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May 20, 1998
SPECIALS
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How Readers responded to Amberish K Diwanji's recent columns
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 13:48:33 -0700 I agree with the author. It's a ploy -- just like the war with Pakistan was a ploy by Indira Gandhi to divert the nation's attention from our real problems. We are going on the same path again; this time it's the BJP instead of the Congress playing the trick on us. In all the rah-rah-rah over India's nuclear might, literacy, economy and social empowerment of the low classes would be left in the dust. We did a bad job on all of them in the last 50 years and we still want to ignore them.
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 12:51:33 -0500 Diwanji is wrong. China built its arsenal first and is now making rapid economic progress. India missed the opportunity to build a nuclear arsenal and is falling behind in every way. Prosperity comes to those who are militarily strong. Without adequate defence, we would loose our freedom and stay backward economically.
T R Rao,
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 10:49:19 -0500 It was refreshing to read the article by Mr Diwanji. Congratulations to Rediff for publishing an article that would make many rational minds stop before they carry on with their backward and selfserving views of pseudo-nationalism and religious fundamentalism. We as a nation need to realise that the so called "Super Power" status cannot be achieved by simply acquiring weapons of mass destruction. National pride needs to be supported with high literacy, social justice, communal harmony and the upholding of democracy. Indian leaders need to realise that they have the responsibility to improve living conditions before they start dreaming about India as a leading nation (of any sorts). Sundaresan Venkatachalam
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 08:03:22 -0700 In the late 1950s and early sixties Krishna Menon told us that China was no threat to India. And we lost upwards of 800 square miles of our territory to China. Do not be fooled to let down your guard. The best option is to have a bigger stick and use it with force to put down such threats. India's poverty can only be stopped by stopping reproduction. We are just making too many Indians for India to sustain. India should adopt some kind of forceful family planning. All quotas for jobs should be tied to low birth rate of the recipients. We cannot let the lower-castes breed themselves for creating votebanks for the crooked khadiwallahs. Ban building of temples, churches and mosques -- just build toilets and get running water. Tell all Hindus that you are not a victim of fate but a creator of your own fate. Nothing is written in your muqqadar that cannot be changed. INDIA SHOULD BE IN THE NUCLEAR CLUB, and should use it like USA used it on Japan.
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 10:54:47 -0400 The article was excellent. The most important challenges facing India are population and literacy. Politicians and people should feel that these are the main issues, not building a bomb or temple.
Ramesh Arukalaimuthu
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 14:02:20 EDT I have been an ardent reader of Rediff. I find this is the only truly online news magazine. I have been reading various columnists, but nobody has captured my apt attention as Amberish has done. Hats off, Amberish, for a wonderful article. Creating wealth is truly the need of the hour. Let's take the example of Japan. It's a tiny nation but the most powerful one economically. It has learnt its lessons the hard way, from its experiences in World War II. It was destroyed completely. What we see now is a radically different country, which grew exponentially economically. They don't brag about military power or nuclear capacity or any such thing. Why can't we in India follow the footsteps of somebody successful? Let's not concentrate on the foolish pranks by Pakistan (their internal problems are the worst in the world!!). We should not even bother about their loud mouth. We should focus on building the nation. We are a most unified and resourceful nation and we should maintain our integrity and focus on becoming an economic superpower than a mere military power. I hope our policy-makers have sense to read and appreciate articles of such high stature. Arun Kumar Gundu Rao
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 14:28:04 +0800 Hi Diwanji, To protect wealth and peace, you need strength. Military strength. You need to have wealth, no doubt, but you cannot have it without strength. History is witness to this. Gandhiji knew this but he was not heard. Nehru did not know it and the country paid heavily for it, and is still paying. Why was India invaded and ruled by foreigners for 1000 years? China, despite being a poor, Communist country and a great human rights violator, is heard in the world. Why? Learn from history... Anurag
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 21:12:51 -0700 Well-written, rings true -- especially with regard to who will control the bombs. But the country's economic problems are not less or more because we have, or don't have, nuclear weapons. That is a deeper issue, an example of which is the economic might of one nuclear power -- the U S. Military might and investment is not related to economic success or lack of it. As for the arms race in the subcontinent, it is already going on along with proxy war. The world will probably pay more attention to India if it is a declared nuclear power. Plus if it improves its economic status.
