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January 9, 1999
ELECTIONS '98
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'The Shiv Sena needs to be exterminated'
How Readers reacted to Arvind Lavakare's recent columns
Date: Sun, 07 Feb 1999 19:45:27 -0500
I hope Rediff resumes its practice of posting responses to the articles it publishes. We need more of such exposures as you have done, Arvind. The English media does not seem to have time to do its homework in its hurry to get the sensationalised article out. Well said, sir. Joshi
Date:
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 10:34:52 -0800
First of all, we truly believe that the Shiv Sena has the courage ONLY to attack movie theatres, cricket association offices, stadiums etc. This itself gives a very good picture of what Thackeray and his Shiv Sena are capable of doing. Why the hell aren't they in Kashmir, Punjab & North-East? And if Arvind believes in getting the anti-Pakistani attitude burning up by talking 'bout our sisters getting raped etc etc by Pakistan, it's just plain sentimental bullshit journalism. I'm surprised that he's on the Rediff panel in the first place. If only he knew that those feelings are exactly what Pakistani citizens think of Indian forces doing in Kashmir -- raping and killing innocent people! It's high time that we admit that both the countries are playing the dirty game. India thru the RAW and Pakistan thru the ISI are the SAME. We do it in Karachi and they do it in Kashmir/Punjab. So why the hell so much bullshit about we being the upholders of law and Pakistan being the sole aggressor? WE'RE BOTH SAME. It's really disgusting to come across a journalist who actually portrays Thackeray as a good leader. The Shiv Sena has to be wiped out if there has to be any chance for Mumbai (first) and India to be cleansed up and develop itself. Just look at the current state of affairs in India. The Shiv Sena/Bajrang Dal/RSS/VHP has to be exterminated. They have truly been a disgrace to the country in the eyes of the world. What we need is some truly secular party like the Congress to govern the country for the next 20 years to bring India back on the path of advancement.
Ashok
Date:
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 14:08:05 -0500 (EST)
I support what Arvind says in his article. The part about Thackeray's thinking being right but his execution being wrong is also correct; exactly what I was thinking. Most of us think that noble intentions and actions reward us with only good, which is true only in an ideal world. To assume that good begets good, without understanding the true nature of the enemy is gross foolishness and totally naïve, in reality. Well, for people who don't believe that, read the article once again more carefully for more examples.
Date:
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 13:56:48 -0600
It is rather sad that Rediff /EM> continues to allow columnists to encourage and incite the commission of crimes. Lavakare has shown, like other apologists for the excesses of the Sangh Parivar, a notable lack of objectivity or respect for the rule of law, for human rights, and for the Constitution.
Just yesterday, we celebrated our Republic Day. This day nearly 50
years ago Indian citizens gave themselves a Constitution that guarantees individuals the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. As Indian citizens with self-determination, we have the power to decide who governs us and how. However, we also recognise that the government cannot overstep the bounds set by the Constitution. We recognise what it means to be unconstitutional.
Bal Thackeray exemplifies contempt for the Constitution and for the rule of law in India. By no stretch can he be called "nationalistic", for anyone that does not respect India's Constitution and its rule of law is an enemy of the state. The only difference between Bal Thackeray and the "terrorists" he rails about is religion. Lavakare and others of his ilk seem to believe that by virtue of being nominally Hindu, Thackeray cannot but be nationalistic. Think again, and be consonant and consistent in your thinking process. Ask yourself, in this day and age, WHAT IS AN INDIAN if it is not one that swears allegiance to its Constitution and its rule of law. If you do not believe in, stand for, and swear to uphold the Constitution you are a criminal and perhaps,
even worse, a seditionist and guilty of treachery.
On another note, if Lavakare and his fundamentalist friends would like to protest at this cricket tour, then like men, let them boycott it. Let them do what they can, let them vote with their pocketbooks, without infringing on the rights of others. Lavakare and his fundamentalist friends are so lazy that they think by virtue of "belonging" to a majority community they have a right to impose their viewpoints on the public. Even if the public rights are infringed and trod upon. Well, they need to think again. We are a Republican democracy. You need to convince the majority of people that you are right, and you have to do it under the Constitution of the Republic of India.
