|
|
|
|
|
| HOME | NEWS | COMMENTARY | THE OUTSIDER | |||
|
January 25, 1999
ELECTIONS '98
|
'There can be no tolerance of militant Hindus or militant Christians or militant Muslims'How Readers reacted to Saisuresh Sivaswamy's last column
Date sent: Thu, 21 Jan 1999 01:47:18 EST
Bravo! At last we have some logical thinking here. I fully support the view that Western countries have no business telling us how to handle the communal situation in India.
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 18:28:24 -0500
Point very aptly put. All citizens of India, irrespective of their faith, should ask these external elements to mind their own business. They should find constructive ways and means of resolving their problems with the people with whom they live. The nation comes before anything else, even one's own faith.
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 17:12:45 -0500
Oh, what a surprise! Finally it took protests from all corners, including the unexpected -- the Sarvodaya leaders -- for journalists like Sai to bring forward the constantly perturbing question from his young days to all of us? Sai, the same question over the years have turned me pro-Hindutva. Not to support the violence but to shake those with deaf ears and blind eyes to listen to the majority community problems. Accepting huge donations from foreign countries and lack of transparency in showing how it is being spent by the Indian Church is the main reason that aggravates an ordinary Indian. This is while no Hindu organisation is allowed to accept even a penny from NRIs, leave alone people of foreign origin. A check of $ 500 sent by me came back with 'regret' due to the government ban. Tell me, how will Vanawasi Kalyan Parishad serve the poor and tribals with little money, as advised by D'Souza, A J Philip, Sai and Vir Sanghvi? How much really we donate to local schools? And Sai is very right when he says that Indian Christian groups should understand the dangers involved in asking, accepting pressure and support from foreign governments. If this continues, the number of those Indians who came forward this time against the attacks will dwindle to a great extent. It will be very difficult to wipe out the band of disloyal if the politics of numbers goes on. Let's understand the facts well that only local Indians can protect minorities. NO GOVERNMENT, INDIAN OR FOREIGN, CAN PROTECT THE MINORITIES IN INDIA. Minorities must learn to live peacefully with the majority. Indians are NOT ASKING FOR TOO MUCH in RETURN. If Sai's advise is not listened to, it will help the hardcore amongst the BJP to gain power, and will also swell the BJP's numbers quicker. Mukund Kute
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 14:00:34 -0500
I liked the contents of the news and fully support the concerns expressed by the author. Also I am in full support of the VHP plan of getting minority status for Hindus in some states along with Muslims and Christians in others. Otherwise just remove the benefits Muslims and Christians are enjoying. Also, the Muslim law must be abolished and a single law must exist. Why should these guys have a separate law? Do other religions have these specials in Pakistan or the Gulf?
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 14:14:28 -0500
I agree with Sai on his viewpoint that people in India need to realise that they are Indians and take pride in it. If they keep looking elsewhere for solutions to their troubles, they will end up as misfits. India needs to ask the western nations not to interfere in our affairs. But that can be done only if our people don't go running to them with their woes. Mukund
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 11:13:52 -0800
This is really a balanced column. Sai has put things in perspective. As he points out, human nature is "reactionary" and the people in India are tired of the lopsided assessment of things when it comes to the minorities. At the same time the genocide of Hindus in Kashmir escapes the mind of every "seemingly conscious" Western country. At the same time it is not correct to conclude that the RSS/BJP were born out of a reactionary ideology. If that is true the activities of RSS would have been confined to opposing people who do not agree with its thinking. But the RSS and its branches have worked tirelessly in every sphere of life. The RSS is an organisation that is in the business of making better citizens out of each of us. I request Sai to follow the same objective approach in future and not be blinded by the pseudo-secular approach. Sameer Kuppahalli
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 18:37:01 -0000
Sivaswamy has raised some very pertinent questions. In fact, the funny thing is that his article pretty much contains the data pointing to form an informed judgment, which unfortunately, he himself fails to see. Is it good for Christians living in India when the Western world chastises India for human rights violations? Absolutely not, Christians in India would be better off if the world minded its own business. But is India any different from the US or Germany, who deem it necessary to advise India? Most probably not. The whole point is that there has never really been any concerted effort, outside the sub-continent, where Hindus have been persecuted because of their religion. If say Hindus, as a targeted community, were to be picked on in the US, with their temples being broken down, India, I am sure would raise a stink. When a minority cannot stand on its own purely because their numbers are too small (Hindus in America, Christians in India) they will call for help... It certainly does not indicate a shift in loyalty to another country but a sad commentary on the helplessness that the minority has been driven to. Let's hope that Hindus in America never have to resort to calling for India to help them. Let's also hope that Christians in India don't have to do the same.
