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July 1, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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How Readers responded to Dilip D'Souza's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 19 Jun 1998 09:11:29 -0700 Why doesn't D'Souza go to Pakistan and write an article about the plight of Christians there? Why does he keep harping in his pathetic manner about Hindus in India? Madhu Gurnani
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 20:19:40 EDT Let me start with a very very mild statement about this article: It is UTTERLY BIASED. The Pardhis have problems, fine -- but how are these related to the Hindutva champions? First you say it's a legacy traceable to the British and in 1871 one Mr T V Stephens implemented the act making them hereditary criminals. Was T V Stephens a Hindutva champion? Then you talk about the conversion of Hindus to other religions. Are you saying only policemen who are Hindus catch Pardhi husbands to have sex with their brides? Do you think that the Christians, Muslims etc are angels? Don't you think that it's just human (animal inside) nature to eat his lesser beings? Proof of this lies everywhere, in every intersection of space or time. Read a bit of history to know what the British did to India. They behaved like animals! It's not that the Christians did this to Hindus, it's just that some human beings did this to other human beings who were weaker and/or didn't want to do ahimsa. So is the case with the Pardhis today (or any poor person on this face of earth). They are being used, exploited and made to live in dirt. And this is not because of Hindutva champions. And don't worry about the Hindu society conversion. Hindus still thrives even after many got converted to Christianity and Islam either by force or by dollars. Hinduism will thrive forever.
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 12:33:37 -0700 Dilip D'Souza clearly has been politically and religiously motivated to write this article. But he tries to speak like a moralist -- a preacher, really. Reverend D'Souza is guilty of exploiting localised unfortunate episodes across the vastness of India to satisfy his hidden agenda of castigating Hinduism in favor of justifying and promoting conversion to Christianity. When injustices are done, the right course is to help the hand of justice instead of scoring political points in favor of conversions. Mr D'Souza has not said whether he helped in this cause of justice. So, I assume he failed in helping. But Dilip, instead, just thought it fit to take pleasure in unfairly accusing Hindutva champions, who have come to power only recently and who have no direct or indirect hand in this. I think Rediff owes us a report on what Home Minister Gopinath Munde, a Hindutva champion, now that he has been made aware, is doing or has done for helping the unfortunate Pardhis. It is safe to say neither Dilip nor Rediff will show any interest in Munde's actions because they know Hindutvavadis are for reforming Hindu society's ills. Pradip Parekh
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 13:10:10 -0400 Mr D'Souza I am a frequent reader of your articles. I felt disgusted about a lot of people after reading about the plight of the Pardhis. But I did not see the Hindutva connection in it. How come the majority of articles end up getting a religious angle? As far as I saw it, it was just an abuse of power and taking advantage of the helpless. In the US a lot of Blacks converted to Islam protesting against racism which they said had Christian roots and I still don't understand what religion had to do with it. Prejudices cannot be changed by taking an anti-religious stance, can it? It is a matter of benevolence and awareness not religion. When educated people see a religious angle in everything, it is truly demotivating.
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 16:46:25 +0100 Dear Mr D'Souza, I totally agree with your views regarding the tribe and their social status but I strongly object to the comments you have made regarding the BJP-SS government. It has been only three to four years since the government has taken over. The problems regarding the community are more than fifty years old. If you visit rural Maharashtra you will come to know that people are very much prejudiced about the community. The police as always tend to harass someone in a bad situation so it is a general problem as far as the police are concerned. I feel that with the help of people like you we all should try and remove the old views about the community from the mind of the people rather than pointing our fingers towards the administration. Sandeepak Natu
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 09:11:10 -0400 It's one of the most touching stories I have ever read. It's really sad to learn that while on one hand we are advancing towards the 21st century by pursuing nuke tests, satellite programs, hi-speed computers and so on, there are still many people who are living in the shade of darkness. Pani Dwarakanath
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 04:17:40 It is a shame that things like this happen in our country. The government should take some strict measures to stop this.
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 00:02:24 -0400 It is an excellent article. But all the ills which our country is facing today cannot be blamed on the few-months-old BJP-led central government or a few-years-old BJP-Sena state government. It is the mindset of the people and the psyche in general to blame for such inhuman events. Education and willingness to fight for justice in a disciplined way, and not conversion, is the way out. I still cannot understand why the author has taken a dig at Hindutva (cultural nationalism). Whether one agrees with it or not, criminal behaviour has nothing to do with any ideology except for Marxism where violence may be used to achieve the goal. Please keep the good work going. This kind of eye opening reports are rare to read. Shyam Tiwari
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 19:54:50 -0400 What a moving article! Dilip D'Souza has a real feel and feeling for these underprivileged, exploited, downtrodden people. He should stick to penning articles on social issues such as this one which really need publicising. He should however absolutely stop writing articles on international politics, global strategy and nuclear policy for India -- his knowledge and understanding of realpolitik is shallow and often plain wrong. India definitely needs to do the right thing not only by the Pardhis but also by all the other tribals and other exploited communities. It is a tragedy that such efforts are hijacked by uneducated blackguards, taking advantage of the caste issue, like Laloo Prasad and Mulayam Singh.
