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June 8, 1998
SPECIALS
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How Readers responded to Varsha Bhosle's recent columnsDate sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 13:53:02 PDT
I find her articles highly immature and biased. She seems to find fault only with the minority community rather than flaws within society itself. She justifies a draconian, crude law as TADA in the name of ensuring peace and harmony. I find her arguments very weak in the sense that she assumes that the existing laws are not very strict so TADA is needed. But my question is, do you feel that you need another draconian law just because the existing law is not effective. Why do you find the existing laws not effective? The answer is the existing laws are not implemented properly rather than that there are flaws with the law itself. How successful has TADA been in convicting alleged suspected criminals? The answer is "TADA has been a total failure". Our law and order machinery officials are not even properly trained to conduct investigations and collect evidence which they can use to frame charges against an accused. Police officials have become so corrupt and lethargic that they all want an easy way out. They prefer a draconian law which will allow them to arrest people on their whims and fancies and keep them locked away because they themselves are too lazy to not conduct proper investigations. Can't you see one fact! Arrests are definitely made for crimes and the police 'claim' to have solved a crime but what about the conviction rate? Are they able to find arrested people guilty of the crime? In most cases, no, as these cases are dismissed due to lack of investigation, that too after a minimum of 5 to 10 years. So the people to be blamed are our law enforcement officers as well as our society. Rather than trying to tackle the malaise of lawlessness through effective implementation of law, it is useless to have another law which gives more power to the police to harass and punish innocent people. The police do not have any right to decide who is right or wrong. It is the judiciary that should decide this. Efforts should also be made to streamline the functioning of the judiciary so that justice is dispensed fairly without much delay. Once confidence in the judiciary is established, more effective implementation of laws will result. First root out the evil in society and make the police force more accountable to the general public rather than let it become a tool in the hands of corrupt politicians. I think Ms Bhosle is so far away from ground reality that she does not even know what she is writing. It would be better if she is arrested under TADA. Then she will realise how bad the law is. Remember Ms Bhosle, this law is a Frankenstein's monster. It might not affect you right now, but you might also become a victim of such laws. I would request that you not write so irresponsibly. First do your research on a topic, think of the pros and cons and then write. It would do you a lot of good as well as to Rediff. You may have gained some popular support among the middle 'erudite' classes, but you are still far off from the ground reality. I would like to complement Rediff on being such a wonderful Internet site, but I really regret that you allow people like Ms Varsha Bhosle to write such stupid stuff. I expected better of you. Amit Kumar
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 05:25:50 -0500
I appreciate Varsha's efforts in putting things in the right perspective. Want to see more of such reality doses :-) Great job!! Valli
Date sent: Fri, 29 May 1998 15:14:42 +1000
Keep it up Varsha. Your articles make the Rediff site tolerable. Wish the D'Souzas, Diwanjis and Panickers of this world can see light and write sense like you do. Jai Hind Madhu Gurnani
Date sent: Thu, 28 May 1998 15:51:48 -0500
It's been a while since I read any article by Varsha Bhosle. I didn't read "Cop Land" either. I don't read any of her articles because I didn't find even one, among the 20 or so I read, to have any consistent point of view. Most of it is drivel. Just wanted to let Rediff know that there are regular readers here like me who don't even bother to look at her articles anymore.
