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June 10, 1998
SPECIALS
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How Readers reacted to Saisuresh Sivaswamy's recent columns
Date sent: Tue, 2 Jun 1998 15:00:16 -0400
The 1998 Budget places impetus on growth of core sectors like agriculture, education, rural development, power and medical facilities. It recognises the Indian IT industry as a global player. There are bold moves to give domestic businesses a greater role in building the economy. It spreads a wide range of attractions to motivate NRIs to invest in the growth of their motherland. I have a friend who was born in a family where both parents worked to fulfil their bare necessities. His father became a drunkard. His mother worked hard to feed him, clothe him and educate him. She taught him how to pray every day. He become a charming young man and married a rich browbeater's beautiful daughter. For the first time he found that life can be fun. He worked for his in-laws and fed his wife and children all that he was refused in his childhood. His wife's parents were ashamed of his parents and he himself was embarrassed by the way they eat and the way they dress. In course of time he forgot the family he was born into. When I meet him I feel sorry for him because he lost more than what his family lost. His mom still prays every day and she is happy. Loving parents or patriotism cannot be taught. If you don't have it you are a sad man. We, Indians abroad should learn to be proud of mother India. It is mother India who fed us, clothed us, educated us and infused its culture into our blood in spite of crushing poverty and bad leadership in the past. It is the religious spirit of that land which helps us face the world with courage and lead a happy life wherever we are. We should pledge not to insult India in our small talk in private parties. We should not join foreigners in telling what India should do or should not do. We are not supposed to be sympathetic towards India but be proud we were born and brought up there.
Date sent: Sun, 31 May 1998 21:48:38 -0700
Dear Mr. Sivaswamy: It is a very well-written piece and I am appreciative of Rediff's courage to publish these kind of articles in this critical period of our secular history. Great! Well done! Poopathi Manickam
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:51:59 PDT
Mr Sivaswamy seems to assume that most readers will be carried away by a good flow of words without the writer putting forth an intelligent argument. Look at the following two sets of lines he writes: "If Hinduism were really tolerant, it would not be so easy to lure away sections from it with just a wave of petrodollars" "At least Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses was banned by the government of the day, however retrograde that move may have been." What has "tolerance" to do with "luring away with petrodollars"? It was actually the tolerance of Hindus which was abused to lure people away from Hinduism. The second set of lines tries to thrust upon the brains of the readers that intolerance is okay as long as the government of the day approves it. No kind of logic cannot explain this reasoning. Gopal Kulkarni.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:25:21 PDT
I am not a very regular visitor to this site, but I thought people writing here are more sensible and logical than this. The article Husain and the myth of Hindu tolerance is so disgusting, I read it twice (I am not a masochist, though), to understand it fully before writing a reply. The author seems to be aiming for cheap popularity by writing or saying things against popular opinion. I got that impression from the following lines: "So will the Bajrang Dal and the other constituents of the lunatic fringe, the ugly excrescence on an otherwise beautiful face, punish me for holding this view?" Mr Saisuresh, your opinions/views count for nothing. And, speaking for the Bajrang Dal, we have a lot better things to do than punishing minnows like you. I am a senior software engineer in a multinational company, working in the US for the last three years. I am pained whenever I see people like you, who don't have pride in their religion, country, and traditions. There are so many fallacies in your argument: "And Maqbool Fida Husain's fault was not that he painted Hindu deities in the nude twenty years ago and more so while being a Muslim; his real fault was in doing this while belonging to a community that must number around 12 per cent of the population." What the hell were you trying to say. What is it about 12 per cent? In the US, if a black calls another black a nigger, it doesn't matter. And there is sense in it. Here a Muslim who doesn't consider Sita his mother who has done this. You have also been vague: "If practised Hinduism really were as tolerant as it is claimed to be, there won't be a large section of the dispossessed, underprivileged who have today woken to their plight, who have realised that despite numbers favouring them ...blah blah." So you mean Hinduism is not tolerant enough. Hinduism is a tradition I am proud of. It allows people like you to talk rubbish about it. One who is not proud of his traditions cannot have self-esteem and cannot love his country. Can you tell me one other religion in the world that will tolerate people like you in it? And who are the people you are talking about? Dalits? (Try to be objective when writing an article in a prestigious site like Rediff). You go farther: "Offence is the farthest from his mind, I am sure." You disgust me. A person must be enough careful not to cause offence. It is not enough just not to mean offence. Then, "After all, India has not done Husain proud, Husain has done India proud." If Husain is not proud of India, and yourself, go to hell. I am proud of India. Lot of people out here are. And damn it, Husain has not made India proud. I don't even know what to say for the following: "To me, Husain's is the silence of the lamb. And we are all guilty of condoning a fascist act by our refusal to condemn the Sangh Parivar's offshoot for taking the law into its own hands. Today it is Husain, tomorrow it could be you and me." Is it fashionable to call patriots fascists? Where is the demarcation? I would like to see some one else's views on this subject too. Nandan
