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January 28, 1999
SPECIALS
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'We should seriously consider inviting the British back'How Readers reacted to Varsha Bhosle's recent columnsDate sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 22:30:17 PSTFrom: "Nikhil Dharmadhikari" <d_nikhil@hotmail.com> Subject: The preying Christians Kudos to Varsha. She has done it again. Nobody else has written a more factual analysis of the issue of Christian missionaries and conversions. It is another slap on the face of the so-called secularists. Varsha, you are the only unbiased columnist in the English press right now. All the others consider it their sacred duty to criticise and belittle Hinduism. Keep it up. I am eagerly waiting for your next column. Nikhil
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 16:27:11 -0500
It was truly magnetic. A very on-the-target article. I couldn't agree more on what Varsha is said. Hopefully the guilty and the not-so-guilty will realise their foolishness and try to correct them. Krishna
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 11:49:18 -0800
Varsha Bhosle as usual writes an article which runs like a monkey's tail. It is very difficult to find what exactly she wants. In this article she writes somewhere: "What I will do is address the Parivar..." Now a days, even in the US, I am meeting lot of these "MODERN HINDUS" or "HINDU VISIONARIES" who always:
1. Think they can think better than any ordinary Hindu.
Bhosle is just one of them. But, she has used a nice word "ADDRESS." She is always one step ahead. Who cares whether the Parivar listens to her or not, but in her record she can always say she has "ADDRESSED". So that she is safe. If Parivar says, "Hey little girl, we know all that ..." then Varsha can say, "Look you, I am ADDRESSING you. Did I tell that you don't know all these? Did I tell that you are not doing anything? Did I tell you have to listen to me? Did I? I want to put in my record that I have ADDRESSED you..."
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 10:50:39 -0600 (CST)
Varsha Bhosle, thy name is inconsistency. So what if some Christian priests are playing tricks with the local populace? At least they are giving the tribals some modicum of respect. There is no justification for this sort of mayhem, ever. If Vajpayee wants to have a debate on conversions first he should put everybody responsible for burning down the churches into jail. Also, don't forget Advani. Half of Pakistan's problems were solved when Advani migrated to India. Revoke his citizenship and send him to Kabul. I am sure he will enjoy the company of the Taliban. I think we should seriously consider inviting the British back. In fact we, the people of India, should sub-contract India to the British. Like Kerala became the first state to elect a communist government, we will become the first country to democratically vote for foreign bondage. Hey, may be the Guinness Book will become interested in this trivia. We will pay the British a hefty fee to manage India. If they don't do a satisfactory job we can always protest at the WTO. A division of the British army should be enough to rein in India. The average Indian will be elated. Already given a chance he/she would love to seek refuge in the West (actually a good bachelor thesis project would be to figure out what percentage of Hinduvadis have close relatives in the Christian West.) In this case the ferangi will come to India. What a bonanza! India will become like the Falklands. Only slightly bigger. Sanjay Chawla
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 12:20:37 -0500
I request Varsha to avoid writing about things that may kindle hatred between people in India. She is living safely in the USA. She should use her writing to benefit humanity and Indians rather than fanning the fire of hatred. It is high time for Rediff also to avoid these kind of articles. Presley Varsha Bhosle lives in India.
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 18:09:48 -0800
My sentiments exactly! The US foreign policy I think is way too aggressive.
Venkat Kumar
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 16:32:49 -0800
America's atrocities in Vietnam can be read from journals written by actual combat soldiers. Many of them who returned robbed banks, raped and maimed people because of lack of supervision in Vietnam. Of course, America classifies that as the Vietnam Syndrome and gives them mental health benefits. America's present concern should be about the way they treat Blacks, Native Indians and Hispanics. India could not have had such a big vibrant Christian community if we were constantly hounding them. All this publicity is because they want Sonia to lead the country and fire Vajpayee from the chair. A very good article, Varsha.
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 16:45:20 -0600
Bhosle is tiresome. She is ignorant. And she is inconsistent. The only consistency in her writings is when she seeks to uphold the recidivist Hindutva ideology. In her warped mind, one wrong justifies another. Rather than breaking out of a cycle of wrongdoing, she advocates further wrongdoing. The least that Rediff can do is ensure that she does not advocate or endorse criminal and extra-constitutional activity.
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:57:45 -0600
As a Christian who also happens to be an American, it may come as a surprise that I agree with some of your claims concerning the US HR violations. But, this does not serve as an excuse for India to turn its national head the other way concerning its own problems. The goal should be to make all people aware of all HR violations regardless of borders, and not to point fingers at other countries. By the way, don't assume that all Catholics are Christians.
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 21:38:29 -0800
I have disagreed with some of Varsha's stances in the past, but she is right on the button on this issue. It would be wise for India's policymakers to be mindful of the adage coined, I think, by a US president earlier in this century: "America does not have friends, America has interests". Kris Chandrasekar
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 23:46:37 -0700
I do not understand what point she was trying to get across in this article? If it was about the USA's habit of sticking their finger into every country's internal affairs, and that too only the way it interests them, then everyone is already aware of it. Such a waste of space! Mohit
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 11:10:53 -0800
Excellent analysis. Hope the Indian government and the world learn something soon.
