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September 1, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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How Readers responded to Dilip D'Souza's recent columns
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 12:39:09 PDT
It is difficult to forge a cogent reply to a largely incoherent article. But you make certain presumptions that I would like to challenge. The BJP government has been in power for five months. I do not know what they will accomplish in five years, but even their harshest critics, thinking or unthinking, will accept that five months is hardly enough to make even the right noises on different issues, forget making real progress. Dilip thinks writing Jai Hind or Vande Mataram at the end of emails does not matter. Fine, at least it makes him think. But the Indians he talks about so disparagingly are the same who put their money in by buying RIBs, by creating FCNR deposits, by buying India GoldBonds and all the rest. The rating agencies may think India is a basket case, but we don't. It is an economy helped by these contributions that gives Mr D'Souza the Internet space to continue his whining and whimpering. About the BJP: Did Mr D'Souza notice how the Opposition did not even try to make any noise about the allegations of bribery in the PMO that Jayalalitha threw around? Did he notice that after a long, long time we have a PM whose character is above suspicion -- so much so that even the Opposition realises the futility of trying to cast aspersions on him? Does he remember that this PM is a BJP PM? Prem
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:13:46 PDT
Another one from Dillip D'Souza! I don't know what exactly he is trying to say -- is he saying that we (here in the USA ) shouldn't have supported our motherland in the Time magazine poll? Or he is trying to say that a person is patriotic only when he stays in India?
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:01:37 -0400
Dear Mr Dilip D'Souza, Your article obviously missed the mark by a day. The response to the Resurgent India Bonds were a whopping $ 4.16 Billion (with a capital B). So it is not just 'mouse clicking' patriotism we are talking about here. We also talk with our cheque books. For a change, look at what good you can do for our country rather than just resort to government bashing all the time. Ranga Padmavijayam
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:35 -0400 (EDT)
(I do not think you will publish this...) Dilip, Wake up. And stop criticising the BJP, in power for the past five months, for a phone connection that was applied 10 years ago, during your favourite Congress rule. Are you upset because you hear Vande Mataram on the phone which hurts your religious sentiments? And you call yourself a secular fellow? You think that before voting for your country, one should stop, take a look at what it is, think whether the third person (in USA) is going to note it or not, and then decide. You are such a pain in the butt. You complain about everything that happens in India, currently infected by the Blame-it-on-BJP virus. Write an article telling us what you do to add your bit to better the Indian conditions... By the way, why celebrate 15th Aug/26th Jan? Just hoisting Indian flag won't prove your patriotism anyway, right? Write one positive, no-complaint article. Don't be a cry-baby all the time. Milind
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 11:25:16 -0400
Come to Canada, Mr D'Souza, your land of dreams. Spare Hindustan your wisdom and come here where you will be among your own kind. There is a chance that you may not be completely accepted and may be told 'GO HOME'. If you still need help emigrating, I could start a SAVE D'Souza (and thus SAVE INDIA!) Fund.
Bhushan
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:01:38 -0500
That was an interesting article. While I tend to agree with what the author says, here are a couple of thoughts that have crossed my mind: True wielding the mouse to vote for India's support has not had any direct benefit to our country. But at least there was an overwhelming desire among the Indian population that India should win the poll. And I am not sure if this was done to prove a point to the Americans. Any site anywhere might have had the same result. About constructive patriotism. Most people here want to do something for India, but are totally lost as to how to go about it. So, probably, if a site like Rediff comes up with a means by which Indians can contribute to their country within their time and budget constraints, I am sure lots of people will be interested. There are many foundations and associations that are doing excellent work in this regard, and, probably, their work can also be published.