Date sent: Thu, 18 Jun 1998 20:02:16 -0600 I agree with D'Souza that the nuclear capacity has changed little. If anything, it enhanced the security threat from China and Pakistan, thanks to America's eagerness to please the Chinese. Since an all-out war with any country is ruled out in the present scenario, only the covert war which is being waged on the Kashmir front has any implications. One can expect China to tilt even more towards Pakistan. It is possible the whole country will support nuclear blasts, if a nationwide poll were to be conducted. Getting such support depends on what kind of propaganda is drummed up. If the government, with copious support from the media, fools people into believing that our defence has been strengthened by the blasts, it is not difficult to get widespread acceptance for something undemocratically conducted in utter secret. However, if they have to present the actual picture: no positive enhancement in security, but only the diversion of valuable funds -- which otherwise are helpful for health and education -- to the military and impoverish people further, then the reaction from the population would be less pretty. George Orwell writes that the real reason for a state of war is not to gain victory against an external enemy but to subdue and impoverish the internal population by destroying products of labour through warfare. The upgradation of weapon systems, for example, merely replaces the old hardware which was never even once put to use (since there is no overt war) and created no productive wealth. If the people are made to realise that the covert war in Kashmir in unwinnable, and only perpetuates a state of war that keeps them impoverished, then there is some hope for a better life even without nuclear bombs. But the nation's rulers who for over a half a century managed to keep nearly half the population illiterate are not going to fall for any such nonsense as informing the public through education. The educated class, particularly the NRIs, who wholeheartedly support the nuclear tests do so because they are not the losers any way. For one thing, they could garner the fruits of cheap subsidised education doled out to them (Hasn't higher education -- whose chief beneficiary is the middle class -- got a greater boost than primary education recently?). Second, they are in a very good financial position to stave off economic hardships due to sanctions while at the same time preaching the need of making "sacrifices" for the sake of national honour to the less fortunate who will be really hit by the sanctions. If there was to be a real war with Pakistan, the government would be deeply unpopular with the same sections that are supporting it, as this would directly hurt economic interests badly through flight of capital. However, a low intensity war -- such as in Kashmir -- would do just fine as it hurts only the poor illiterate sections who are any way out of the media focus and are conveniently out of consideration. When needed, this also allows them to rally these masses behind slogans of "national security" without delivering it, and churn out nonsense of "national pride" in the guise of patriotism while ignoring their poverty.
Srikanth
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jun 1998 22:58:39 -0500 (EST) This email might be a little out of date, but after going through almost all of Dilip's articles and all the emails that were sent to him, especially the ones about the nukes, I felt I really have to say something to preserve the notion that we are an intelligent race. Ok, now it's all good that Indians are patriotic and celebrating the fact that we can obliterate a couple of million people and mutate DNA for a couple of generations, and oh yes, "technology"... we have used technology that was much better than what the US used for their nukes, I believe that's what one of your illustrious readers said... well, that's well and good... so basically just "to prove" that we are technologically more competent than a $ 3 trillion economy, we go around blowing bombs and pointing fingers at the big-5 because of their double standards vis-a-vis China! Look, if we have to "prove" that we are technologically more competent... we don't need weapons... we just need to build our country -- which is a better showcase of technology: being a strong software centre, building cutting edge power plants, refineries, strong telecom network, high quality irrigation systems so that we have more food for our millions... All these or blowing up bombs that are capable of making Hiroshima look like something you learn in kindergarten? I'm really sad to notice that someone would consider a weapon of destruction to be much more advanced than one of creation... a simple example from nature, if I may -- it is so easy to kill... but creation? So, now is Dilip trying to say that all Indians are dumb because they support the nukes? No, what he is trying to see is WHY are our minds clouded? At first, when I heard about the nukes, I was shocked. Then hearing all reports, I felt as if I was being compelled to celebrate, or be branded, "unpatriotic"... ouch! Essentially, what's clouding all of our minds here is the fact that we are side-stepping the issue by bringing in things like double-standards and bullying by Western powers... yes, it might be true. But that is beside the point. We are not kids... and are not playing kids games that have rules and regulations. Hell, we don't even know who has control over our nuclear arsenal! The fact is, in global politics, it's how you can help others so that they can help you. China can afford all its human rights abuses, nukes and everything, without threat of sanctions, because it offers the West something they cannot live without -- the smell of money. Its true -- it's economic prosperity that drives every nation, not nuclear distater. And please, let's forget that silly argument, "oh, we are better than Pakistan, or Timbuktu"... Let's forget the games we used to play as kids, and remember that it takes more to be a global power than "if he can do it, so can we." I congratulate Dilip on being bold enough to confront the truth at the cost of being mauled by people blinded in their patriotism. Dilip is a patriot, don;t get him wrong -- but he is patriotic to the land that he can grow a future on, not one that reeks of radiation and genetic mutation. Thanks for providing one of the best articles I've read for a long time. Amit |
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