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 12:27:12 -0600
Thank god there are sane, intelligent, and thoughtful commentators in the Indian press. If not for the likes of Sivaswamy, the drumbeat of the pseudo-secularists would have drowned and deafened us all. More power to Sivaswamy. Please keep writing. I enjoy your columns immensely.
Closepet N Ramesh, Ph D
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 10:01:12 -0600
This is the most ridiculous piece of journalism that I've ever seen. In this age, when people are trying to bring about communal harmony, you come up with this article!!! What you say is only half true. Do you have any idea what the "Hindus" did to the Sikhs in the 1984 riots in Delhi? It was just as brutal as the incidents in Punjab. I agree that the Kashmir issue was a totally different ball game, with the people from across the border involved. Also on the Christian issue, the "Hindus" were not, in any way justified in attacking the Christians, even though, I do agree that no other nation has the right to interfere with our internal affairs. But on the whole, I felt that this issue was handled very irresponsibly, and that such articles should never appear on Rediff. I think what the author is looking for is cheap publicity, and nothing else. Please don't try to divide people on the basis of their religion. Sorry for putting it so harshly. Shankar
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 23:14:20 +0800
If Saisuresh is a Pakistani it is a welcome issue. Even if he comes from the Western (so-called Christian) countries it is still acceptable. The reason for saying the above is that from no angle does this person seem to be an INDIAN. An Indian can never pen down this utter nonsense... Even if he is an Indian he cannot be a Hindu. I am an Indian citizen, a country dominated by Hindus but still I haven't heard any Hindu speaking in this manner. Vikas Sukh
Date sent: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 08:10:30 -0600
This column is extremely good and thought-provoking. Saisuresh has very clearly expressed whatever views I had in mind regarding this issue. The West certainly does not have any right in questioning our internal affairs when their own is in turmoil. And we should definitely find a way against this prejudice against Hindu Murali
Date sent: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 23:39:37 -0500
It is sad to realise that Rediff writers like Saisuresh seem to appear clueless from time to time. In his essay, he has confused quite a number of issues which, initially, look related but are quite different. The issues he has touched are terrorism, state oppression, power and justice. With regards to terrorism, the Indian government has to step up measures to counter the propaganda by terrorist organisations. It is a crying shame if India cannot counter the propaganda of the terrorists. I am confident that we will be OK in this area as we have learnt our lessons and are applying it effectively. If nobody cared for the dead Hindus then it was the government's fault. It simply shows that our government is not callous in its attitudes towards minority but the majority as well. The day when the Indian government treats its own citizens well other countries would treat the Indians well too. That is the fundamental difference between Western countries and India. Go to any government offices in the Western countries, and you will be surprised by the way the common man behaves there. Nobody has to grovel in front off the govt clerks and officers in the West. Indians should be worrying more about their voices being heard in Indian government offices than in the West. The US and Germany and for that matter any country can say anything about India and get away with it. What does India have to offer for other countries to keep their mouth shut? Does it have a compelling market or business proposition like China that makes other nations from ignoring China's behaviour? Or even worse, today if a powerful western country imposes naval blockade or launches missiles at India, is New Delhi in a position to hit back at least partially? Sadly, the answer is no. India does not have anything to offer nor can it invoke at least a little bit of fear against countries that matter in the current geo-political world. India is essentially a sitting duck and a lame country to take verbal pot shots at for the bullies of the world whenever they feel like it. The US and Germany are the biggest trading partners and aid- givers to India. India depends more on them than they depend on us. The Russians may not treat us with respect but they don't treat us with contempt because they need us at least to some extent as we need them. Anybody can say anything in today's world especially when they are militarily and economically superior than others. It is like this, you assert your dominance and build on it. Chivalry is the first sign of the weak and or declining power. The Middle Eastern countries