Date sent: Sat, 16 May 1998 19:26:20 +0000
Varsha Bhosle wrote in " The H(indutva)-bomb" "Oh but I can't help it: In the end, I have to be typically Bhosle and invite all that yummy hate-mail. So here goes: You see, I, too, have an axe to grind with the BJP government... Why the hell did we waste the five nuclear explosions subterraneously? Why couldn't we test them on Islamabad instead...? Just kidding. And have a Happy Nukes Week, y'hear?" These concluding remarks were in extremely bad taste. Let us hope that people like you, caught up in this nuclear frenzy today will come to grips with what India has done someday. By the way do you know how far Islamabad is from the Indian border? The fallout will take care of most of Kashmir and Punjab. Maybe you could ask the Bombay taxi drivers their opinion on such a scenario. Maybe you can share this humour with the Kashmiri and Punjabi people too. Ras H Siddiqui
Date sent: Fri, 15 May 1998 15:54:26 -0400
The last paragraph should have been left out. You are revealing your true sentiments. Hari
Date sent: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:50:54 PDT
Madam: Before I plunge into discussing your article, I should make clear that I have full sympathy for the victims of the Radhabai chawl massacre. For me, the religion of the victim does not matter. Neither do I care about the religion of the killers. A victim is a victim and an assailant is an assailant. I will agree with you that the demolition of the Babri mosque does not justify the killing of innocent Hindus. But, by the same argument, the Radhabai massacre does not justify the killings of Muslims throughout Bombay. Don't you know that your Shiv Sena leaders provoked Hindus to take revenge, seeking an eye for an eye? The accused in the Radhabai chawl massacre were at least caught, put to trial, sentenced by a TADA court and then finally acquitted by the Supreme Court. But aren't the killers of Muslims still roaming free? How many of them have even been tried for their crimes? What about the families of Muslims who were killed in that riot? Can you write an article, with the same fire, demanding justice for those families? Guess not. You know that and I know that. As far as the Srikrishna report is concerned, a much better article was written by Mr Dilip D'Souza, who wants to see the report for more genuine reasons than you. When you wrote your punch line, "How is it that we Hindu writers, even after trying, are unable to acquire even a page of the report?" perhaps you forgot that it is your very own Hindu leaders who decided not to table the report. If you honestly want to see the report why don't you fax a copy of the letter presented by Mr Dilip in his article to the CM of Maharashtra? And please let me know. I will also fax it and will ask all my friends to do so.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 17:08:00 -0400
I can't believe it, but I agree with (almost) everything that this rabid Hindu fundamentalist has to say about India going nuclear.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 16:08:19 -0500 (CDT)
Well, this time Varsha's article is utterly incredible. Though I have been reading her articles for long, she has never been so straight in her columns. It is really very heartening to see so many people rejoicing, probably for the first time after Independence. I appreciate and congratulate all Indians for their true patriotic spirit. India has taken the right action and all Indians will remain united to face any challenge. I hope to read more of Bhosle's article on Rediff. Now I am (kind of) hooked on to Rediff. Jai Bharath Mata ki!!! ( Bhosle's style) Sandeep Pradhan
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 21:21:25 EDT
She is spicy, but factual. She is articulate, she love her country as all of us should, she writes the truth, which often is bitter to some. She writes about a practical way of thinking, the common person's way, not the megalomanic way of those who cruise in a world of their idealistic imagination, far from reality. She is dynamic and not bound to a single issue; she is practical, she is enthusiastic, and she brings lots of joy to all of us who agree or disagree with it. Keep on, girl, and may god be with you.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 14:03:50 -0700
Though Varsha's article was not as fiery as I had expected and waited for, I must share my feeling with Varsha, Rediff and fellow netizens; for the nuke tests felt like I had enjoyed myself for the first time in 24 years.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 16:04:05 -0500
Ms Varsha Bhosle, I have become a fan of your articles. Back in India, I used to read articles of columnists like Praful Bidwai, Amulya Ganguli, Jyoti Punwani and sometimes, Mohit Sen (I guess you can understand which newspaper it was), and used to wonder how dumb and biased these writers can be. I got so sick of reading those stereotyped arguments that I stopped buying English newspapers. I then continued with Marathi newspapers (which I had been reading since childhood). Some other experiments with the English press (reading magazines like India Today, Frontline,etc.) finally convinced me about the pseudo-intellectualism of English journalism. It was only a couple of days before that I read some of your articles on the Rediff site, and, frankly, I was very happy. The articles reflect exactly what the common people like me feel. They are perfect answers to the articles written by the pseudo-secular brigade mentioned above. What I like the most about your articles is that, when you deal with an issue, you go into the depths, explore it from all the angles and put forward your conclusions point-by-point. I think, we need more people like you, who present the readers (of the English press) with objective and logical assessment, who can read the minds of Indian citizens and pen down their feelings. Bravo, Varsha! keep it up! Ketan Desai
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 16:43:05 -0400
