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

[Rohit Shetti]

Hi Javed,

Thanks for posting this.. It has given me my dose of humor for the day.

Rohit

On Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 10:14 AM, Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
> _________________________________________
>