[Reader-list] Killer at India Today Conclave

[Pawan Durani]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: XXXXXXX <XXXXXX at yahoo.com>
Date: Mar 10, 2008 6:52 PM
Subject: killer at India Today Conclave
To: Undisclosed

_____________________________

Dear Mr. Purie,
I know you are a busy person for whom every moment is very precious. I,
therefore, seek to be excused for this intrusion. However, I am taking this
liberty as I know you as one of the ardent believers in freedom of
expression. I trust you will appreciate the compulsion behind addressing
this communication to you. I also believe you will empathize me as the issue
being raised below by me is a concern confronting the displaced Kashmiri
Pandit community. It also raises a sensitive question of our treatment of
the people who openly wage war against the continuity of India as a nation.

Mr. Purie, it can be stated, without any fear of contradiction, that India
Today has been instrumental in shaping the life of not only a whole
generation but has significantly contributed towards what India is
today.  Millions
of people in India have grown reading India Today and are indebted to it for
shaping their intellect. As college students, many of my friends got hooked
to the magazine for the temptation of seeing the special photograph of some
beautiful model that India Today initially published as a dedicated column.
Latter on when the magazine decided to stop publishing the photograph, we
found despite the missing attraction, the magazine had become an addiction.
For most of us and hundreds of thousands of other Indians, this obsession
has continued to remain an integral part of our lives. And I am really glad
for that and trust so will be all others who look forward to India Today for
a weekly dose of information, entertainment and intellectual stimulation.
India Today readers have always looked at it as a load star, which guides
the people by presenting dispassionate critiques of the unfolding events
week after week. People also hold the India Today group in high esteem for
its innovative forays in to music, publication, and electronic media and
above all for its highly stimulating annual conclaves. Most of us have
always admired India Today for consistently bringing together some of the
sharpest brains and achievers who through their individual contributions
have made tremendous difference in the lives of millions of people.

I need to compliment you once again for your vision of selecting some of the
world's great achievers for the forth coming India Today Conclave. Most of
the selected panelists are truly visionaries with capabilities of affecting
very positive changes in the society through the execution of their dreams.
However, your selection of Yaseen Malik as on of the youth icons who can
make a difference is simply baffling. I am sure this name must have shocked
a vast number of your admirers. I would reckon the selection of Yaseen Malik
as one of the panelists represents either a great goof up at India today or
the naivety of its selectors. In either case, this reflects poorly on the
institution known for its untiring fairness, fearless objectivity and
tireless crusades.

I don't have access to the old copies of India Today pertaining to the
period when militancy, extremism and fundamentalism raised their ugly heads
in Kashmir. But I recall during those dark days in Kashmir when all layers
of social and state apparatus seemed to be under subversion, it was only
India Today which brought us a true picture of the happenings around us.
Please visit some of the early 1990 issues of India Today and you will find
buried under the pages some of the boldest voices of those days. Wasn't it
India Today, which suggested, "Govt. of India should seriously consider
cutting off water and electricity supplies to mosques and other institutions
in Kashmir that utilize their premises for launching anti-national
activities?"  And if you dig a little further in your archives, you will
find that much before Hizbul Mujahideen, All Umar, Jihadi Council, Harkat ul
Ansaar, Al Qaeeda and many other dreadful militant organizations came into
existence, JKLF had already wrought havoc in Kashmir and had even forced an
entire Kashmiri Pandit population to flee their ancestral home land. I am
sure India Today hasn't forgotten the connection between Yaseen Malik and
JKLF.

I know it is like showing candle to the sun, but I need to remind you about
pending TADA cases against Malik. As an institution, which brought about a
paradigm shift in the way Indians analyzed the socio-political events and as
magazine that takes pride in tracking down its old covers whenever it does a
similar lead story, India Today can't have forgotten Malik's self admitted
role in killing of four unarmed Indian Air Force personnel. It would also be
aware of his role in Rubaiya Sayeed kidnapping.

In your introduction Malik has been described as championing the return of
displaced Kashmiri Pandits to their homeland. Nothing can be more
preposterous than this suggestion. I am sorry to state; India today has
insulted the sensitivity of hundreds and thousands of displaced Kashmiri
Pandits by crediting the man singularly responsible for their exodus as
their sympathizer.  Knowing the reputation of India Today in being strictly
objective about its stories, I would have expected you to employ your own
editorial principles while writing about Malik.

I would once again credit you for assembling a group of real visionaries for
the forthcoming conclave. For them it is definitely an equal measure of
honour to be addressing the conclave as the matter of prestige for you.
Given the amount of reputation and prestige enjoyed by India Today, your
participants would have blindly agreed to be the part of the event. By
making them to share the stage with a person, who after Hitler, is perhaps
the biggest killer of humanity, India Today will be making the conclave all
the more eventful for these modern day icons.

Your distinguished guests are an admirable group of achievers, who have
attained iconic stature through their principles, honesty and hard work.
They are the real loadstars to who the future generations will look for
inspiration, guidance and motivation. Posterity will remember them for their
immense contribution towards humanity. They have excelled in their
respective fields while playing the game fair and square. Al Gore, Mukesh
Ambani, Satguru Jagi, Sunil Mittal, Dr. Craig Venter and many others on your
panel will be remembered by many generations for their contributions towards
making our world a better place to live in. These eminent people have always
let their concern for the society dictate their philosophy and actions. You
have really pulled a coup by making these distinguished personalities share
space with a person, who has exhibited a callous disregard for fellow
citizens by presiding over the forceful exodus of an entire community. And
that too for the reasons of faith and religion.

Mr. Purie, I don't occupy a pedestal from where I can demand your withdrawal
of invitation to Yaseen Malik. I can only leave that to your discretion.
But, I am sure my entire displaced Kashmiri Pandit community and majority of
Indians would feel insulted if Yaseen Malik is allowed to preach his
hollowed principles and constructed ideology from the pedestals of the
conclave. You may have your compulsions and external pressures in granting
him such a privilege but please don't preach that Malik is concerned about
the return of Pandits to their homeland. Nothing can be more fallacious and
derogatory than this.

I feel the forthcoming India Today Conclave is test of credibility for your
institution. After all, it is you who has labeled a religious
fundamentalist, a hardcore extremist and a perpetrator of genocide on an
ethnic minority as a greatest leader. I don't understand if this is a weird
joke or an indication of India Today's sense of judgment gone bizarre.

Mr. Purie, as a patriotic Indian and as a small individual who has also
contributed in making India Today what it is today, I demand an explanation.


Regards,

XXXXX










*"Zuv Shum Braman Ghara Gassa Ha"*

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