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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 16:32:13 -0700 The government should take precautions that they do the hunger strike elsewhere and not in the heart of the city. This is no time to strain relations with China.
Venkat
Ohio
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 11:52:31 +0200 These former Congressmen who joined the BJP by hoping that they would be given a prosperous and luxurious life, now want to come back to the Congress. I do not think Sonia wants these selfish partymen. Sonia should not give them any place in the party. Dr Jai
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 08:21:55 PDT Well, Mr Hegde this is all bull. Do you think the tax payers's money is meant for people like you to "seek mandate" from the people of India as and when you feel somebody is asking you questions about your integrity or corrupt practices (whatsoever, I am not here to debate whether he is involved in a scam or not). The point I am trying to make here is, does Mr Hegde realise at all, how much money we have wasted just a month back on an election which should not have been, had it not been for people from his community (read politicians). The money which went into the last election could have been saved till 2001, when the next general election was scheduled. I think a day will come when the 'common man' will drag these guys out of their air-conditioned houses and bungalows and *BEAT* them black and blue till they accept they will not repeat such utterances. Of course, Ms Jayalalitha also comes under the same category.
Date sent: Tue, 21 Apr 1998 19:28:45 -0400 Give the devil an inch and and the devil will demand a yard. The BJP should go on with the corruption charges against Jaya. Why should the BJP sack its own council of ministers for corruption and ignore Jaya?
Date sent: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 12:31:37 +0900 Looks like the BJP is going crazy. Why cannot they attend to the massive ills that plague UP -- the worst of the states of India -- instead of building a temple for a Ram who we are not sure ever existed. The temple was not there for a few centuries -- even if it were there before -- so? How does it matter now? What we need is food, shelter and education right now. May be Kalyan Singh too needs some education. Uday
Date sent: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 08:48:29 -0700 Building a temple there is not going to bring real progress to the poor living near the temple. It will only enrich the pandas and the white collar temple criminals. The same thing will happen if a mosque is built in that spot. Whatever money has been earmarked for the temple should be consolidated with funds from the Muslims and a friendship hall or a gymnasium should be built for both religions. A large library with books from both faiths, a school for both faiths, toilets for every one who visits the holy shrines... There are a million other things that can unite the Muslims and Hindus than build a temple of a mosque that could trigger another religious riot. I don't know if an average Indian is so bent out of shape to get a temple, or even if a Muslim wants that. The Hindus have enough temples and the Muslims have enough mosques in India. A primary health centre for all races is also a good facility to have on god's patch of land.
Date sent: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 10:01:26 +0900 It's a pity that we are all in a very sorry state of affairs. In 1960s countries like Singapore, Vietnam etc who were far behind us in all aspects are way ahead of us now, in spite of shortage of resources. But in our case it's just the contrary. Now "Hindu fanaticism" has started contributing towards a further deterioration. I was upset after reading that the UP government is going to spend Rs 400 million for temples. It's absolutely foolish on the part of Mr Kalyan Singh (I feel really ashamed to use the word Mr. This Mr is not for the man Kalyan Singh but for the post holds) saying that it's for the "dignity, integrity... blah... blah" and so on. Spending money for maintaining old architectural values are fine, but this is just political hype and hard core drama. Our country is facing so many problems at present, and we need immediate investment in various basic amenities like health, education etc. Has Kalyan Singh satisfied the basic needs of his people, so that he has time to think about the construction of the Ram temple and invest so much on temples? I really feel sorry for these sort of useless people who are creating hatred among people just for personal gains... Shyam
Date sent: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 11:11:04 +0800 Good stuff this. It's time the language issue took it's rightful place among the various issues confronting India. Everyone from the north has been pretending that it is a figment of imagination of the non-Hindi people. Gopinath K
Date sent: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 12:21:30 -0700 The government should not go with the idea of adding other 19 languages as official languages. It will later on create lots of problems for all government officials and the general public. With the present economic crisis this may lead to wastage of tax payers money though it may create some employment. As these are of a limited duration and the government may not take full use of these employees all the time in a days work. As such, the idea mooted by Jayalalitha is useless and is definitely useful at the national level. At least she should think in terms of national interest and global perspective. Most of her ideas are like that of of a koopa mandooka (a frog in a small well thinks that well is bigger than the sea). It appears her intention is to get most out of it when the other person is in a difficult position. It will be appreciated if Vajpayee put this (and all other brutal ideas of Jayalalitha) before the Parliament for discussion and with analysts before implementing them.
Raghunandan S
Sunnyvale, CA
Date sent: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 15:07:43 -0400 It is the longfelt desire of each and every ethnic group which forms part and parcel of India to have their mother tongue as the official language of their country. A B Vajpayee will be creating history in making such an amendment to the Constitution of India, and definitely it will accelerate the cultural and emotional integration of our country. I don't know why you are opposing such an epoch making venture. Are you a Hindi fanatic? Do you think Hindi alone is qualified to be the official language of India? You are always writing against the will and wish of non-Hindi speaking ethnic groups of India. You are hurting the feelings of us who want to have our mother tongue as the official language of our country. Maraimalai
Date sent: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 18:23:58 -0400 I am a Telugu born and brought up in Tamil Nadu. I do agree that making all the 19 languages official would open a Pandora's box. But my Telugu and Tamil pride refuses to accept Hindi as an official language. Though we have the option of using English, I cannot digest the fact that Hindi is accorded such a status. I agree we all need one common language and I guess English serves that purpose. At least English is a language which can be put to use around the world and has science and technology in it which I guess is everybody's bread and butter. But why Hindi? It is a useless language of a couple of states like UP and Bihar which are a shame to the nation. Those stupid states just by numerical advantage are taking the nations other hardworking states for a ride. I guess those states and their languages don't even deserve equal status. Hence my view is that they should remove Hindi from the status of an official language. Vignesh
Date sent: Mon, 13 Apr 1998 10:39:04 -0700 This is an issue that is peculiar to India and I can't see any wisdom is seeking parallels with similar "catastrophes." Language is about accessibility for the common man. Can anyone deny that there are hundreds of millions in India who don't use either English or Hindi? To these, the central government remains an alien entity, disconnected from their problems and needs. What puzzles me is how did the forefathers of our Constitution not care to address this issue? Did they consider the role of the central government to be purely superficial with no clout, so communication did not matter? But, history seems to suggest otherwise. So, to me, it seems that pointing to the prohibitive logistics of addressing this important issue takes the focus out of the real problem.
Pradeep
San Diego,CA
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 17:22:44 -0700 I quite liked the piece. Having worked with Mercedes-Benz India for 25 months, it was real good reading about the strategies Dr Becker's outlined for MBIl. I was part of this strategic intent when he took over as CEO from Dr Klein Alben Hausen. I wish MBIL all the very best in all its strategies for the Indian market. Sailesh Mishra
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 08:35:07 -0400 Really great. I loved the report. There are some facts which I don't think anyone ever knew. For example, not many people would have heard of Lakshmi Mittal. Keep up the good work.
Harkirath Rehal
Orlando, Florida How Readers reacted to Ashwin Mahesh's last column
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