[Reader-list] Has Congress become perfect?

[taraprakash]

Hi all.
This list is really getting more interesting day by day. If one were to 
understand India's political system only through this list, one would 
believe that India has finally achieved the state of political utopia, now 
that the Congress is in power. The only villain, this list seems mostly to 
suggest, in marring otherwise peaceful or development oriented  environment 
of India is BJP or CPIM. It is interesting that even those who appear to be 
political cynics, as far as the political system in India is concerned, fail 
to find any fault with the Congress. Whenever there is some talk of bungling 
by the government, such as in the case of "encounter" in Batla House, the 
specific agencies are implicated, whereas if such things are blamed on the 
respective ruling parties, if such things happen in the states ruled by BJP 
and CPIM. I wonder why.
Has the congress finally become perfect? Or this list is somehow funded by 
Delhi  Government which does not want to hear anything against Congress as a 
political party? While going through a lot of mails I missed last month, I 
read Shuddha's mail which was about massacre of pro-democracy students by 
Chinese government. He did not forget to add few sentences about his 
feelings for and experiences with CPI(M). He has rightfully condemned this 
party in several of his mails earlier as well. But when it comes to 
Congress, I don't remember any mail from him off late that would beware us 
from being too optimistic from BJP's defeat in the recent general elections. 
Not that he did not write any mail on this list after these elections. One 
could interpret him, in one of his recent mails, as if gibing at a mailer 
who heralded Advani as the prime minister based on some saphologist's 
prediction. The buts and howevers, which are frequently used by Shuddha to 
demonstrate that he is not siding with any specific party or agenda were 
missing in that mail.

I am singling out Shuddha's mails, not because my intention is to malign 
him, but because I read all his mails with great interest. Shuddha is the 
voice of the Indian intellectual for me. Unlike the common folks like me, 
his mails are not spontaneous outburst of powerful feelings. His mails are 
well-constructed and they are backed up by verifiable facts. So, are we to 
read anti-congress e-mails on this list only from few hindutva-motivated 
listers? If that is the case, won't we be weakening democracy in India?

Regards

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rakesh Iyer" <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com>
To: "Rajendra Bhat Uppinangadi" <rajen786uppinangady at gmail.com>
Cc: "sarai-list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Hindu article


> Dear all
>
> After reading all this, I am reminded of what I read once in 'Mother'
> (a novel by Maxim Gorky, one of the famous writers of the erstwhile
> Soviet Union during the pre and post Russian revolution periods).
> Gorky was a socialist, but didn't like communism, simply because
> Communism didn't believe in God, and Gorky had said in this novel,
> through one of his characters:
>
> 'Reason alone can't win human beings. Faith is too strong a thing to
> be overcome by reason.'
>
> The character had said this in the context of belief in God and the
> Church, which the Communists in Russia were trying to overthrow for
> its proximity to the 'oppressive' rulers.
>
> In our case, I see that the BJP has understood this fundamental point
> from the leftists (or socialists) and applied it successfully (at
> least upto a certain extent) through Hindutva. And this continues with
> Modi. Howsoever much proofs come out to point out that his
> administration is doing wrong things, some people on this forum (and a
> substantial number in Gujarat, if not all or the majority of people
> there) have so much faith in him that they refuse to see reason.
>
> My only answer to this would be what Tagore said:
>
> Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
> Where knowledge is free;
> Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow
> domestic walls;
> Where words come out from the depth of truth;
> Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
> Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the
> dreary desert sand of dead habit;
> Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought
> and action--
> Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
>
> Can at least now please, these people see reason?
>
> Regards
>
> Rakesh
>
> On 6/7/09, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Dear Rajen ji (and all)
>>
>> I really sympathize with you and the rest of the brigade which is now
>> doing what Modi is best at: using propaganda and portraying yourselves
>> as victims. You very well know that it is very difficult to get a
>> proper proof of how Modi is the best, and so you do what Modi does.
>> You say that since everybody has a right to freedom of speech, people
>> are maligning Modi (or Sonia or Manmohan) and hence trying to prove
>> that you yourself are victims of that.
>>
>> Please, I would kindly request you to stop this way of thinking. Even
>> you Bipin ji, I would request you to at least now see that efforts of
>> Modi are only going to help the rich and the powerful, while the poor
>> and the downtrodden, which includes the tribals as well, will further
>> sink into the bottom. And moreover, the environmental concerns are
>> going for a toss as far as the state of Gujarat is concerned, forget
>> anything else.
>>
>> What I also request here, on this forum, is to have a debate on
>> development itself, as to what it means for different people here.
>> Many people keep talking that Modi is great on the developmental
>> front. I wish to know what that development means, because as I see
>> it, from my point of view, Modi's right-wing policies (which
>> ironically also include letting the environment go for a toss), are
>> going to lead to huge problems. Since some people prefer to call this
>> 'development', it would be very kind of all you people (Rajen ji,
>> Bipin ji, others too who despise seculars) to at least state what
>> development is in your own words.
>>
>> It can really benefit us all, I believe.
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Rakesh
>>
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