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 12:15:34 -0500
I was wondering why we are called names and made fun of us all over the world. This person here is the best example. Somebody paints our god nude in the name of art, some other guys who have self-respect and shame still left in them, retaliate. So what does our coward who could not defend his faith do? You guess right. Write something on secularism as if that is the sole responsibility of the Hindus, and denounce the so-called crime. By the way, let me please know in what way has Husain done India proud? And in what way could India not make him proud? Why is that he only uses Hindu gods to pursue his artistic excellence? Doesn't Islam have none or is it because we Hindus tolerate everything? The maximum we do is tear the painting down and ransack his house. Maybe we should have the fatwa kind of thing, which will settle artistic indulgence of this kind forever.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:26:12 -0400
In my opinion, the writer has gone out of his mind to say it is okay to paint Hindu gods in nude. I am sure the writer will go berserk if the picture was of one of his family members. I think articles like this should be banned.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:48:00 -0400
The myth of Hindu tolerance? Hindus were tolerant and will be tolerant. After a few instances of people giving written apologies, the Hindu anger will subside. If Sai really wants Hindus to calm down then make an appeal to all Husains that they should learn to respect Hindu sentiments. This myth is demolished now because of pushing Hindus in the corner by secularists's one-sided secularism, neglecting Muslim fundamentalism. Why should Sai cry now? People like him should have been impartial to Muslims and Hindus alike. As for testing what the Bajrang Dal can do to Sai, I suggest he paint a picture the way Husain did and put it up at Bori Bunder. Sai will know the result.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 11:01:40 -0700
Good call, Mr Saisuresh. I am an Indian Muslim and though I am on the other side of the fence, both geographically and religiously, I believe that Husain's depiction of Sita should be condemned. Not just because Sita is a revered Hindu goddess but also because she is a female. This is grave disrespect. Having said that, I must also add that the reaction of the Bajrang Dal and the defence of their action by our so-called media elite is regrettable. I can't believe that in India we are still resolving our differences by muscle power. I am sure more people were hurt by Husain's depiction than those who enjoyed it or remained neutral. But in what way one can justify the attack on Husain's property when the norms of civilisation provide umpteen avenues to express one's opinions? Did we really run out of all those choices? Those drawing parallels between Husain and Rushdie should know that Husain apologised, Rushdie didn't. I am looking for the day when we as Indian will give up barbaric instincts and embrace the rules of civilised living. That will be the day when we wouldn't need bombs and stick to convey our point and when democracy will be honoured. Looking at the mails on this site and the views posted by notable writers, it looks like Husain's crime was not disrespecting the Hindu goddess, but being a Muslim. In India these days, there is a sudden spurt of revivalist Hinduism writing. Isn't this Viagra journalism, since these pro-active and assertive writers were dormant till an aggressive government picked up the reins? One thing should be made very clear here. Muslims were never privileged in our country. It was a political gameplan to use them as vote banks. It is sad to see that the Hindu view about the Muslims is just 'fanatics'. I am never going to challenge anybody's view, as your views are what you are, but I am a believer in religious harmony and mutual respect between every faith. Saifuddin Arif.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:03:43 -0400
I guess the only failure of God is that he does not to punish the individual the very moment he does wrong. Today Man is not afraid of anything happening to him in future or in the rebirth, since he thinks he has to live just for 60, 70 years. Man thinks he should enjoy his life the way he wants. I guess if He whacks Man on the back the very instant he does something wrong, neither would Husain have insulted a Hindu deity, nor would anyone else. Whatever the Bajrang Dal is doing today should have been done by God. Thank your stars, Mr Sivaswamy, that you and Mr Husain are alive today -- you for writing for what you did and he for insulting Maa Sita. Long live Hindu tolerance. For, whatever the frustrated Bajrang Dal is doing today should have been done by God himself.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:04:49 -0400
Will he please shut his mouth and pen or does he want to face the wrath of many Indians like me indirectly through the Bajrang Dal?
