[Reader-list] The Hooted and the Off-Stumped world we live in

[Javed]

Dear Pawan, Shivam and others
I have been observing the postings on the forum called
offstumped.nationalinterest.in for sometime now (among some of its
mottos is "National Interest Before Human Rights"). And I would invite
others on Sarai list to visit and see what sorts of discussions go on
here. I couldn't stop laughing at some of the conversations especially
the one which shows connection between "Indian Mujahideen" and the
websites Countercurrents.org and Thehoot.org. (Countercurrents.org is
a Kerala-based independent journalism website, while thehoot is a
mediawatch network run mostly by seasoned journalist Sevanti Ninan).

It seems that most of the participants on offstumped are probably
patriotic NRI techies/IT professionals who know their Internet and
technology well. But the technology and patriotism is probably all
that they know. It is unbelievable that they are actually trying to
discuss how a particular email originated from the same server/IP
address where Countercurrent website is hosted, (and its text came
from thehoot), and therefore countercurrent and thehoot are the
"masterminds" behind Indian Mujahideen. There are many other similar
debates that seem to suggest that the discussants are living in the
cyberworld and have no touch with the reality in India.

While I agree that India needs to progress, its citizens need to live
in a safe and secure world without any terror, we need to preserve our
cultural heritage, and be proud of our country (some of the points
being discussed here). But I have a big problem with the way the
participants of offstumped are necessarily hoping to create a
monolithic India devoid of any cultural diversity, where the Nation is
more important than the basic human rights of its citizens. And most
importantly, there is so much hate there for what they consider
leftist ideology. For them, all Muslims, leftists, congress, dalits
and so on are the enemies of India, and are responsible for all the
problems. And offstumped along with its print magazine called Pragati
is all set to eradicate all such muck from India. I was not too happy
to visit the forum because I felt that its only going to create
further hatred in our world – its members can't build a great India if
they are so full of malice towards anyone they disagree with.

J