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December 9, 1998
ELECTIONS '98
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'If the BJP is really concerned about India, they better concentrate on the Indian economy'
How Readers reacted to Dilip D'Souza's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 19:40:57 -0800
D'Souza only makes a passing mention of the possible complicity of the medical profession in custodial deaths. If autopsy reports are accurate, it would be more difficult for the police to get away with custodial murders. Anil Das
Date sent: Mon, 30 Nov 1998 17:48:50 -0500 (EST)
I would like to compliment Dilip D'Souza for his article 'One Day In November 1984'. I really liked the article. I was also a victim of the 1984 riots. Actually, one of my friends emailed me this article. I checked your Web Site and read some other articles. They all are nice. Keep up the good work. Vande Mataram Ravinder S Dhoophur
Date sent: Tue, 1 Dec 1998 22:59:56 -0500
He is right when he says that in a democracy whoever thinks that "price rise" is a flimsy issue is not going to survive. He doesn't realise that the people who say it is "flimsy" could be very foolish or could be very principled. But he has the right to think anything about them as others have the right to think about his intentions.
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 08:38:05 PST
Sometimes I am amazed at myself. No matter how much antipathy I feel towards Dilip D'Souza's columns, I am drawn to reading them every time just hoping that he will outdo the rubbish he had written last time. Believe me he never disappoints! Dilip has the uncanny ability to give a communal flavour to everything. His favourite pastime seems to be Hindu bashing. Why does Rediff even have him writing columns? Agreed, the BJP should have controlled the price rise but how is the price rise related to the nuclear tests and why is Dilip so anti-nuclear tests? May be he should live in Pakistan and not in India. At least then his columns will be justified. Arjyo
Date sent: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 08:28:31 -0800
Dilip, I am proud of you for writing about the Bungling Janata Party. The Congress is no different than the BJP but, at least, they had learnt from past mistakes. The two activists from Latur and Varanasi are right. People need toilets, not temples. We need "Nirodh, Roti, Kapda and Makan." There will be no end to our poverty as long as we breed like rabbits -- at least rabbits die in 10 years. Any government that does not adequately address the family planning issue is only there for its own profits; there will never be a poverty-free India. The educated will have to live under useless rulers as long as the poor form the main backbone of the electorate. Now the BJP wants more wide roads. This will push the street peddlers further into one's front yard. It is good for the educated, but the poor and middle class need the prices of essential commodities managed at all times. The BJP has no time for such issues. Anything that pertains to truth is anti-Hinduism. Homosexuality is very well defined on several temple walls, but we do not want to talk about it!
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 12:15:04 -0500
Excellent article. I don't think the people who are now governing India will mend their ways. Now it seems their only concern was to come to power by all means. I don't understand how this government can take credit for the nuclear tests. The programme was started by the previous Congress governments. Who needs a bomb when there is not enough food? What did India achieve by the tests other than getting sanctions? I think Narasimha Rao had a little concern for the Indian economy, and hence he did not test the bomb. Otherwise, he could have exploded the bomb before the 1996 election, and who knows, he would have won. If the BJP is really concerned about India, they better concentrate on the Indian economy than on bombs and Hindutva. If we had not tested the bomb, people like Jaswant and Mishra could have concentrated on something important for India rather than going to all nations and explaining our stance. Presley
Date sent: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 13:04:00 -0500
The article was just brilliant. One could not have said things in a more simple fashion. One more thing -- I was going through some of the earlier reactions to his articles. Mush-brained as they are, most of them live and work in the US and (in most cases) are very much brain-washed. One does not and cannot have a proper perspective of day-to-day living in India when not in India. These responses just prove one thing -- we have enough people worldwide to keep India backwards for another 100 years. Arindam Gupta
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 11:24:27 -0600
Kudos to Dilip D'Souza for yet another well-written article. The main reason I visit Rediff is to read his articles. It's also very interesting to read the comments of readers about his articles. The logic behind the arguments put forth by the Hindutva group is amazing. There was this comment by a reader on the "onion prices" article: He puts down a 5 point formula to combat the rising onion prices and starts with "Many people live in apartments and usually have associations". This sentence, in my opinion, is a prime indicator of the mentality of most BJP supporters -- mostly urban, middle class, apartment-living folks, who don't have any idea about the majority of India, which lives in filthy conditions. For them, the biggest concern is maintaining status quo so that they can keep their apartments and have their weekly bhajan sessions.
