[Reader-list] Fwd: Undelivered Mail Returned to Sender

[Rakesh Iyer]

What I find particularly surprising and appalling in the mails sent, is the
reference to our PM as 'Manmohini Singh'. The reference to him as being
'weak male' and a possible 'transgender', is also bringing to light the
truth of a certain section of males in the society.

The problem I have with such a description is that by stating that the PM is
a 'weak male', it has been assumed that males are always strong. What's
more, indirectly it seems to have been stated that females are weak. The
notion of masculinity being stronger than femininity seems to come out of
such a description of our PM. This is against the very basis of equality of
men and women, which is a part and parcel of our Indian Constitution, and
which we are supposed to adhere to, not only as Indians, but also as human
beings.

Hence, if Rajen jee or anybody means that masculinity is stronger than
femininity, I believe such statements are an inkling of the constant fear of
their masculinity being scrutinized, which makes males behave in a manner to
prove that they are 'males indeed'. And in the 21st century, if this is a
problem, it is certainly despicable, and somewhere our society and all of us
deserve the blame for that.

Equally, the trans-genders have been looked down upon, when Manmohan is
referred to as a 'trans-gender'. Aren't trans-genders human beings after
all? Again the Indian Constitution doesn't allow us to look down upon other
human beings. Neither do human rights, or values which we as rational beings
must adhere to. Then what's the problem even if Manmohan is a transgender.

This reminds me of another statement which was made in the documentary
'Father, Son & Holy War'  (documentary made by Mr. Anand Patwardhan) by
someone : 'Agar Rao (Narsimha Rao, then the PM of India) ko Babri masjid
banana hai to use keh do sadi aur haathon mein chudiyan pehen le. (If Rao
feels that Babri Masjid should be reconstructed, then he should wear bangles
and sari).'

What's the use of stating that 'trans-genders, gays and lesbians are also
humans', when you will still look down upon them? Is that behavior
acceptable even to you?

I am not defending Manmohan Singh at all in this kind of discussion.
According to me, Manmohan is an ineffective PM, as was Vajpayee. While
Vajpayee slept over Kandahar, Godhra and its aftermath, and also during
investigations of the Parliament attack, Manmohan has to his credit most of
the negative things surrounding the UPA govt.

His govt. has been involved in a Rs. 2,500 crore scam (unearthed recently
and published in Outlook). The CAG constantly has indicted the previous UPA
govt time and again for many wasteful expenditures in the past and even now
(Even the Garib Rath is a total failure, going by the CAG report, because
the 'garibs' who were to use the train, are not using it at all). Defence
dept. may be sitting on the top of another huge scam since Bofors, the
telecom dept. has been under the cloud ever since A. Raja was the minister,
the consumer-price inflation has been touching the sky for the past 3 years
(it is 8% for almost the entire year going by the CPI figures), handling of
terrorism was a failure, and most of all, the NREGA was mostly running
ineffectively. Even the much-touted handling of the Railways, under the
previous Railway Minister, Shree Lalu Prasad, is now under the scanner, but
ironically, even during his field days as a minister, the CAG was constantly
criticizing his moves.

Even the credible achievements of the UPA govt can be attributed either to
the organizations fighting on the ground (for bringing issues to notice),
Left or to Sonia Gandhi (for thinking they are important and introducing
such legislations in Parliament). The PM's achievements were handling
problems in the Ambani family, mingling with the corporate sector, and
involving himself in a vote which brought about another shameful day in the
Parliament (if you remember the trust vote his govt faced in 2008). And of
course, now he is back with the UID in his second term.

Manmohan is certainly a weak PM (or strong depending on which side you are),
but so of course were many. And what's more, problems won't be solved if we
make Dara Singh the PM of India (whom I believe Rajen jee would consider to
be a strong enough male). It's in making the administration responsive and
humane that the govt. would work. And that's what we should strive towards.

And more importantly, all of us should learn the meaning of equality and be
careful before making such statements. It's a request from me.