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:48:11 -0500
Dilip D'Souza, I prefer to stop reading this article here. You don't get telephones, even if you do, they don't work... Stop crying now. I strongly believe your writings aren't worth a place on REDIFF or my time. Subba
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:55:16 -0500
Mr Dilip D'souza either appears to be too naive or ill informed regarding the working of the USA, the democracy. Here, the fate of presidents are made and un-made by opinion polls. Being on the right side or morally correct does not help unless your point of view is conveyed to others. The majority of Indian-Americans/NRIs felt elated by Pokhran II, rightly so, and expressed themselves freely in a free country. It was the leftist fringe who were oblivious to the capability of the Communist China, who had reservations regarding the Indian action. Rather than poke fun at the patriotism that made Indians in USA participate in those opinion polls, people like Mr D'Souza should realise that carrying American public opinion with you can have many benefits. The least being, India would be properly understood as a vibrant democracy which wants to take decisions based on its national interest.
If Mr D'Souza has ideological differences with the BJP government, let him keep those to himself, rather than make snide comments at people who want to display their patriotism. At least in the USA, where you see the national flag flying high everywhere, being patriotic and showing it is not considered an aberration. Some resident Indians want to ape the West in other matters but as far as being openly patriotic they seem to fight shy. I cannot understand their need for being subtle.
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 21:03:35 PDT
Once again Dilip goes to his pet theme -- BJP bashing. He mentions some one who has not got a phone line since 1988 and blames the BJP govt for that! Every one knows that the BJP has been in power only for 5 months, which is 4% of the time since 1988. Why does not Dilip write against the Congress which was ruling most of time? Next he shifts gears and starts bashing the Indians on the Internet. He says voting in polls is no use. I think this he is totally wrong! In USA, a lot of critical decisions are taken based on the polls -- eg Monica Lewinsky's case. I have been living in the US for a while and I can vouch that polling, publicising your ideas etc is very critical if you want to get anything done here! I agree that Indians should go beyond that and try to do more constructive things. But that message is almost lost when it is enveloped in such idiotic statements. Hope Rediff gets better writers than Dilip! Karthik Obla
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 14:53:34 -0700
I agree with D'Souza's view on Indians trying to achieve an orchestrated 'victory over the Chinese' in the Time poll, that it's no more than paying 'click' service to patriotism. There was a poll conducted by -- I think -- the BBC a couple of years ago, in which the expatriate Indian community ensured that Advani was voted the Most Popular Person (or something similar). Ultimately the result was rejected because it had been achieved by (in this case, not the BJP's) propaganda. Another example of such 'nationalism' was the behaviour of some Indian spectators, who abused the Pakistani cricketers verbally, at last year's Sahara Cup cricket matches in Canada. There seems to be a thin line dividing 'partisan' from 'patriotic', at least in some people's minds.
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 16:21:23 -0600
Dear Dilip D'Souza, After reading your column and thinking about it, I couldn't help wondering why an "intelligent" columnist like you wrote this on Rediff instead of writing straight to some civil servant in India or the Indian PM. The reason is clear, you want your idea to be known to the whole world. And you may want to influence the people with your ideas. That exactly is the reason why the Indians with a mouse within their reach clicked on the Time poll. The people who voted in this, didn't think of influencing Clinton. But they thought of influencing ordinary Americans, who get very little non US news. By hearing Vande Mataram on the phone sometimes, we may not lose anything. I am not saying this is a way of showing patriotism. But by hearing this, one out of 90 million Indians may think about what he can do for India. So don't blame Vajpayeeji's government, for not giving the phone connection for 10 years. Vajpayeeji ruled just 150 days in that last 10 years. Give him some more time. If possible, ask Jayalalita to give Vajpayeeji some time to concentrate on real problems. Reddy
Date sent: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 21:29:03 -0400
I do not agree with your assessment but I think your column was very good. Would you rather have Indians not network and vote in the polls? That would cause you to gripe later that Indians did not even bother to vote given that the Chinese in their usual enterprising, no-nonsense way left no stone unturned to win even a seemingly insignificant poll. Granted the bomb does nothing to improve the life of the common man, but Indians do not live on bread alone. In the context of the public/media opinion in the USA, I submit that a loss of this 'vote' would have encouraged opponents of India's interests. I frankly fail to see how else India or Indians could have reacted whether or not the poll was prefaced by the Pokhran blast.
Date sent: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 09:54:06 +0800
There are other issues that require Web space more than this worthless piece by Dilip. Please be selective about the articles you publish. Vigyani |
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