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 10:35:37 -0800
Excellent job, Dilip. I commend you for your determined efforts in pointing out that the BJP must realise that real issues matter to the man on the streets. JR
Date sent: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 10:41:29 -0800 (PST)
Congrats Dilip, for writing a nice piece. Your article was informed, balanced and accurate without the "whining" that many of your articles tend to have. Unfortunately, the BJP's support comes from many of those email writers that you spoke about. The NRIs are some of the worst kind -- they are often ill-informed about issues affecting desis back home. The NRIs themselves lead a comfortable life and hence don't really identify with issues like "roti, kapda aur makan." Like you said, the BJP has irrevocably shown that the only issues they can rake up are bombs and songs. The sad part is that the other parties are no better than this.
Ajay Sharma
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 13:57:26 -0600
Dilip has taken on a reader for having supported the BJP and has actually humiliated him for having said that price rise may be a flimsy reason when compared to either national security or other policies. For their own convenience, Rediff has not chosen to publish the following letter that I had drafted for that pinko.
Date sent: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 13:37:23 -0600
No, we will not eat bombs. Instead, we will use it to nuke Pakistan and internal enemies like you. You have waxed very eloquently about the travails of the Indians reeling under inflation. I have been out of India for quite some time now, but, Dilip, my mother has been complaining about inflation ever since Manmohan Singh took over! When has Indian middle class and lower class ever got to taste, say saffron (your favourite colour, I am sure), cardamom, cashew nuts or coffee of decent quality? We grow almost the best variety in the world; yet, I remember my mother never was liberal in using any of these items. The cashew nuts we get in India are warped and shrivelled. The moment you step inside an Air-India flight, voila, you get better ones! Export of commodities like those mentioned above has been going on from times immemorial, at the cost of domestic consumers. What do you have to say about that? My half-baked knowledge of the Indian economy tells me that unless we do export stuff like these, and may be onions too, our balance of payment tilts dangerously, dipping into our foreign reserves. Hoarders have not helped to ease the situation, and this is not exactly the contribution of the BJP government?! On one hand, we propound market economy and on the other, we want the government to intervene in controlling the prices. Isn't there a bit of double standards here? Every political party has the right to put forth what it perceives as its achievements. In a democracy, you don't deny that right to the BJP. You keep quoting Amartya Sen like he is your high-school teacher. Well, why don't you quote all the military leaders, both retired and those in service, who have openly endorsed the nuclear tests? Nobody cares whether you love or hate the BJP, we only care that you do remove your tainted glasses. Is there any superlative even better than crass? That would be the word I would love to use, to describe your journalism. Srinivas Murthy
Date sent: Wed, 2 Dec 1998 17:12:42 -0500
Some people lack vision to see the whole picture. Some also have lower IQ to put 1 and 1 together, and therefore get confused when you mention nukes and onions in the same article. From the articles I see in some yellow journos and the mails I see in response to some saner articles, it appears these people are in a majority. Don't let them dishearten you, Dilip. Agreed, these pea-brains seem the most active in terms of firing off mails, but there are others who appreciate your effort to bring issues that are 'flimsy' to the front. That's why I don't place all the blame on our politicians. They are just exploiting the gullibility of the 'faithful'. But sometimes I wonder if it has anything to do with brains. I think it is more of a basic attitude most of us Indians have -- if it is not my problem, it is not a problem. So, you have people talking high and mighty about nukes, and how it has made them gain self-esteem (pity them for having to depend on something like that for self-esteem), but since there is no shortage for onions here in the US and my people back home can afford it, the poor man can survive on fresh air for all I care. And you are a pinko for even looking his way. But what they don't see is not whether it is onions or potatoes. It is food, clothing, shelter in general, that you are talking about. Well, I'm pretty sure their point of view would change if tomorrow for some reason they land up at the bottom end of the barrel. May be some day they will, and then they will run to you to make their voice heard. Keep writing, Dilip. Rajesh
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 15:09:59 -0800
A really commendable article. I was a fervent BJP supporter at one time, even was a member of the RSS. But the idea of following someone who has chalked out a path without even discussing it with his followers can work with only frustrated unsuccessful "hit-the-rock-bottom" kind of persons. It is better if they get out and manage to better theirall-time low record of two seats rather than be given the order of the boot from the people.
Date sent: Wed, 02 Dec 1998 18:17:13 -0800
I think Dilip D'Souza is 100% wrong. This is one of the many useless articles he has written for Rediff. Yes, its true that onion is a common staple food for many middle and low income people in India, but its not the only food. I would have agreed about bajra or wheat -- then there is something serious. He talks about the mosque and bomb. Well, by talking about the disputed shrine as a mosque, he's putting oil on fire. About the bomb, if a country's preparation for its security is wrong then what is correct? It looks like the government needs to consult Dilip D'Souza before making any decision! One cannot expect overnight changes in all the issues that the country is facing. I am 100% confident that the BJP will improve and can provide better governance. There's nothing to regret. Ravishankara B N |
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