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 09:07:58 -0800
Another excellent one from Varsha. I hope Rediff news reporters make a note of this. The other day I was reading a news article by George Iype trying some "alarmist" reporting about US taking note of atrocities against minorities in Gujarat. He, in essence, said: Vatican is concerned, US is worried; My God! what will we do? I used to wonder whether reporters like these really have spine? I am convinced now that they don't. That news article was truly self-flagellation exemplified. I really liked Varsha's comments there regarding getting our buttocks flogged. Another point that Varsha makes regarding the Bangladeshi infiltration has profound significance. For the last 25 years, the RSS has been crying itself hoarse about this issue, but then it was a "communal" act. Suddenly a communist, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, makes a volte-face and the issue is legitimate! It is precisely this tendency and attitude of the secularists that I find most appalling. "What the RSS says is certainly wrong, but it is right only when we parrot the same things after a few decades!" And the English media, to suit their perverse mind-set, plays along. I cannot but feel grateful to Varsha that she is able to bring these issues to the fore. And what makes her article more credible that they are based on statistics and facts, unlike those of the D'Souzas, Sanghvis and Sivaswamys. Sameer
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 22:11:31 +0530
An article that talked sense -- at least for the most part! American foreign policy has been hypocritical. The reference to landmines missed one important point. Bill Clinton in 1994 was the one to initiate the treaty. In 1997, he flatly refused! He expected opposition from several countries and thought it won't be accepted. In the meantime, he could lay claim to the Nobel Prize! The Khmer Rouge was also funded and armed by America -- by the other president who is trying for the Nobel Prize, Jimmy Carter. The USA has sponsored terrorism in many places. Their foreign policy is hypocritical but we should stop with pointing out that. We shouldn't use their flawed foreign policy as an excuse to criticise everything about USA and justify all our drawbacks. This is a trap that you have fallen into. In the past few articles, you unnecessarily devote a paragraph to US bashing even in cases where it is totally unjustified. How does this justify the VHP's attacks? The law allows propagation of one's religion but a court ruling stated that this does not mean a right to convert. So we do have adequate laws. If at all anyone indulged in conversion, they could have been booked. After all the government in power is that of the BJP. Arvind
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 15:46:08 PST
A very interesting article indeed. I would like to add a few comments: Like various governments have taken up the case of attacks on the Christian community with our government, why does India not take up the beating of black Christian Rodney King by fellow white Christian police officers? Why do we not take up the recent case when black Christian farmers were being denied loans by commercial banks here? Or another recent one in which a black Christian was dragged with a vehicle by white Christians? There are several other such cases. In fact almost every case of racial discrimination in the US can be seen in this light. It is oft repeated that Hinduism has inherent caste system. Hindu books like the Gita have no mention of caste. It is a social practice much as racist discrimination (which is not sanctioned by Christian philosophy) is never the less a very omnipresent social culture in Christian countries including 'free' America. May be the Pope, who had the audacity to mention that upper caste Hindus were victimising the lower caste converted Christians, should realise that though worldwide there are more brown, black and yellow Christians, no Roman Catholic Pope has ever been from these communities. Also, in America guided by Christian values, black Christians are not only economically and politically deprived but could also be bought and sold, flogged, lynched and killed until a few decades ago. Segregation of black and white churches, schools, even public toilets was official policy until recently. Also, those missionaries who are 'saving' our people from Hinduism should display prominently in their pamphlets some of these facts and then let the tribals decide whether they are indeed converting to a faith where all are equal. If you come across people dying of starvation, should you first ask them to convert to your faith and then feed them and if they refuse let them die? People like Mother Teresa are the true Christians whose contribution is to humanity and not a socio/political organisation called religion and that is why poor Hindu India recognised her as a saint when her own people were lost in the grandiose funeral of a princess. Shantanu Negi
Date sent: Thu, 14 Jan 1999 10:39:35 PST
A few thoughts of mine:
1. In India the Christian missionaries attack Hindu religion and the VHP attacks the churches.
Balakrishnan
Date sent: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 14:45:29 -0600
My first visit to Rediff! Varsha B's column is the thing that will bring me back to the site! Great column and great thoughts, keep it up! You might be the only patriotic journalist left in the country. The rest have sold their soul to the devil -- the CIA. Milan Patel
Date sent: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 08:20:07 -0800
Varsha, The United States and Human Rights are antonyms in my dictionary. Rajeev Srinivasan's article few weeks back (and my response) highlighted America's policy that is effectively an anti-thesis to human rights. Human rights, or rather abuses, would find its way to the state departments printing press regarding countries that are supposedly *enemies* of the US. The School of America (now figuratively known as School of Assassins) formed in Panama about half a century ago, to train Latin America on political freedom, free market economy and human rights and social welfare have spurned some of the worst-ever dictators living on the face of this earth. The SOA is funded by the Pentagon and is part of the IMET program. This is all part of the US taxpayers' money. Previous brutal regimes in Argentina, Brazil, Chile (now famous Pinochet), Nicaragua, Greneda, Panama, El Salvador... the list goes on and on, all had the blessings of the US. The most classic hypocrisy was in Panama's case. The notorious dictator Noriega was on the CIA's payroll and now is languishing in US prisons, only because he began to oppose free market economy and had begun to strike a good rapport with his northern neighbour Fidel Castro. Now turning to our own Asia, the support accorded to Suharto's regime since 1965, a million or more killed since his East Timor invasion, support to Shah of Iran and his repressive regime, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Israel, Turkey, Thailand, Algeria. Wow...the list is indeed very big. India should come out with a human rights watch list, pass it around the world regarding human rights abuses elsewhere. Wouldn't that be a good start, rather than trying to straighten a dog's tail? Ramsundar Lakshminarayanan
Date sent: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 14:05:49 EST
Excellent. Keep it up, Varsha! No, you don't have scales and horns. You are an angel of truth. Ramesh |
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