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October 30, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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How Readers responded to T V R Shenoy's recent columns
Date sent: Sat, 24 Oct 1998 10:55:49 EDT
Another dumb article from Shenoy. Based on his wildest dream, I would like to present the next Central government:
Sonia Gandhi -- PM
Date sent: Mon, 19 Oct 1998 10:33:05 -0500
Mr Shenoy is very correct in trying to highlight the misinformation of today's Indian Communists. Their record during the freedom struggle was rather dubious. Their views at that time about Mahatma Gandhi or Subhas Chandra Bose were in great contrast to their public stance today. They did not have even minimum sympathy towards the freedom fighters. In the 1950s, Andhra Pradesh was under Communist influence. During one of the elections there was bitter competition between the Communists and others. At that time, many Telugu public figures, poets and editors wrote columns with titles like 'Why I am not a Communist' citing instances of Communist antipathy to the freedom movement and national figures like Gandhi and Bose. Because generations are changing, it is highly necessary that such misinformation should not be allowed to perpetrate, lest the public of future juxtapose truth and falsehood.
Date sent: Sat, 17 Oct 1998 18:43:59 -0400
Congratulations for a thought provoking article. Mr Shenoy has exposed the Communists' anti-Indian activities and their anti-RSS reactionary policies. It is well known that the RSS was banned only because it refused to be a wing of the Congress. In the unfortunate murder of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress of Pandit Nehru found a convenient opportunity to crush the RSS. About 60,000 RSS workers were jailed along with famous freedom fighters like Veer Savarkar. The RSS head Guru Golwalkar asked volunteers to co-operate with the government. His advice on that occasion is memorable: "When your tongue gets bitten by your teeth one does not knock out the teeth". When all attempts of persuasion failed, the RSS started a peaceful satyagrah, still remembered for its discipline. Finally the government had to lift the ban on RSS. But the miseries of the RSS did not end with this. Twice more, it was banned, once by Indira Gandhi and then by Narasimha Rao. This is the kind of dictatorship that was imposed by successive Congress governments. Any voice of opposition was banned whenever possible. It is only through the extreme sacrifices of the RSS volunteers that the organisation could be revived. Sincerely, Ravinder Gupta
Date sent: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 06:44:16 PDT
It seems Mr Shenoy is a BJP honcho. It is rather unbelievable that educated persons like Shenoy are on the side of the BJP. I think Mr Shenoy wants to show only one side of the picture. Anyhow, I agree that rioters killed a lot of innocent Hindus, but why did the Indian army loot, rape and kill thousands of innocent Muslims? If you want to show facts, do so in an unbiased and fair manner. Sardar Patel had to save the RSS because he himself was their representative in the Congress. No doubt he was a man with a great foresight and I think that is the reason he sided with the RSS . He knew they would emerge as the strongest party in the Indian political scenario in the future. I am not discussing the integrity of Harkishen Singh Surjeet because I just don't know what kind of a man he is and what his background really is. The thing I am concerned is about the denial of the RSS about its involvement in Mahatma's assassination. If the RSS was not involved in the assassination then why is it backing up Nathuram Godse's brother Gopal Godse, very well aware of his fascist views? By the way, the Nizam of Hyderabad was free to join either India or Pakistan or remain independent. This was not decided by the Nizam, but agreed upon by your beloved Sardar when he was having discussions with the British for transfer of power. You talk about him giving a loan of Rs 200 million to Pakistan. Why don't you talk about the gold India got from him not as a loan but as a gift? As a matter of fact it was the same gold that went into bullion and it is still being used. Mr Shenoy, as an Indian citizen, I am concerned with the welfare of my country. I don't see that happening with guys like you wielding the power of the pen. Here is my sincere advice, if you want to do justice to journalism then show both sides of the picture, not just the one with which you can mislead the innocent masses.
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 21:40:32 EDT
Dear Mr Shenoy, You article was very correct and showed the double talk of Communists. But you forgot one more anti-national behaviour. They supported China in the Indo-China war of 1962. How can any political party support our enemy during war? They are traitors to our country. Just because India is a free country they are still talking. They are worse than the Taliban. Wherever they have ruled, those states have never progressed. Kerala and West Bengal are examples. M S Akkoor
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 11:04:35 -0700
Hi Shenoy; Greetings to you from Seattle. I think what you have written hits the nail right on the spot. These Communists are outmoded now. Surjeet is living in a different world. He should retire gracefully rather than holding dreams of becoming prime minister at such a tender age -- 80+! Methinks Comarde Surjeet " satiaya gaya hai ". The whole Communist party should be disbanded since their ideology is antiquated. Ananth
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 13:56:28 -0400
Excellent article. Proves once again that Sardar Patel was one of the most important personalities of Indian history. Good writing by Shenoy.