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:13:55 -0500
Much as I condemn Bajrang Dal's open threat, my sympathies are not with Husain. He has certainly offended a lot of Hindus, including me, and we do deserve an apology. But the means of getting it. Well, that was wrong. About why Hindus were not offended way back, it's because many of us, like me, didn't know about it. Forget artistic freedom. Just leave religion alone in a country which is very sensitive to these issues. Ask Husain to do paintings of nature and nude versions of film stars. No one's offended then. Kishore.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:29:55 -0400
Hey Sai !!!!! Due to third-rate Hindus -- with that stupid tolerance -- like you, we created Pakistan. People like M K Gandhi have brainwashed people like you that tolerance is a Hindu virtue. It has nothing to do with being Hindu.
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:45:48 -0400
Why doesn't Saisuresh Sivaswamy preach similar tolerance or, rather, criticise intolerance inherent in the Muslims? Why does he not talk about lifting the ban on the Satanic Verses and write in support of Taslima Nasreen of Bangladesh? It's easy to criticise a community that will not retaliate against one of its members. Shantanu Chakravarti
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 15:11:56 -0400
I read the article by Saisuresh Sivaswamy and here is what I feel: The article seems to me as a personal attack against the BJP rather than being an objective analysis. No doubt the author seems to have a flowery writing style with low focus on logical content. Nevertheless, I would definitely give him credit in a test of vocabulary. If Sivaswamy feels that the government performed the test to raise public euphoria, any political party in power that performs a nuclear test would be held guilty for the same motive. Extending this logic, does it mean India should never perform a nuclear test? India is surrounded by hostile neighbours. China already possesses nuclear weapons. Pakistan also has nuclear capability. So what's wrong in India performing a nuclear test? I don't see it as a political issue or a source of national pride. To me it's a practical necessity for Indian defence. It was long overdue. It's unfortunate that Indians have made it a political issue, rather than considering it as a technical achievement of Indian scientists. I fully support the prime minister for performing the nuclear test and would have supported any other political party who had done the same. I don't see this as a threat to peace and stability in the region. Let's learn to distinguish between peace and weakness. What bothers me that most critics lack logical focus in their articles. They always tend to drag in narrow personal/political sentiments. True, in a democracy people are free to voice their own opinions. But views alone without logical content or objective reasoning only tend to lose their original focus. I hope to see articles at Rediff with objective analysis rather than emotional outbursts, personal attacks and verbal jugglery. I am sorry to say that Mr Sivaswamy's article seemed to me more of a play with words rather than a mature criticism. I think that any party that conducts a nuclear test is likely to be condemned by political rivals as taking the step for narrow political gains. If all political parties in India start bothering about such political pressures, then India could never have conducted a nuclear test. To me, the real hindrance to India's progress has always been stupid politicians, eternally fighting with each other and always jealous of the opponent's popularity. India has suffered due to this in the past and will continue to do so unless our attitude changes. Saurabh Banerjee |
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