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'So you think bribing fellow MPs for survival is okay!'

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 13:45:39 +0530
Subject: In defence of PVN

I liked this article. It puts my feelings into words. Why is the bribe-taker not punished while the bribe-giver is? Good article.

Regards,
Rajasekhar

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 14:48:24 +0530
Subject: In defence of PVN

A great defence! I agree with it almost fully. V P Singh may be a paragon of fiscal rectitude but the instability to the central government stems from his avaricious and cynical manipulation of the OBC vote bank. That leaves only Vajpayee -- and only god knows how long he will last in our vitiated political atmosphere.

Suresh

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 08:21:04 -0400
Subject: In defence of PVN

What are you trying to justify? Corruption is corruption whether you were trying to buy bread or the PM's post. It is not that PVN did that for the sake of the nation. He was a spineless PM. He encouraged corruption. He just wanted to survive, that's all. If that is considered an achievement, then Indira Gandhi's emergency too is an achievement.

About liberalisation. After the fall of the Soviet Union, after Russia embraced capitalism, nobody could have stayed with socialism. So, crediting PVN with liberalisation is not fair. We should credit not the person who selected Dr Manmohan Singh, but the person who retained him.

Whichever way you look at it, buying an MP is a CRIME.

Chockkalingam

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 10:39:49 -0400
Subject: In defence of PVN

I am appalled at your defence of a person convicted of corruption. In a society full of corrupt people, we can't afford to choose the lesser of the evils. What we need to do is try and eliminate ALL evil. Put ALL the scoundrels behind bars.

You are advocating that we subvert the democratic process. In my mind there cannot be a bigger crime than that. For a democracy to be real, it HAS to be absolutely free and fair. In democracy people get what they deserve and that is the greatness of the system.

Otherwise, bring in a dictator and have him do what he thinks is in the "national interest". We are still suffering the burden of a coalition government. But that does not give the BJP, or for that matter the Congress or any other party, the right to take matters in its hands and subvert the process. Let people realise the folly of their choices and then, and only then, can we have a stable and deserving government that can truly take care of our National Interest.

If we are impatient, then we have to find a Shivaji or a Rana Pratap who can take on the current aggressors and looters of the country and bring about the rescue of our ancient land and its culture.

May God save my Bharat from its own people first and then from the rest of the world.

Sunil
Piscataway, NJ 08854

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 15:36:39 GMT
Subject: In defence of PVN

I disagree with your views, especially the last paragraph that says people should eschew corruption first before leaders do etc.

If corruption is to be taken to task where should we start? At the top or the bottom? I am amazed that columnists of your stature think that way!!

And using the stability plank to mask his wrongdoing is bad.

Your article tends to imply that because PVN was trying to provide stability he's safe and others in any other circumstance would be guilty.

I would agree on two points: that stability was needed at that time, and that taking bribe is equally, if not more, punishable as giving.

But see what happened: MPs were purchased! Is that a good precedent? And this, under the guidance of a PM!

If MPs were to be won over there are ways of legally enticing them into your side. They could have been won over with the promise of ministries etc, but the cheapest way was resorted to. Well, the political psyche is like that these days.

Corruption should be stopped at the top first. Though we elect our leaders, they are not supposed to bribe or take bribe in millions and go unpunished, whereas at the bottom people taking or giving bribes in hundreds and thousands are caught.

If leaders do not set standards, then democracy would go to dogs... it is already on its way.

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 10:47:55 -0500
Subject: In defence of PVN

Just because you have a public forum to write on, you cannot come up with such inane arguments. Until now we have heard from politicians that they do everything for the public, which we read as swindling us.

Now you have taken it to the next level of absurdity by trying to argue that all the corruption in the Congress is for the sake of providing stability to the country!

Your argument is a simple variation of all corruption being justified because that money will be used in elections in a huge way so that the party can have an absolute majority, thus providing stability to the country!

Shame on you for writing that article.

Padmanabha Rao

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 16:05:18 +0100
Subject: In defence of PVN

So you think bribing fellow MPs for survival is okay! This must be one of the most disgusting articles I have ever come across from Saisuresh. Does honesty and integrity mean nothing to you?

Accepted that voter didn't give a clear verdict, but does that license one to start shopping for MPs? Is this democracy? This indicates the level to which we have morally degraded.

And for your kind information, the JMM is not the only case in which this King of Crooks is involved. Do you remember the urea scam, medical scam, security scam and Lakhubhai Pathak?

Rabindra

Date: Wed, 11 Oct 2000 14:53:31 +0530
Subject: In defence of PVN

It is stupid to try and take shelter under STABILITY for your misdeeds.

Regards,
VG

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 15:26:29 -0700
Subject: In defence of PVN

PVN bribed. He bribed when he was the PRIME MINISTER of the country. Do you notice any difference between a common man and the PM? He is supposed to set an example to millions!

And that he did. How? By corrupting. By bribing. Now what does he deserve? I would say he needs to be shot dead. All people like him should be shot.

If that can't happen, at least he should be given rigorous imprisonment. He did it when he was the PM!

And that was not the only case he was involved in, everyone knows. A scam in his son's fertiliser company, Harshad Mehta's money, the Lakhubhai Pathak case. Also, he was an accomplice of Chandraswamy.

Now see the tragedy. People like you are supporting him. You guys are as much culprits for defending him!

Vipin

Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 11:03:38 -0700
Subject: In defence of PVN

In your article you write:

"However, the purpose of this piece is not to criticise the magistrate's verdict, as much as to defend a man who I think has been wrongly punished."

The law in general is agnostic about the reasons for committing a crime. Occasionally it does take the reasons into account, say, while deciding on first-degree murder versus manslaughter etc.

You argue that Rao's crime is not the same as that of Jayalalitha or Laloo Yadav, hence it is not much of a crime. But why? Is this not merely your perspective? If you ask the average citizen of Bihar, would he judge Laloo so harshly? From his perspective, Laloo's crime is not as bad as Jayalalitha's. Should that make Laloo's crime any less?

I write to you because as a journalist I expect you to have a higher standard in judging issues. I read your statement as saying that you dare not complain about the law of the land, so you'll instead argue that the accused wasn't really guilty. If you statement had been: "Yes, he committed a crime, but I'm willing to pardon him for it," then you clearly establish that this is only your opinion and nothing more.

But when you clearly state that you think he is wrongly punished, you inherently display disdain for the law of the land. That is what I take issue with. If you disagree with the law, then please make a case for changing it. Just don't dismiss it.

Thank you.

SKC

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