look down on India because they are the main source of work for millions of expatriate Indians. What can India do about them? Can she afford to antagonise these countries by pointing out the pathetic human rights conditions there? The first and foremost thing Indians should realise is that they are neither economically powerful nor militarily capable of pursuing their interests the way they want to. There is nothing to be ashamed of to acknowledge that we lag far behind the developed nations. When most of the time a Western country lets out an official statement they analyse the possible outcome of doing so. What does it show? It simply shows that they have nothing to lose by saying something unpleasant about India. It is India's fault that other nations don't even think twice before commenting about it. It is also India's fault that it gives credibility to such statements by making such a fuss about it. Secondly, we have to be hard-nosed about everything that matters to us. It is India's responsibility to make sure that anybody who badmouths it can do it only at a price which will make them think twice before they do it. Thirdly, it is always helpful to look at a criticism objectively and respond to it properly. Obviously, seeing the growing feeling of indignation it seems to me that for the author the opinion of US and Germany counts. If so, shouldn't we be taking some effort to set the record straight. I don't know who Malkani is but his statement - ''only property has been damaged'' -- is most irresponsible and immature. Firstly, if the violence in Gujarat is an internal issue, he should have refused to comment on it. If he had chosen to comment he should have thought twice before answering somebody especially from the West. I am assuming that he answered so callously to somebody associated with Western countries. We all agree that a fringe group in Gujarat attacked the Christian missionaries. Now, do we have enough evidence to show whether all the guilty parties, both Christians and Hindus, involved have been charged for their crimes? If not, why not? I am not asking this question to satisfy some foreigner. I am asking this question to see whether justice has been done by the State for the citizens of this country. If the government of India has not done justice to its citizens by not taking the right actions then it becomes embarrassing for India when others raise questions against it. Anybody can question anything, some do with genuine concern and some do with malice. When India is not in a position, like China to contain its detractors then it should at least have the diplomacy to judiciously explain itself out of such situations, especially if it wants friendly relationship with countries that ask such questions. Sai is setting a dangerous precedent by imploring Christians to ask foreigners to keep out of India's internal matters. The analogy to this is very simple and can be found in almost any locality in India. Sometimes when a husband beats a wife in the street, a local tough guy beats the crap out of the husband for beating this woman. Now, the husband is both stupid and afraid of the tough guy but he does not really try to understand whether he is doing something wrong so he presses his wife to tell the tough guy not to interfere in "family matters". I don't want to explain it more but I hope you get the idea. I may be totally wrong in simply pre-judging the Hindu activists as guilty but the main point is, did the governments, both state and central, act wisely according to the laws and Constitution of India? Another point is, did the bureaucrats and the politicians in charge of the foreign affairs do their jobs properly to contain a negative fallout of the unfortunate incidents in Gujarat? Thirdly, we are at a crucial point now. India is trying to learn the ropes of the modern world and trying to catch up with the advanced nations of this world. History has shown that a country cannot grow strong without being secular and having just laws for all its citizens. Hindus or Christians or Muslims cannot sit and worry about their life, limbs and property when the need of the day is economic prosperity. Time and again the refrain is that why didn't the Western countries do something when Hindus were killed and why they complain when Christians are hurt. In order for a Western nation to do something it has to have some pressure on it, either internal or external. when Hindus were killed in Punjab and now in Kashmir, who applied pressure on the Western governments? If you look closely, Western countries have banned certain outfits but did not ban certain others. It only means the pressure was not severe enough on these countries, for them to do our whim. I bet the banned outfits resented the western government too. It is so funny and ironic to see some of the Muslim fundamentalist terrorist groups groomed by the US and some other western countries detest the US and call it the Great Satan. There can be no tolerance of militant