mileage
and sympathy from bankrupt politicians so that you can further your
cause, then don't be alarmed when others act narrow-minded and
push for their own cause just as you do.
Date sent: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 09:33:53 -0500
From: "Agarwal, Abhinav" <Abhinav.Agarwal@mchugh.com>
Subject: Darryl D'Monte
Darryl's hallucinations are aimed at stirring people's emotions.
However, he is not completely wrong. Muslim fundamentalists in the Middle East, Christian fundamentalist in Europe and the US are in some ways
doing the same. So I wouldn't be surprised if a Hindu fundamentalist is
taking cues from these religious fanatics.
Venkat
Ohio
Date sent: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 09:42:40 -0700
From: <PIYUSHBANSAL@inf.com (PIYUSHBANSAL)>
Subject: Beware the Hindu Taliban!
Darryl D' Monte has done a painstaking rake-up of issues to portray his side
of the story. While supporting total freedom in professing of religions, I
would strongly condemn his tacit support of mass-conversions taking place in
the name of God in tribal areas of the North-East and the cow-belt. If Adivasis
had their pre-Hindu beliefs, why do missionaries go there and insist on
conversion for these Adivasis to get their goodies from the new gods?
I oppose all types of fundamentalism. I also oppose the alienating and herding
of minorities, especially Muslims, many of whom live in communes out of fear
and insecurity. But I also oppose all nonvoluntary conversions -- forced or
subtle -- they need to be condemned. The superiority of a religion is not in sheer
numbers, but in the strength of its ideals and treatises as Jainism and
Buddhism have proved long ago.
Gopikrishnan
Date sent: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 12:23:23 +0530
From: krishna <krish@cyberidentity.com>
Subject: Darryl D' Monte's article on the Hindu Taliban
Darryl D'Monte's first article on Rediff is a diatribe against what he
believes is the Hindu version of the Taliban. What journalists like
D'Monte lack is a sense of proportion that comes with extensive research
and a deep understanding of India and Indians. Any serious journalist
who has these credentials (western journalists lack a deep understanding
of India and Indians and can be dismissed when they say the kind things
that D' Monte says) would never make a comparison to the Taliban or any
other fundamentalist society with the avenging streak (streak is all that
it is) that the VHP and in some instances (D'Monte would have you
believe that all of India is generally being prepared to hunt down
Christians and Muslims!) sections of the BJP are guilty of.
Equating the Shiv Sena with the BJP is another one of the columnist's blunders.
D' Monte does grave injustice when he brushes aside atrocities that have
been inflicted on Hindus, whether it pertains to mayhem and murder by the
Muslims or opportunistic conversions by Christian missionaries. A person
who can sidestep these issues and bracket them as "ideological
manipulation" in order to fashion a dubious theory is neither fair or
honest. He takes umbrage to government action that prohibits
conversions of Hindus by Christians, but goes on to talk about the
greatness of maintaining the pluralism of Indian society.
Going by his
logic, obviously, Christians like him do not think conversions
alter the pluralism of Indian society but that only actions against
conversions do. In other words, convert as many Hindus as you can (not
because people being converted can understand the features of what
they are being converted to but because they can be induced either
financially or by seeding them with anger against the upper castes) and
it is okay. But touch any of the structures that favour the minorities
and you will be decried as fundamentalist. At best, these are covert
double standards, aren't they Mr D' Monte?
Without giving himself the image of a crusader and the airs that come
with it, D' Monte would do well to recognise that more than himself and
other minorities like him, it is the multitude of Hindu groups and
Hindus who have and will always oppose a fracture of Indian society that
is fair to all people. Left to them, demagogues like him would demand
that all traces of Hinduism in Indian society be erased in order for
them to feel safe and happy. These views border on the perverted and
reflect a persecution complex.
Unlike India, America renowned as a
great democracy, which emphasises the separation of the church and state,
compels all people including Hindus and Arabs to adopt the
Judaeo-Christian values and habits that it has accumulated over the
years, and in fact a large proportion of conservatives have always
pressed for dissemination of an even more of a Christian outlook. But
who has ever dared to call the Republicans, Christian fundamentalists or
called America anything but a pluralistic society. Forget about giving
any importance to other religions, the majority in the US do not
recognise what are clearly the legitimate linguistic demands of the
large Hispanic community.
The allegation that the BJP moved against Christian religious places
which serve wine is absurd because it was only a simple
misunderstanding. The fact is that there was some old law which defined
a religious place as one that did not serve alcohol. It was stupid of
the BJP government to act on it without a thought to the consequences of it.