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 11:50:58 -0500 Hard to believe that there will only be a few takers to any idea which makes so much sense. If India gets stronger economically, we will be surprised by the number of unlikely friends willing to defend us! So why not think of our economy as the first line of defence?
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 10:58:00 -0600 I found Mr Diwanji's analysis interesting. But all his talk about making India a great power and making Indians better people by focusing on economy and forgetting defence is wishful thinking. Is Mr Diwanji not aware of India's friends in Pakistan who exist to hurt India and its people? Why should India wait to develop a nuclear deterrent until China sends an official letter to the Indian PM saying that they are going to take over Arunachal Pradesh in the best interest of the Indian economy? I can't understand how people like Mr Diwanji are ready to turn a blind eye in the face of such real security threats!
Swatantra Yadav
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 10:06:19 -0700 Nice article, a thought-provoking one. I would be very happy if this article finds its way into all leading dailies, both English and regional. Would love to see more of such in Rediff. Suresh
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 12:15:42 -0500 A story very well told. Sony
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 13:20:26 -0400 The author says China is taken note of now for its economy and not for the bombs it possessed from 1964. Is not China's emergence as a power based on its bombs and thereby its membership in the UN Security Council? What are the "necessary steps" that India can take in the event of a repeat of 1962, which is bound to involve missiles, the latter being more cost-effective for an aggressor? Can the development of a deterrent wait for the eradication of poverty and illiteracy, say in 20 years? Will that not be a repeat of 1962 with the focus in the preceding 15 years on the same laudable goals?
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 14:29:26 -0400 I couldn't agree more with you. Instead of keeping pace with the world and what's happening in it, we are happy and content in bickering with a mangy neighbour, who finds immense joy when we panic each time they pass some hot air. And the way things are headed, they (and others like them) will get what they want. We may not have even a langoti to wear, but we are determined to have a nuclear arsenal looming over our heads! How do our political parties always manage to come up with the most meaningless of things to support? Maybe because of what they really are, a bunch of lazy cowards! Rajesh
Date sent: Thu, 23 Apr 1998 16:07:15 -0400 You have all the priorities messed up. First of all, you can have wealth only if you are alive & also not a slave. Nuclear weapons are the necessity of our country as a deterrent to our not-so-trustworthy neighbours. China remains a threat since it's only India that it can attack without having to worry about world reaction. India has few true friends in the world and those who are friends are either poorer or with no voice in global happenings. It's different with China's other neighbours. I'd not want India to be an easy prey like Tibet and Taipei were. Maybe India will become a big economy someday; but till that day, we've to have something that will keep the Chinese in China. It's required for our very existence, not just for the national pride as you wrote. The less said about Pakistan the better. As an Indian, my topmost priority would be to keep our good old neighbours off our backs. Then we can have all the time in world to worry about the economy. It's hightime we learn something from our history. Ajay Ghatge
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 12:45:22 EDT It is really an eye-opener. I think this article must be translated into every Indian language and published in all Indian newspapers. Its time we learn to do the real thing -- to feed our people, to clothe them and educate them. Just inventing slogans won't do. Just today, Amnesty International has brought out a report on how children are treated in the Indian subcontinent. It's such a shame. We can't even learn to become a civilised nation. How can we, when our leaders are busy contesting elections and pocketing the nation's wealth? In the name of socialism, we have sidelined honest businessmen and made sure that the only way you can become rich is by doing illegal things. Politics attracts not the people who dream of nation-building but crooks who want to make money. We have to kill this monster of socialism, get rid of this caste nonsense and religious bigotry before we can even think of doing any good to the people of India.
