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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 18:12:25 -0800 Instead of just mentioning it in a article, why don't you write a strong letter and put it at the ICC's notice. Peter Van der Merve is racist. He has clearly shown this, time and again. He lets "white skinned" cricketers off the hook for all their acts and when a coloured cricketer (especially Indian) does he books them. Is the ICC top brass blind, or are they helpless in letting this exponent of racism get away scot free? In what way are white skinned people superior? Here in the USA, it is African Americans and many other coloured people who dominate sports. South African cricketers too have not learnt the lesson of spending more than 20 years in oblivion, (Remember Peter Kirsten elbowing Kapil, Donald abusing Dravid verbally... the list can go on).
Date sent: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 10:31:25 +0000 It is nothing but racism.
Date sent: Sat, 28 Mar 1998 07:14:28 -0500 Is there a bias against the Indians by the match officials? This is a question that needs to be put forth to the public.
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 14:47:06 -0800 Peter Van Der Merve actually commented only about players showing "dissent" and players showing "disappointment" (not disagreement) with respect to the umpire's decision... Prem Panicker's earlier report discussed about the dictionary meaning of dissent and disagreement at length... But I would like to bring to Prem's notice that none of the newspapers on the Net reported about the match referee discussing about dissent and disagreement... It was actually dissent and disappointment. Satish
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 20:57:14 EST The Indian cricket board should do something about this inconsistent action of the match referee. It seems he reprimands only Indians, whereas Australian cricketers go scot-free even if they show dissent. The same happened in South Africa (remember Donald on Dravid?) I suspect that the South African is racist. If the Indian board does not create an issue out of this, this will continue and will be very damaging to our cricketers. It is time that the Board supported the players! Karthik
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 13:43:17 -0500 I was not surprised to read the news of Ganguly's suspension over his dissent. However, I am sad to see that the Indian cricket authority is doing nothing to stop this biased decision. In my opinion, India should withdraw from the ODI triangular series as a protest. India should demand that Ganguly should be condoned. If he can't be forgiven, then Blewett too should be fined. Blewett ain't any special cricketer. I hope my opinion will open the eyes of a sleepy Indian cricket panel. Best of luck to India in the ODI if it participates without the golden boy. Azhar, a cricket maniac
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 13:36:13 -0500 It is obvious that Indians are being judged by a different yardstick, nay by a foot stick. How come there is leniency when dealing with the Australians. Racism? Could be -- in a subtle way, by resorting to personal judgement and not objective judgement of such disagreements or resentments. The Indian manager should take up this issue, and video clips of all the incidents should be seen again and re-evaluated. Maybe call in a neutral person and ask to assess. It would be interesting to know Venkatraghavan's opinion on this since he is one who is respected in international cricketing circles.
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 10:35:02 -0800 Quit inviting these racist match referees. Amlan
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 10:28:16 -0800 You said, and I quote, "The Indians will be asking themselves tonight if they are being judged by a different yardstick. " Why do Indians put with such discrimination, in their own land? Why don't they ask these people about their seemingly racial decisions, instead of asking themselves? Why this pussilanimity? With such abject cowardice by Indians (the Indian media even more so), no wonder people can get away even with murdering Indians. Disgusting. Simply disgusting.
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 09:45:51 -0800 That South African referee is definitely showing his racist tendencies! Why can't the Indians protest and launch a complaint? I'm sure we have video recordings to prove that both the teams are being judged by a different yardstick. This is totally unacceptable and its high time Indians learnt to raise their voice against such glaring injustice. Yaji San Diego
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 13:02:47 -0500 (EST) The Indians do not even need to ask the question. They ARE being judged by a different yardstick -- the colour of their skin. To date, I cannot recall a player being suspended from the game just because he stood for a couple of seconds, before walking. For that matter, I cannot recall a player blurting audibly: "How the hell am I out?", being let off by the referee for reasons best known to him. I do not profess that I am a big player but I will tell you this -- a questionable decision evokes a hot reaction, particularly in the heat of the moment, even at my own minor league level. For professionals not to express even the slightest frustration is like asking the ice not to melt in a hot desert. Going further on this, I still can't figure out the difference between Mongia "showing dissent" and Blewett "merely expressing disagreement". The referee, Van Der Merve, needs to look into the possibility of getting a refresher course on how to make unambiguous statements on record. If promoting "gentlemanly conduct" is the idea, then racially motivated people like Barry Jarman and Peter Van Der Merve are the last people we need to officiate. And as long as that happens, we will continue to have Pakistan being pulled up for ball-tampering while their Aussie, English and South African counterparts, who commit the same offense are let off for being "merely aggressive". We will have players from the subcontinent branded as "match-fixers", while their "white counterparts", who have even admitted to putting money on matches, will be pardoned for a small error of judgement. And while our subcontinent players will be mugged and clubbed in public, it is always India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka that will have "security problems" and "hooligan crowds". Gentlemen's game, indeed !