But to raise it to the status of a fundamentalist act is paranoia. True
again, that the Gujarat government has committed follies that have
unfortunately affected some minorities, but those are not indicative of a
fundamentalist political outfit.
Does D' Monte know that several Hindu
students (such as myself) in Christian educational institutions in India
are induced on pain of dismissal and punishment to read the Bible and
say Christian prayers in the assembly? And that has been going on for
centuries in India. But I'm sure D' Monte will not say that these
are examples of Christian fundamentalism much less Hindu 'docility.'
One last thing must be said about D' Monte's attack on Arun Shourie.
D' Monte would do well to emulate the well researched articles of
Shourie. You can pick up any fact from any of Shourie's articles and
verify it. He has shown the double standards of people like D' Monte
which is most probably the reason for D' Monte's attack on Shourie in
the first place. If Shourie's articles on Ambedkar and the Communists
are unpleasant for D'Monte to digest, so be it! They are factual! Let us
learn to accept the truth, however, unpleasant it might be. But that
might be asking too much of Darryl D' Monte.
Date sent: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 10:03:09 +0800
From: Anurag <anurag@cs.ust.hk>
Subject: Beware the Hindu Taliban!
Rubbish! nothing more, this article is. Do not distort things, you
sound as though anything associated with Hinduism is bad and
untouchable. You seem to say Christianity is eternal and rest all is bad!
Try to grow up man!
Vigyani
Date sent: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 01:52:34 EDT
From: <TBodagala@aol.com>
Subject: Response to Darryl D'Monte's article
Darryl D'Monte's article seems to be a chapter out of the
Constitution which we clearly see is a failure. The ongoing caste and ethnic
strife is evidence of that. What is wrong with the Indianisation of our
country? Didn't Pakistan Islamise itself? Doesn't it come under the banner
of civilised and respectable nations? How long will we continue to witness
the disintegration of the Indian civilisation? If some individuals don't like to
live in India as part and fabric of Indian culture and are bent upon
conversion, they are more than welcome to leave.
Come on Darryl
D'Monte, don't give us lectures on multi-faced nations that live happily ever after. You know it is not possible. We have tried, and look what has
happened, the country is being torn to shreds. The BJP in some parts may be
extremist, but its overall objectives are perfectly acceptable and in the
best interests of Hindustan.
Prem Bahadur Singh
Date sent: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 13:22:43 -0500
From: <Sandeep.Shouce@infores.com (Sandeep Shouce)>
Subject: Another one from D'Monte
Anybody who had read his classic "conspiracy theory" on the Hindu
Taliban would know better than to expect a fair assessment on a
sensitive issue such as the Bombay riots from Darryl D'Monte. But
unlike Darryl D'Monte, I am committed to taking these people on issues
and not indulge in baseless insinuation and slander. I feel compelled
to ask Mr D' Monte the following questions:
--You say the Hindu fundamentalist media exaggerated the reports of
the mathadi workers' stabbing and the roasting alive of the Bane
family.
So let us hear your unbiased and "unexaggerated" version of the
incident. You may probably want to mention that the mobs were very
kind not to first cut off their fingers, then their toes, then gouge
their eyes out before burning them. Their Muslim neighbours could have
made matters worse by saving them while they were burning and
condemned them to lives as handicapped citizens. But being apostles of
peace and enlightenment, they did nothing of the kind and watched the
Bane family burn in peace. Does that sound fair, Mr D'Monte??
--575 Muslims were killed as against 275 Hindus. So the Hindus are to
be blamed.
India shot down 115 Pakistani planes in 1965 as opposed to 55 that
Pakistan brought down. So India is responsible for the 1965 war, right ?? What an utterly ludicrous argument. Do you even realise that the
figures you quote themselves negate your arguments that this was a
systematic massacre of Muslims? That the Muslims were equally
involved in this madness and hatred? Would it strike you as a
possibility that the Muslims underestimated the strength of the
backlash that came after their atrocious behaviour in the December riots and the period following that??
-- The police handled the situation badly. They turned peaceful
demonstrations into violent incidents.
Do you deny, that some of these "peaceful demonstrators" fired shots
at the police from rooftops, from inside buildings and shops and
hotels on Mohammed Ali Road?? Do you deny that after the December
riots, the dismembered bodies of 3 police patrolmen were recovered
from the nallahs in the area?? Which force in the world will risk its
life protecting the people who harbour their killers?? Even American
troops left Somalia when they found they were targets themselves.