S Krishnamurthy
Date sent: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 10:06:41 -0600 Wow! This is an excellent article. I only wish this message goes to every corner of India. Rama Balaji
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 17:30:37 -0400 The article is obviously well written. There is no doubt that India needs to improve on the economic front -- but definitely not at the cost of defence. The synergy between economic and military muscle is the only possible way for India to achieve all its goals. In the wake of the current nuclear explosions, Amberish seems to believe that India is going along the military way more. I would agree that an all-out escalation would not be advisable. But if we don't protect ourselves, no one will. And because of our diplomatic alliances with no one in particular, we hardly have the liberty to let someone else fight our wars like non-nuclear Japan or Germany. We have to defend ourselves first. To gain respect from other countries, we have to be strong, militarily as well as economically. It is very hard to agree with the author that Pakistan and China are our good neighbours -- that would be the worst blunder India can commit! Keyoor
Date sent: Tue, 28 Apr 1998 14:30:04 PDT On reading this essay, one is entitled to wonder where the author's intentions are. Mr D implies that belief in Hinduism somehow leads to non-secularism. The link is not established in this article -- which makes one wonder about Mr D's motives. What is secularism? Can a religious person be secular as well? Can a country have an official religion and still be secular? Are religious faiths inherently non-secular? Does secularism automatically bestow special privileges on a few minority groups? How are the other countries tackling this issue? Sadly, these questions have been left unanswered. Consider the US for instance. (Mr D, too, uses US as an example.) The fact that there are Christian churches, Mohemmedan mosques, Hindu temples and Jewish synagogues implies that US is secular. The fact that there are no Hindu temples in the Middle East Arab countries is a clear indication that the Middle East countries are not secular. Is there a state religion in the US? YES. The state religion is Christianity. However, as the presence of the mosques and temples show, there is no State-sponsored active discrimination of other religions of the type that exists in the Middle East. Coming to India: The presence of mosques, temples, synagogues and churches is a clear indications that India is secular. Do we have a state religion? NO. As the US shows, we could have Hinduism as a state religion -- and still have no discrimination towards the other religions. One then wonders how Mr D concludes that the establishment of Hinduism as the state religion automatically implies discrimination. On yet another count: Does the US government give grants to assist minorities to visit their 'religious places' (like Mecca, Medina or Benares)? As far as I am aware, there are no programmes to cater to this requirement. I am willing to change my view if Mr D cares to furnish proof. Does India give grants to assist minorities to visit Mecca and Medina? The answer, as even honourable gentlemen as Mr Syed Shahabuddin would admit, is YES. (The majority is entitled to ask: Why doesn't the Government of India give us financial assistance to visit our religious places? Why are we being discriminated against? The fact that this question is being asked does not automatically prove that the majority is non-secular/communal.) Another point of the same issue: The minority community should be aware that the facility extended to them is at best a temporary one. In a democracy, where the will of the people is supreme, such a facility may be withdrawn at any time. The withdrawal is an indication of the loss of privileges -- NOT THE LOSS OF RIGHTS. They are entitled to all rights as an Indian. Now, lets go over what's happened to privileges in free India. A small history lesson first: The Anglo-Indian community lost their privileges (preferential employment by the colonial powers) in 1947. In the 60s, the Princely Houses lost their privileges in the shape of Privy Purses. So, there is already a precedence. Now, perhaps, it is time for the privileges of the minorities to go as well, along with the Minority Commission. Why are we trying to be 'the most secular nation' in the world? It could be that we are plagued with intellectuals who constantly strive to prove that we are better than the rest of the world, especially the US. Why? Could it be that these intellectuals are of the Left, still suffering from a craving to prove US is somehow inferior (in this case the issue is secularism). This craving is not very different from that of a rapist who suffers from the need to attack women to reassure himself of his manhood. These 'intellectuals' have been forcing their views on the rest of the Indian population for several decades now. They need to realise that India cannot lay a claim to greatness, simply because we are the only ones in the civilised world to follow some irrational practice. As Indians, we should strive for equality for all. There should be no discrimination whatsoever based on religion, caste, sex or age. At the same time, no community should be singled out for special privileges. The presence of privileges, Mr D, is the proof of discrimination. I am sorry Mr D, but I am a part of a vast majority, who refuse to feel guilty on the loss of privileges for the few. Krishna |
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