[Reader-list] Gandhi

[taraprakash]

Dear Rakesh and all. As about Gandhi, I have no doubt he would not be 
satisfied at all with the way India has functioned after "independence". A 
poet munavvar Saiyadi has said something interesting:

Gandhi badan ka naam naheen tha, usool tha,
Gandhi ke har usool ko thukara diya gaya.
Gandhi ka katl aam sabha mein naheen hua
Gandhi ko katl lok Sabha mein kiya gaya.

(Gandhi was not the name of a body, he was a principle. Every principle of 
Gandhi was rejected. Gandhi was not killed in a prayer service, Gandhi was 
murdered in the loksabha (by our parliamentarians)

Regards
TaraPrakash
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rakesh Iyer" <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com>
To: "Aditya Raj Kaul" <kauladityaraj at gmail.com>
Cc: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2009 6:34 AM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] ''Shiela Dikshit - Pramod Muthalik'' - SanghSangh 
!


> Dear all
>
> After reading this article, I am thinking who is the more hypocritic of 
> the
> two: the BJP or the Congress.
>
> Let us be very clear about the nature of the parties. As my friend Aashish
> (who is a member of this list as well) told me once, all parties in India
> (the only exception in some sense for me here is the Left, at least
> ideologically) are basically conservative. This is very much true, as I
> shall point out.
>
> Gandhi, the Father of our Nation was infact conservative in certain sense,
> especially if we look at it. He was absolutely conservative about the
> creature called 'market', and must have been highly appalled at the nature
> of consumerism which has grown in India and elsewhere in the world. Of
> course, he was radical when we point out caste and non-violence as an
> instrument of dissent, but I don't think he would have supported the 'pub
> culture' which has grown in India, although he would never support 
> violence
> against women.
>
> The Congress, born from the values Gandhi and Nehru gave, is essentially a
> conservative organization. Infact, if I may add so, in order to pander to
> fundamentalists or conservatists on both sides, has been their hallmark. 
> On
> one hand, they passed the 'Muslim Personal Law' to ensure the Shah Bano
> judgement was turned redundant; on the other they also allowed the locks 
> of
> Ram Mandir to be opened. The end result is known to all.
>
> The BJP is of course conservative, as it grows from the RSS, which has a
> particular code of life as based on Hindutva. Hence, they have problems 
> with
> Valentines' Day, pubs and so on. Of course, Congress doesn't also like 
> them,
> but yes they don't interfere with them as well, as long as it doesn't 
> cause
> any problems.
>
> Infact, if the Congress must be criticized for being conservative, the BJP
> in Gujarat must be criticized for not implementing the mantra of
> 'prohibition' effectively in cities and urban areas. The reason is simple.
> The Gujarati middle class is one of the strongest supporters of Modi and
> BJP, and is also the major consumer of foreign branded alcohol. What's 
> more,
> the investors coming in 'Vibrant Gujarat' since the last few years also 
> have
> approved of their dissatisfaction with such prohibition. Infact, this was
> one of the issues, which was raised by Congress (and of course it failed),
> in the Assembly 2007 elections.
>
> Regards
>
> Rakesh
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