-- Mumbai blasts were a result of the havoc that was wrecked on the
Muslims.
What kind of an argument is that?? Muslims are entitled to kill 1400
people in cold blood, and just this one sentence is sufficient to
justify that?? Then how about "Muslims brought the riots upon
themselves by their obstinacy in the Babri Masjid issue and then going
wild after Hindus brought it down." Would that also be a fair
assessment??
And you expect me to believe you are not anti-Hindu!!
Sandeep Shouche
Date sent: Thu, 17 Sep 1998 14:28:22 -0500
From: vu2ash <vu2ash@altavista.net>
Subject: Darryl D'Monte
Congratulations to Rediff. You have found another guy to
write columns for you after D'Souza. To me, both these guys have an
agenda. These days the quality of writers is rapidly dwindling on Rediff. Only
Srinivasan and the likes are what keeps me clicking on Rediff every day. Once those guys stop writing, I'm outta here.
I envision a Hindu India. Guys mentioned above are welcome to live in it
as long as they behave themselves.
Date sent: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 10:22:31 -0400
From: "Ariyo Sarkar" <asarkar@claytongroup.com>
Subject: Darryl D'Monte's report on the Srikrishna Report
This is the first time I am ever responding to a column. The columns in
Rediff are generally of a high quality. I don't know how a column like this slipped by. Bombay is virtually ruled by Muslim gangsters and mafia
dons. India should essentially be a Hindu country and Muslims should learn
to live with it.
Arjyo
Date sent: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 23:06:27 -0400
From: "RAVINDER GUPTA" <RKIRANGUPTA@worldnet.att.net>
Subject: D' Monte's article regarding the Bombay riots
D'Monte's article on the Srikrishna Report smells of
hatred against Hindus as does the Srikrishna report. In both
cases the behaviour of Muslims in starting the riots is legitimised as
the reaction to the demolition of the Babri Masjid. In the first place, one
should remember that what is called as the Babri Masjid is also called
Ram Janmabhoomi and this is not a name which the Shiv Sena, BJP, or VHP has
given. It is an open fact that Babar committed this "pious" act of
demolishing this most sacred place for Hindus (the infidels of
India) and tried to build a mosque in its place.
Hindus, however, never
let it happen and gave enormous sacrifices to regain it. For almost
the last 50 years, Hindus have continued to worship at this place and have
also approached various courts to resolve this issue. The agitation of
Hindus was brutally crushed by Mulayam Singh's government. No one talks about the injustices borne by Hindus through all those years which is continuing even today.
The
serial bomb blasts in Bombay is similarly justified
as a reaction by the "leaderless Muslims."
This is the height of
distorting facts. What justification will one give for the serial
bomb blasts in Chennai last February? How about the killing of
20,000 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir in the name of Islamic Jihad and
the resulting wave of terror which has resulted in the exodus of about
250,000 Hindus from Kashmir. Is that not a good enough reason for
Hindus to fight for social justice?
As a matter of principle, let us agree that no one should demolish
places of worship of another faith. Therefore, all those Hindu temples
which have been forcibly converted into mosques by Islamic invaders and
their progeny should be returned to Hindus. If you show us that Hindus
have forcibly converted a Muslim place of worship then that should be given
back to Muslims. Hindus have no problem with any religion -- be it Islam,
Christianity, Judaism or Zorashtrianism. That is why Hindus themselves
have so many religions.
One must remember that it is this respect for
diversity which is the need of time when the world is suffering from
terrorism internationally, and these terrorists are indoctrinated with a
sense of righteousness that they are fighting against the infidel.
This holier than thou attitude even makes Muslim sects fight against each
other. The recent killing of Iranian diplomats (Shias) in Afghanistan by
the Taliban army (Sunnis) is an example of such hatred. In Algeria,
about 60,000 Muslim civilians have been killed by fellow Muslims in the
cause of establishing an Islamic State.
Pakistan is going through a
similar process. Bangladesh is presently busy persecuting Hindus, as a
result the Hindu population in Bangladesh is continuously declining.
Once the Hindus are reduced to practical insignificant numbers, it will
be the Muslims killing each other.
So, my request to D' Monte is that he should use his pen to protect
the innocent and not blame the victims. To propagate peace and respect
for diversity and not to support fanatics who hate any diversity of
religion, and who classify Hindus as infidels or pagans worthy of only
hatred.
Darryl D'Monte