Hindus or militant Christians or militant Muslims. When they dare to threaten the life, liberty and property of others, the govt has the responsibility to enforce the law. The same militant Hindus who destroy a church today will also attack moderate Hindus tomorrow. If you don't believe it Egypt and Algeria are prime examples of what happens when the fundamentalists of the majority religion run amock. They will go for the guts of Christians today and if you tolerate it they will come after you tomorrow, and after they kill you they will fight amongst themselves. We don't want to be another Pakistan, do we? India has two choices in front of it, one, forget about the West and go about doing things in its own way. Two, work with the West pragmatically and grow with it and finally, stay as it is now, without doing anything other than simply lamenting about why nobody thinks high of India. I personally believe that the second method is the best method for India and for that to happen the Indian government has to get out of most-trade related matters except to stand by the Indian exporters and manufacturers. But, whatever method India chooses, it has the fundamental responsibility of safeguarding its own interests because everybody else is busy safeguarding theirs and they assume you are doing it too. It is high time the Indian government starts working for Indians so the Indians can set the record straight. Don't blame the West, it is simply playing its cards to enhance itself and protect its interests. The question is whether India is doing its part to enhance itself and protect its interests. If you look carefully nobody is a better follower of the Gita than the West. We talk, they do -- and there lies the difference. Nagaraj
Date sent: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 20:37:27 -0800
Amen! Couldn't have put it better myself, but would like to add a few of my own observations regarding 'desi' Christians and the local-lot here in the United States. So here it goes: As a Hindu, albeit not a very religious one at that, growing up in the US, I've come across a lot of our 'desi' Christians' kids who are bigotted-to-the-bone hateful of Hindus. Here in the US, there are quite a few 24/7(hours/days) television channels like the TBN (Trinity Broadcasting Network), CBN (Christian Broadcasting Netrwork) etc, that spurt out the Gospel and the Bible along with a (un)healthy dose of video clips showing the 'wretched' masses of the Third World being led to the gates of heaven (converted) and away from their 'evil' and 'confounding' religious practises. Such clips usually end with the hosts imploring their gullible audiences to -- you guessed it! -- send in gifts (money!) and the faithful really do open up their pockets. Such monies are then in turn used to finance their 'operatons' in those foreign lands. One such Televangelist (Television Evangelist) is Pat Robertson, the guy who ran for the office of the President of the United States a few years back. This guy's Man at the Helm in India, whose name I cannot recall, admittedly stays in India a good part of the year studying the "religious practises of the Hindus and their import to the Hindu way of life". He comes back here with tons of film footage showing the wretched (lepers) and the teeming poor of India swaying in praise of Jesus, being 'saved' from their misery by listening to the translations of some preacher. As you can imagine, this stuff really goes down well with the faithful. All this is fine and seems innocent enough, but just you wait! What comes next might surprise you. I say this because the sheer crudeness of it all blows my mind! Next, the fellow starts to talk about the 'weird' gods and religious practises of the Hindus, such as the worship of Ganesha (elephant-headed man-god), with our Robertson and company breaking in once in a while with animated musings of concern and dumbfoundedness at such practices in this day and age!! This fodder really goes down smoothly with the audience, with tons of donations pouring in from all over their coverage area. And the cycle of usury begins anew all under the noses of our "secular" officials sitting blissfully. If, only if, the Indian government and its official representatives here in the United States would take cognisance of the fact that's for all to see, and present them starkly to the ambassador, he will think twice before he shoots off his mouth. Viva Baboodom!:-)) Well, at least that's the way things look from this side of the water... Satyesh
Date sent: Tue, 19 Jan 1999 20:28:03 -0800
Saisuresh writes nothing but trash. His thinking is so convoluted that it defies logic. I invite him to come to the USA and live here for some time and see how the majority of the people live and think. Balwant Dixit |
| Tell us what you think of this column | |
|
HOME |
NEWS |
BUSINESS |
SPORTS |
MOVIES |
CHAT |
INFOTECH |
TRAVEL
SHOPPING HOME | BOOK SHOP | MUSIC SHOP | HOTEL RESERVATIONS PERSONAL HOMEPAGES | FREE EMAIL | FEEDBACK |
|