The sad thing is the picture of all these so-called "patriots" "celebrating" India's Republic Day without understanding what it means. Without understanding what the Constitution stands for. Without comprehending what India really is.
Matt Thundyil
Date:
Thu, 28 Jan 1999 11:15:11 -0500
This is the lousiest article I have ever read... the writer turns out to be a fanatic and he is trying to preach. Please don't publish such type of columns anymore on your site.
Ashok
Date:
Sat, 30 Jan 1999 22:11:57 +0400
I salute Arvind for his diatribe on the justification of politics in sports. His main intention, of course, is supporting the Shiv Sena terrorism. If playing cricket against Pakistan has not helped and hence should not be played, why hockey and other sports? Why indeed diplomatic relations? Why prime ministerial talks and other contacts? Why Arvind does not protest against those? As long as the likes of Arvind are there, politics is bound to be part of sports. Honest and peace-loving citizens of India can only pray to save India from misled people like Arvind Lavakare.
Date:
Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:47:56 -0500
Hmmm. Food for thought. Think it is on target.
Swami
Date:
Tue, 02 Feb 1999 10:06:04 -0800
Excellent article... above that, the right attitude to taking and presenting issues. Excellent, Arvindji!
Date:
Tue, 2 Feb 1999 17:57:51 -0500
This columnist is a precious jewel. His columns should also appear in the Indian Express, Times of India, Hindu and in Time and
Newsweek.
Kishor Trivedi
Date:
Tue, 2 Feb 1999 22:02:20 -0500
Excellent article! What an irony that it is printed on Rediff. But I have little (make that 'no') hope that intellectual perverts like Kuldip Nayar and Diwanji who contribute to this net-mag, or the sloppy management that runs it, will listen to this single voice of reason.
Date:
Tue, 02 Feb 1999 19:29:36 PST
Mr Lavakare has written a very balanced and sensible article. I want our English language journalist friends to explain the blunders they have made. Like not reporting that the Christians constitute half of the arrested suspects in the nuns case.
Arjun
Date:
Wed, 3 Feb 1999 00:44:50 -0500
Well said, Arvind! These presumptuous media "truth tellers" perhaps need to look into a mirror and see if they do not suffer from a "Hindu apologist riddled with incurable guilt" complex. The ghost of Gandhi -- ever so self-incriminating and even so willing to apologise -- is deeply embedded in their psyche.
It seems as if the whole horde of these 'pseudo-secular' mainstream English journalists (I don't read the non-English), in their obvious desperation to run the BJP government out of office, have chucked all responsible and proportional journalism aside and ganged up to incite public opinion against the government by blowing up every incident into poisonous bantering and 'Hindu' bashing.
The Congress, the Communists, or whatever else the patronage of English media may be, its 'piling up' zeal is culpable and almost certain to boomerang with an even greater fundamentalist tide sweeping India in the near future. Giddy though they are over the Onion God's recent blessing, their darling -- the great white hope -- is going nowhere, even if she actually ascends the dynastic ladder of sycophants to become PM. Action and reaction are equal and opposite is not just a law of nature, it is an established fact in political history.
Meanwhile, each day, expect to be visited upon, in the media headlines, by some Tom, Dick or Harry (the Onion God, the Goddess Jayalalitha or Bajrangbali Dara Singh -- if you may) that is just about to dig Mr Vajpayee a grave. The view and the news is always accusatory, almost never supported by judicious facts, and invariably follows the blind logic of 'guilt by association'. Right here, on our dearRediff, you see a daily barrage of malicious and unsupported opinions (Sanghvi and associates) and slanted and exaggerated reporting (George Iype and associates).
It is also obvious that the insanely repetitious bantering by these desi demagogues has been the fodder that the international media (brimming with Christian faithful) feeds upon. It has all but perpetrated the Hindu stereotype and painted in a broad brush the world over Hinduism as an extremist creed. Here in the US, it is so hard for a lay person to meet a Hindu and not wonder if this guy is not an insane fundamentalist (about to toss some nukes). What many centuries of infights, barbaric acts, pillage and millions slaughtered in Christian communities could not do to their religion, our desi media apologists have helped accomplish for the much hated Hindu due to as yet unsubstantiated incident or two.
Tarun Seam
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