E-mail from readers the world over
'A religion that discriminates against its followers is not
a true religion'
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 02:48:30EST -0700
Subject:
Interview with the Shankaracharya of Puri
Swamiji,
The interview clearly reveals the crisis Hinduism is faced with. You seem to think that the religion needs to be protected. What you are forgetting is that a religion can thrive only if its tenets are palatable to the people who would prefer to follow it rather than to convert people.
Alternately, if someone converts under some pretext (like those who converted to Islam just because they did not want to be killed by Aurangzeb), then there is no point is complaining as it is not the religion that has suffered. The quality of a religion is determined by the quality of the people who practise it -- those who stuck to Hinduism despite all odds are those who really define what the religion is about.
How about helping Hindus protect the religion from casteist, male chauvinistic zealots like you for a change? Perhaps you should do a better job of spreading the tenets of Hinduism rather than throwing meaningless barbs and diatribes at other religions.
You have not been known to follow the very tenets the religion preaches. Remember, you are defined by your work and not by your position. Compared to Paramacharya Sri Chandrasekhara Saraswati
Swami of Kanchi, none of the present day Shankaracharyas have done anything to command the respect of devout Hindus.
I hope you read this letter with an open mind and understand that if you use the religion to propagate some personal agenda or the agenda of some extreme elements of Hinduism, you will do greater harm than
good. Before I conclude my letter, I would like to state that what India is, is to a large extent determined by how Hindus behave. Unfortunately, in this aspect we have failed ourselves.
The corruption encompassing our everyday lives is sickening. Seeking favors, buying help and not taking responsibility for our actions have made us a country that cries for help on all fronts -- social, economic and political.
India is threatened by the unethical behavior of Hindus more than by Hindus converting to other religions. If India is the last refuge of Hinduism, then very soon there will be no safe haven for the religion if we sell our morality and stop practising what the religion actually preaches.
Please note: I am not saying conversions are not a problem. But rather that you are solving the wrong problem if you think you can enforce a law that prevents conversions.
Arun Venkataraman
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 10:40:24EST +0530
Subject:
Interview with the Shankaracharya of Puri
I was disappointed to read the interview of someone like this man on a site like rediff.com
Praveen Nair
Date:
Wed, 07 Jun 2000, 07:42:06EST +0700
Subject:
Interview with the Shankaracharya of Puri
I was shocked and surprised to read such nonsense. A religion, any
religion, that discriminates against its followers is not a true religion. God cannot and will not be partial. Anybody who believes and preaches otherwise is a fool and deserves to be roundly condemned. I am an Indian, a Hindu and am very proud of both the facts. After all these years, are we going to introduce another caste system?
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 22:31:52EST +0800
Subject:
US advice to PM over Kashmir
India should not be pressurised by either the US or by any other country to 'settle' (sic) the Kashmir issue. India knows when to do what and no outsider has any right to advise her on her affairs. In fact, the US is being pressurised by the Islamic and the Chinese lobby to intimidate India by magnifying the problem. India should tell the US that she is well aware of the Kashmir problem and will resolve it in good time.
Sid Dasgupta
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 18:37:07EST +0530
Subject: Swapna Khanna
I have read a lot of good features written by this writer. You must encourage such correspondents.
Pooja Bhatia
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 20:12:19EST -0700
Subject:
Why there's 'the smell of blood still' in J&K
This article by Arvind Lavakare is thought provoking. He is right in saying that there is a need to make information on the history of Kashmir freely available in all the Indian languages to overcome the prevailing ignorance on the issue.
Raman Kumar
Date:
Tue, 06 Jun 2000, 17:28:50EST +0530
Subject:
Why there's the smell of blood still in J & K
A well-written piece. However, he was rather too harsh with Nehru. The problem in Kashmir is Pan -Islamic expansion. Even if Nehru had not gone to the UN, Islamists would still have caused trouble. We will not have peace as long Islam's mindset is what it is.
Vijay K Kaul
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 23:04:31EST -0400
Subject:
Amberish Diwanji's article
You are absolutely right. We need to be more active, more united. And
people like you are essential for the media. The media should, I believe, shoulder the responsibility of forcing the government to act. And only a public upheaval can force the government to take action when it comes to such matters.
Swaminathan Saikumar
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 16:04:19EST +1000
Subject:
Amberish Diwanji's article
I was impressed by this article. We too believe that India should do more to assist the NRIs and PIOs. I hope other Indian journalists too voice such opinions. We in Sydney will be willing to assist them with information, specially regarding the situation in Fiji and also about the Indian community in Sydney. I would also like to thank Rediff for doing an excellent job.
Satish Rai
Date:
Mon, 05 Jun 2000, 08:36:23EST -0400
Subject:
Amberish Diwanji's article
This is what the writer has to say about India's hands-off policy in Fiji and in Sri Lanka:
`But if the policy of doing nothing in Fiji has been of little help to
the people of Indian origin out there, the same policy has apparently worked well in Sri Lanka...'
But there is a key difference. The people of Indian origin in Fiji went there in the last two or three centuries. The Tamils of Sri Lanka are not
"any more" of Indian origin than the Sinhalese are. I am not suggesting that this difference implies anything but it is important that Sri Lankan Tamils should not be considered Indian immigrants.
Jagadisan Shivakumar, USA
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 22:34:25EST
Subject:
Kuldip Nayyar's article on Sri Lanka
While I endorse Mr Nayyar's suggestion that India must try to bring the LTTE to the negotiating table, I would like to point out certain inaccuracies in his article.
Mr Nayyar is assuming that the LTTE stands for Greater Eelam, including Tamil Nadu, which is not correct. The LTTE has never stood for a Greater Eelam. Prabhakaran might have said that he may have to fight India in the context of the creation of Eelam but it is certainly not regarding Greater Eelam! The LTTE ruled Jaffna for five years. If the LTTE wanted to do something in India, they would have tried to do so at that time.
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 16:50:35EST -0500
Subject:
What Delhi must do
Kuldip Nayar needs to get his facts straight. Vaiko's party is the MDMK and not the DMK. Instead of pontificating about greater Eelam including Tamil Nadu and other such preposterous propositions, Kuldip Nayar needs to stick subjects he knows best, like Kashmir and Pakistan.
Venki Govindaraju
Date:
Fri, 09 Jun 2000, 17:46:10EST
Subject:
Why don't we get angry anymore?
Dear Mr Krishna Prasad,
Why blame only the ministers? What about our MPs and other dignitaries who travel abroad free on Air India and refuse to vacate official flats for years? A few years back some MPs made a trip to
Chicago at Air India's expense. AI recruited their managers and staff from the US abroad to cater to these useless MPs some of whom were merely interested in girls and in watching blue films. There are so many
horror stories about Rajiv Gandhi and his Italian wife on their trips abroad.
Why don't we get angry any more? Simple. India is a country which is
corrupt, has no honesty, everyone is out to make a fast buck at the tax payer's expense. This cycle will never end.
Ken Menen
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