The article made for interesting reading although some of the statements were far removed from fact and were pure flights of fancy. First of all, I take objection to the use of the term "Hindutva bomb", not because I am against the word Hindutva which symbolises a cultural ethos, but against the suggestion that the tests at Pokhran were of a Hindu bomb. That said, I think it is praiseworthy of you to bring to our notice that Mr Bidwai and Mr Vanaik may have a vested interest in criticising the bomb. If the information you provided is true, then these gentlemen and their stance should be exposed for what it actually is -- meaningless posturing and attempts to don the mantle of anti-nuclear pacifists, in the probable hope of getting John F Burns to quote them in big bold letters. You should not only criticise these gentlemen but also the irresponsible statements that the New York Times is making. The day they reported the first tests, they headlined the article "...India defies worldwide ban..." Which ban did we defy ? Which treaty did we break? Which country did we deprive of adequate food and medicine to protect our interests? Ask these questions because you have a much more credible voice than just an ordinary me. I was listening to the BBC last night and there was this interviewer who asked a loaded question of an UK-based Indian economist. When the reporter could not get the economist to agree with his views, he asked the question again. This time, the Indian rebuffed him, giving him a straight answer. Such is the kind of press India gets in the Western world. Without some of our credible writers making some noise, we will continue to be bad-mouthed in the global media. One thing baffles me and you might be able to explain this: The UK is the staunchest ally the US has. But Britain's silence on the blasts is deafening. They had not joined the US in being severely critical of the blasts and have merely condemned it. In addition, they have not announced any withdrawal of aid or grants of any kind. When asked whether the UK intended to impose sanctions, and thereby support the US stance, the UK foreign secretary said they would be improper and "wouldn't be right" as the British aid goes to state governments who have nothing to do with the decision of the federal government. That sounds less like a statement and more like a joke. I am truly confused as to the British reaction to this issue. Any thoughts?
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 13:25:35 -0700
I am glad to hear that there is sanity amongst journalists/columnists these days. I agree with the Indian government's decision to test the N-devices. I am further happy that it was the BJP government. Mind you, I would be happy otherwise as well, but this is more gratifying to my soul. We cannot let the white man set the rules. This is their way of ruling us even after they have stopped being colonialists. Jai Ramji.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 13:16:57 -0700
Excellent Varsha!!! Way to go. Ananth
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 15:10:05 -0500
Everybody is entitled to his/her own views, But Varsha now seems to enjoy all the hate mail she's getting or ... maybe she loves the big fat paycheck she gets out of it. Too many journalists get a lot of focus and attention by writing these bizarre articles which revolve around touchy subjects and offer nothing else except adrenalin rushes for some readers. With your writing talent, you can do much better for the country, society and the populace by doing thorough research before commenting on national news/events instead of writing such offensive articles.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 12:57:26 -0700
What Varsha has pointed out is absolutely right: "Why the hell did we waste the five nuclear explosions subterraneously? Why couldn't we test them on Islamabad instead...?" I just loved that. I think what India should now do is attack POK and finish off the Kashmir issue in one single day. I fully agree with what Varsha says about "Murli Manohar Joshi moving to and fro from Washington and speaking to Republican think-tanks all the time last year?" There is definitely a different side to all that has happened. One more point to be noted is that a US ambassador to the UN, Bill Richardson, was in New Delhi a few days ago, and was specifically asked to look into the nuclear intentions of the new BJP government. So definitely something is going on below the surface. It may be that the US is actually supporting a nuclear India to counter China in a big way. Jai Hind. Atul
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 12:30:30 -0700
Good article.
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 15:27:20 -0400
Way to go, Varsha! Hit the Communists hard! They have no concern for our nation's security. They will sell India to China if they come to power. Ajay Gannerkote
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 17:42:58 EDT
Hi, Varsha, We are really proud to have columnists like you. I read Rediff just to read your articles. I love all of your articles. I have not seen better, bold and truthful articles in my life. We have a group of your fans who discuss your articles every day. If in any way, Rediff succumbs to pseudosecular elements and tries to take you off the column, it's going to be a big, big loss for Rediff. It's going to hit them real bad. Keep it up Varsha Harish
Date sent: Thu, 14 May 1998 13:28:16 PDT
Varsha Bhosle! You are wonderful! I have never seen an Indian columnist with the guts to say things straight. I am proud to say that we have an Indian woman who has enough courage to say things straight. There may be a few critics for her tough language, but believe me there are many, many of us who really love the way you write. Almost all our writers are scared of talking about Hinduism, but you are not. Even when American newspapers are making fun of our nation, our spineless media (all major newspapers) is not ready to respond. But I have seen some great comments in Rediff, nowhere else. We want people like you, Varsha, and media people like rediff.com. India is all messed up with minoritism and people have begun losing their confidence in everything. We need a good media which can boost the young generation and to come out in the open and work for their nation. Thanks again Varsha, we will be waiting to hear from you more and more... |
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