Date sent: Fri, 27 Mar 1998 13:02:47 -0500 (EST) Indeed strange of Mr Pawar -- the new leader of the Opposition to talk of "communal elements," when he formed his first government in Maharashtra with the help of the so-called "communal elements" (remember the erstwhile Jana Sangh and its chief Uttamrao Patil served in his ministry). Secondly, he has no business to talk about stability when his own party destabilised the United Front prime ministers, and forced an unwarranted election costing the tax payers very heavily and upsetting developmental activities. What contradictions is he talking about? By supporting an opportunistic alliance forged by the UF which included traditional enemies like the CPI and CPI-M, the Congress bandicoots are the ones who are capable of forging such alliances. Pawar should realise that he is leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, not in the Maharashtra assembly. We had a lot of hopes in the Maratha chieftain but he seems to be losing his steam, and looks like he is willing to be a pawn at the hands of the new Madam! Shame on Pawar and his childish tactics !!
Date sent: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 23:28:01 -0800 Is Subramanian Swamy an Indian leader? He is unabashedly spreading lies about the north-south divide, whereas every intelligent north and south Indian know that this bogey is the creation of past masters to fool the simple people and disunite Indians. Subramanian Swamy is a typical example of those third grade representatives coming to the forefront because of the chaos in the political system. If Swamy does not understand what is is swadeshi in the Indian context, let him go to the USA, Japan, China, Indonesia, Taiwan Korea etc at his own expense. Global competition and efficiency is not for those who do not differentiate between national interest and merciless personal gains. Even the word's top democracies and matured economies keep personal corporate adventurers in check. If it is not for public good in the short or long term, excuses of competition and efficiency is not sufficient. And these short term and long term gains should never be analysed by people like Swamy.
Date sent: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 23:31:45 -0800 Dr Subramanian Swamy has all noble intentions, but is still seeking the permission of "Dr" Jayalalitha to vote according to his conscience. Where was his conscience when he read out the "unconditional" letter of support in front of the media? Is Tamil Nadu the only state that matters now? What happens to states like Karnataka that has returned 15 MPs from the BJP? Did they vote BJP to lose out on the Cauvery water issue? Pritish Nandy seems to feed on the double standards of this chameleon rather than ask him straight and piercing questions that he had not so long ago asked Manmohan Singh. Srinivas Murthy
Date sent: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 11:39:44 +0500 Very interesting and well done. Murthy
Date sent: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 17:58:57 -0800 It is better to say very little about Dr Subramanian Swamy, a politician from Tamil Nadu, who dreams a lot about himself. He called the BJP anti-national. Cool! Does he know that the Western media and even the Pakistani media call BJP as "Hindu Nationalist Party"? They all consider the BJP a nationalist party. Isn't it a time for a flip flop politician from India to take a clue? Had he been honest, he would have committed "hara-kiri" when he left BJP. Prakash
Date sent: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 08:16:31 -0800 Dr Swamy is a brilliant economist and does not need to suck-up to any political party or politician. Any honest person in India is persecuted and we have a big mouth to say "Satyameva jayate". The other good person was Seshan and he has been sidelined by the crooked khadi frauds. Sonia is not making it any easier on the government, she is constantly meddling in politics. Dr Swamy does not mince words and is impatient to mediocrity, and mediocrity is India's national agenda. "Jho hua acha hua," "Muquaddar me likha tha, " You cannot change a man's destiny, everything is pre-written" all that is negative thoughts and fatalism. People like Seshan and Swamy can stay on the sidelines and prompt the voting public about the mistakes that each government makes. India's long term goal should be global. India should be like the USA, a leader in food production and weapons and the last person in people production.
Date sent: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 12:29:02 +0530 Swamy's views smack of bloated ego and judgements based purely on personal issues. He tries to put forth the idea that his views on economics are revolutionary. But the only glaring fact that is evident from the interview is that these are the ramblings of a disgruntled man, sulking at having been totally sidelined publicly by a group of people he had set out to bring down. Suddenly this man is all praise for Jayalalitha, someone who has 'stood by' his selfish needs. Swamy is the kind of politician who will think nothing of raking up a north-south divide ("the BJP is nothing more than a north Indian party. Its mentality is also north Indian"), bring down a government, if need be, to get back at the people who parted ways with him years earlier. While his views on swadeshi and socialism are true, they do not, in any way, justify his machinations to become the country's finance minister. His shrewd moves to stall the formation of a government proved once and for all that this is the kind of power-hungry politician that India can do without. When it comes to hunger for power, and total disregard for the future of the country, Subramanian Swamy and Sitaram Kesri belong to the same league.
Date sent: Mon, 23 Mar 1998 21:56:52 +0800 This chameleon turncoat is poised to create war among the neighbouring states. He should first preach his masses to live according to their respective environments. African politics does not work in a cosmopolitan India.
Date sent: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 12:08:58 -0600 I am extremely thrilled to see your great attempts to interview people like Ratan Tata. Great job. Would like to see more interviews like this. This will be very promising and a confidence booster for people like me who are planning to return back to India and start business.
Date sent: Sat, 21 Mar 1998 17:05:17 EST Congratulations on the column. It echoes my own thoughts and opinions over the years. Fact of the matter is that the Indian academic has no ability or aptitude for independent thought. This is a problem with our educational model as well as anything... a model in which you are taught to conform, cram and vomit... any strains of creativity in thinking is beaten down with a sledge hammer. The Indian intellectual movement is dominated by coffee table leftists (still) with zamindari backgrounds, an intellectually defunct and bankrupt liberalism that is a thinly veiled ploy to unseat free market capitalism by the feudals.
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