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April 8, 1998
SPECIALS
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How readers reacted to Rajiv Shukla's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 20 Mar 1998 17:34:31 -0500 Here we have one frustrated citizen lamenting the plight of the Indian electorate. That's fine, we do have one of the most stupid electorate, mainly because it is illiterate. Rajiv writes about Chandrababu Naidu: "Unfortunately, they have given him 12 seats, and he is turning out to be the king-maker of India. This is not something new. Andhra Pradesh has done it in the past, too." I can understand his frustration, but in using the last sentence, he is saying the whole state is stupid. This is true throughout the country, and Andhra Pradesh is no exception. When he cannot see a general picture himself, what does he expect from an illiterate electorate? Further, he writes: "The government should frame a law that those who do not vote will not get jobs, banks loans, ration cards and electricity connections." The proposition is ludicrous because in his earlier statement he propounds the concepts of democracy. A person who tries to express his views to such a vast audience as that of Rediff should stand on a better pedestal, be free from bias and avoid exhibiting those characters which he denounces in the same article. I mean, there should be some integrity running throughout the article. Sujai
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 17:18:17 -0500 (EST) This is the most stupid and shortsighted article I have ever read. The author draws conclusions without going into detail. Goda
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 12:13:52 -0500 Hi Rajiv, There is nothing much to say about the political situation in the country. I still remember A B Vajpayee asking "How can the government with 13 parties give stability?" Now, again, the case is the same. Despite having outside/inside support from a number of parties, the total count boils down to the very marginal required to obtain a majority in the Lower House. Despite another election in less than two years, the country has the same hung Parliament. Let's hope for the best. So far, we never have given a thrust on any national issue for voting. In fact, I fully agree with you: voting should be made compulsory and certain add-on services should be denied in case an individual ignore his fundamental right and enjoys a paid holiday. Dhananjaya
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 08:02:32 -0800 Voting should be a right only for people who understand what is happening in India. Which means that only a high school pass should vote. Poor people see no consequence in voting, they live in slums, breed in slums, shit in slums and die in slums. Their lifestyle do not change whether it is a Congress, BJP or any other government. Most poor people vote because the local thugs have told them to vote for a certain symbol. The bribe of free country liquor and a good meal may be another incentive. The lack of accountability from politicians has caused this whole electoral system to stink to hell. Most Indians are fatalist and so don't see any way out and blame it on karma. If the poor vote irresponsibly, then the middle class gets the stick. The rich have all these politicians in their pockets. Yes, we deserve the government we get.
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 08:50:22 -0500 Yes, it is true the electorate of India is stupid enough to give us a hung Parliament. This time you can really see the number of parties which contested. Last time they were all new and hadn't much presence, except for the few big ones. The Election Commission should de-recognise the parties, and make their MPs independent, if the number of seats garnered is less than five. What's the use of parties like the SJP or Janata Party having a national status with just one seat in the Lok Sabha? Yes, the so-called educated electorate crowd is hardly bothered to vote in the election. But they like to gossip and talk about politics in parties/gatherings etc. Most of them don't even know how to add their names to the electoral roll. Yes, they would very much like a holiday on the day of the election. Why? Just to go to the theatre to watch a movie or to get together and party. The government should come out with a Bill penalising non-voters.