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 13:50:04 -0400
Excellent article. It is only in countries like India that defeated and divisive casteist parties come to power through lies. Of all the people the Communist parties of India can never preach about peace and nation building as their policies have ruined half the world. Look to West Bengal and Kerala for industrial advances; we see none. Let's hope someday these hypocrites just fade away and never come back. Ganesh
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 13:06:53 -0400
Brilliantly factual. Ashish Chandra
Date sent: Thu, 15 Oct 1998 13:04:40 -0400
God! It was good to read this article. Finally somebody thought it necessary to clear the name of the RSS. Its image has been tainted so much by allegations that the real image has not been able to reach the common man. Thanks, Mr Shenoy for speaking the TRUTH. Sonal
Date sent: Mon, 5 Oct 1998 08:26:32 -0700
Narayan! Narayan! What will it take to get you to see Bihar as the most "bekar" state of India? Shenoy, is right in pointing out that President's rule has to be administered when there is no law and order. Every civilised society has law and order, a good legal system and a system of punishment. In Bihar, the Yadavs can flout all laws, and impose strong arm tactics. Let the armed forces rule India for some time. The orange and white topiwallas will totally ruin this Ram Janmabhoomi. Please NO Sonia or Sharad and the Congress crooks.
Date sent: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 14:27:02 -0500
Congratulations on publishing a well-thought and carefully argued piece. The pseudo-secularists, the politically ignorant, and the BJP -baiters may sing the praise of President Narayanan now, but I believe that the President did a tremendous harm to the country by rejecting the BJP government's suggestion for bringing Bihar to heel.
Closepet Ramesh, Phd
Date sent: Sun, 04 Oct 1998 12:29:20 +0530
Kudos to TVR for his excellent writeup. But on one aspect he is silent like other writers. That is regarding the near unanimous encomiums heaped on Mr KRN for his actions. The Hindu editor even sacrificed his holiday to pen an editorial on a Sunday about the noble action of Mr KRN. The important issue is whether we have converted to a presidential form of government wherein the nod of the President becomes more critical than that of the cabinet. The way to hell is paved with extremely good intentions. Imagine the then President Zail Singh not giving a nod for presidential rule in Punjab (to spite Rajiv), or some other President in the future feels that Kashmir is more safe in the hands of the Hurriyat Conference than under central rule. Imagine that former prime minister Mr Chandra Sekhar, who dismissed the DMK government (because he found that the confidential dialogue between the PM and CM is leaked to the LTTE) finds that the President does not agree with him! Another issue is the total partisanship of the legal profession and journalists which is detrimental to our polity. The governor cannot be right since he belongs to the "saffron brigade." But Mr KRN is right since he is the upholder of federalism. Suppose the roles are reversed in future -- namely a "saffron" member sits as President at Raisina Hill and Mr Yechuri as Home Minister under Sonia Gandhi wants to invoke the Article in Maharashtra and the President turns it down. Will the reaction be same? This aspect has not been dealt with by TVR. By returning both times the decision of the Cabinet (once during the Gujral government), Mr KRN has possibly expressed a political message about his dislike for Article 356. It is incumbent on Mr.KRN as well as the government to enunciate the time and place when the Article becomes applicable. Otherwise having it in the Constitution and not capable of using it by the Cabinet injects a completely new message in our polity. A circumcised and restricted Cabinet is neither desirable nor visualised by the founders of our Constitution. There is need for a healthy debate about the powers of the President in our system which is merely ornamental and advisory. He is to act as philosopher and guide based on the briefings of the PM. The PM represents the one and only power centre in our polity (irrespective of who sits where) and the unbridled enthusiasm in making the President play an active role is contrary to the cannons of our Republic. Mr KRN in an interview to Mr N Ram of Frontline on the eve of the last Independence day suggested that he would not be a rubber stamp President. The follow-up questions on this was not put to him by the helpful journalist. Recently a spate of articles have appeared that praised Mr KRN for justifying India's nuclear explosion and the secular constitution in Germany. Does he have a choice? As the constitutional (even though titular) head, he truly and fully represents the Republic as advised by the Cabinet. By trying to vest more importance and to prod for "ACTIVE "or "ACTIVIST" head will be unfortunate since it will be divisive and a great disservice to the polity and, more importantly, to our Republic. Wish TVR had probed that angle! Prof R Vaidyanathan |
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