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 09:36:40 -0500 I totally agree that Indian voters are stupid -- look at the governments we have had all these years. The suggestion that voting should be made a democratic duty is very good. I feel that all those who do not vote have no right to demand anything from the government. Indians are quick to point the finger, but never take responsibility for their actions. We get the government we deserve! The columnist has suggested that the executive be directly elected by the people. In fact, a similar suggestion had been made by another columnist, Shalabh Kumar, in the excellent article, Governance in the new millenium. Mr Kumar had clearly given the system much thought. Only such a systemic change will save our country now. Otherwise, we have enough narrow-minded politicians to ruin it. Witness the likes of Mulayam who wants to invite foreigners from Pakistan and Bangladesh to come and live in India, just so he can consolidate his Muslim vote base. It is people like Mulayam, V P Singh and Laloo who have ruined the atmosphere by bringing in the caste (and religion) factor. We need to vote for people who can rise above narrow caste considerations and think of the country as a whole, rather than in terms of Hindus, Muslims, Yadavs and Dalits. Congratulations on a good article, Mr Shukla. Ruchira Raghav
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 98 09:48:00 PST I agree. The Indian electorate is touted as being knowledgeable. I think it is utterly stupid. Look at the unmistakable signs: 1. It keeps on returning persons who should have been part of the dungheap: the Congress in 1980, the Shiv Sena in the last decade, Jayalalitha, Karunanidhi, Chautala, Laloo -- all who should have been flushed out. These are just a few names. 2. It elects on the basis of religion and caste. Laloo, Sharad, Mulayam, all flaunt the name Yadav and the electorate votes because of that! 3. Jayalalitha makes utterly ridiculous demands, forgetting that a leader has to be broad in outlook and consider national interests. She has already made enemies of the BJP allies in Karnataka and now is proceeding towards doing the same in Kerala. Selfish person! 4. Secularism is a hocus, it makes me puke. Because, secularism is only for garnering votes. 5. If the electorate was knowledgeable it would never allow a discredited politician to return. Imagine, would America have allowed Nixon a comeback? Once discredited, always dead for public office. In contrast, look at Jayalalitha and Sukh Ram! 6. It tolerates a stupid and dead Congress, put up Sonia as a leader, not because she is a committed or capable or whatever person (ditto for her daughter), but because she is Rajiv's wife, Indira's daughter-in-law and the mother of Jawaharlal Nehru's great-grandchildren. I don't expect anything from a Congress which talks from the wrong end of the body. But the electorate seems only capable of giving them seats which will make them give their stinky output for some more time. So let's agree: the electorate is stupid, stupid, stupid.
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 11:10:33 +0800 Dear Rajiv Shukla: Our common stupid electorate gave an absolute majority for almost 40 years. But what has the bureaucracy and government done for them? Nothing. Just a one family rule. How do you expect the stupid to be always stupid, and their next generation also to be stupid? Arul
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 16:52:21 -0800 This article is ridiculous!!! Let's see, everybody knew that no party was going to obtain a clear majority. We still went ahead with the poll. WHY? Why blame the people? Why can't you blame the politicians who are wasting millions on elections? Why couldn't the Opposition parties let the single largest party rule? Help the single largest party get the required votes (for vote of confidence)? That doesn't mean that you are part of the govt. The Opposition would be doing a huge favour to the nation by providing stability!
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 15:55:35 -0800 I totally agree with you. The educated people are responsible for the situation. They are the biggest DESH DROHIS, they should be punished strictly. The government should fine Rs 5,000 for not voting. They will just criticise. All such people are donkeys. They should be ashamed for creating such a political crisis. Sunita Phanse
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 16:33:25 -0600 I agree with Rajiv Shukla on most of the points he raises. But I have a few differences. He states that most educated people don't vote, but sit back and watch the fun of the election. Has he reasoned why they do so? The educated people are very less in number compared to the uneducated ones. Their main point of contention is that their vote might go in vain because the people or party they vote might never be elected. They do not want to go through the tedious process as most of the time they find that their votes have already been cast, and that the vast majority are voting for some party or candidate based on film popularity, caste factor or sheer ignorance. I, for one, would not have voted; I want my vote to be in the decisive majority and not in the no-one-cares-after-election minority. No matter how many educated people vote, the ignorant majority's votes are going to override theirs. Some people don't vote because the parties don't have anything to offer them. Moreover, it is a known fact that politicians hardly implement anything they say in their manifestos. When they don't bother to implement their manifestos why bother voting at all? Life still goes on whether it is the BJP or Congress in power. Since none of them has made any difference to the people, why should they vote (literally) them to power? It is just simple commonsense. My vote should not and will not go in vain. If I vote, I will vote for a party which will definitely make a difference. At this time I find it hard to relate to any party which can put the country on a fast-paced growth path. I want a party which will give me more than rhetorics. I hope one day every individual will be educated and politically wise to vote for people who can make the difference. Srivathsan
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 15:39:06 -0600 I agree with the view that Indian voters are most stupid. But I respectfully disagree with the author mentioning N Chandrababu Naidu's example for the cause of instability. Voters of AP voted for the TDP because of its work. Naidu has shown some decency by taking a decision to be neutral to facilitate the BJP at the Centre, respecting the people's mandate. Increasing the percentage of votes would be a disadvantage for India. Such an increase would only push up votes polled by the uneducated masses. Developed countries like the US have a voting percentage of only 33. Coming to the Presidential form of government, there are lot of problems. Illiteracy. Believe it or not, this is the one factor making people think on the lines of caste, religion and regionalism. Only a north Indian has a chance to become the PM (sounds a genuine argument from the DMK president) with the current level of education. This is evident from the fact that H D Deve Gowda was dropped from the post. (Of course, I K Gujral was any time better than Deve Gowda.) No Muslim will ever get a chance to become the PM or President. The time is not ripe for the Presidential system. Some kind of decency has to evolve in our political system before we can think of it. Our people are too biased. Most our newspapers are biased towards one or the other political party. The problems of India are not as simple as they appear. There is much thought to be given before writing on any subject. Most of the columnists don't want to face the wrath of readers (Indian voters) by saying that they are stupid. Please take these comments in good spirit.
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 15:50:52 -0500 (EST) Well said. I never really understood how anyone could say that the Indian voter knows what he's doing. It's obvious that he doesn't. And what surprises me is not that our netas go around praising the wisdom of the electorate. They obviously would go around doing that, but I'm surprised to see that even the national print media believes the electorate knows what it is doing. Why do all the educated people sit at home? They just sit back and say that nothing good is going to happen anyway, so what's the point in voting? Well, you really don't have a choice, you know. It has to be either this clown or that one, you might as well vote for the policies. At least this time, there was a clear demarcation in ideology. Everyone knew what the BJP was fighting for. And everyone knew that the Congress and UF were fighting for everything that the BJP wasn't. And what the hell is this crap about the anti-incumbency factor? I mean, what the hell man... what is that supposed to mean? You vote someone out just because he's in power now? You vote the DMK out just because they were in power? Have you forgotten the mockery that Jayalalitha made of morals the last time she was around? And what great sins did the Shiv Sena commit that they were thrown out? I've always believed that to the Indian voter, politics and government is one big, expensive tamasha. This anti-incumbency bullshit only serves to convince me further. Basically you're bored of one entertainer, so you wave him away and bring in another. And the nation can go to hell, the state can go to hell, the policies and ideology can go to hell. You don't care for India, you know nothing good is going to happen anyway, you might as well be entertained! Brilliant. I guess this is what they mean when they say the Indian voter is intelligent!!! Sreenivas Ramaswamy
Date sent: Wed, 18 Mar 1998 14:04:43 -0500 Very good article. Sanjeev
Date sent: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 19:59:18 -0800 Well said, Rajiv. I totally agree that the Indian electorate is petty-minded. But there is one thing I would like to add: the reason for all this degradation is Selfishness, widespread, prevailing everywhere. I recently heard some politicians are demanding that Tamil be made a national language. Now these people are not stupid. They know there demand is outright absurd, but it serves their purpose to make such a demand. Selfishness has blinded them to even consider the results of such actions. Frame the best democratic system, structure the nation most efficiently, restructure the Constitution, but a nation does not prosper by these things alone. What is needed are men of unshakable character. Without them, these great ideas have failed and will continue to fail. We need to focus on developing a man-making system. Men are what we need -- strong, sincere, vigourous, believing young men. Devki
Date sent: Tue, 31 Mar 1998 19:14:11 EST Rajiv Shukla is known for his pro-Congress and anti-BJP views. He can only think like a typical Congressman -- in terms of castes and communities. The whole report smacks of a 'planted' story. No one else has reported such things. About time Rediff removes blatantly partisan writers (who cannot see anything good with the BJP or majority Hindus) like Rajiv and Dilip D'Souza. Gaurang G Vaishnav |
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