[Reader-list] Gujarat's secular development

[anupam chakravartty]

Rajen,

which politburo are you referring to? you are already assuming a lot of
things when you call me a politburo member. i cant help but to laugh at your
expense. thanks for making my sunday absolutely brilliant. please do not
mind if i share this joke with my friends sir.

i am just a regular guy, who believes in making some sense out of this mess.
if that sense if coloured with the similar other observations, that is not
my baggage to carry.

I have also noticed a tendency among some of the readers here to immediately
categorise people as jholawala communist and as naxal sympathisers.

can we grow up please?

Cheers and Regards
Anupam

On Sun, Jun 13, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Rakesh Iyer <rakesh.rnbdj at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Rajendra bhai
>
> First of all you do talk about the rigid truth of Azamgarh. While I do
> agree
> that those who force women to wear hijab have a rigid view, isn't the view
> to ask women to not wear hijab at all anywhere too a rigid view? Frankly
> speaking, it's for women to choose, and in Bihar where I went, women while
> not wearing burqas do have a tendency to hide their faces from men. Equally
> in Bhopal, I saw not only Muslim but also Hindu girls who have
> handkerchiefs
> or other clothing covering their faces and upto the breast level also
> covering their hands. This is not only to avoid any eve-teasing but also
> ensures that girls are not caught by their parents while hanging with their
> boyfriends. Should we stop that too? (And the Bajrang Dal has been
> indulging
> in this in Bhopal as told by my friend, since girls wearing masks makes it
> difficult to find out whether the girl is a Hindu or a Muslim, at least for
> the local karyakartas, and the women too protest stating that they won't
> open their masks before any 'unknown' men). Wonder if that is a problem for
> you or not.
>
> By the way, the burqa is not 'traditional' necessarily as is being claimed.
> In many regions, it has only come in the last 100 odd years or so. Those
> who
> want to denounce women and reduce them to the status of being totally
> dependent on men are responsible for just forcing this on women, but again
> if women feel safe and secure wearing it, why should we stop them?
>
> Yes, politics is today the management of perceptions, but not entirely, and
> not at the macro level as the Indian media thinks it to be. Nitish of
> course
> wants to have a 'secular' image, but to ensure that he has to work towards
> it in some respect. He can't alllow the VHP to have a field day in pogrom
> and then declare himself 'secular'. So pogroms are not allowed. But the BJP
> being the allying party means that VHP does enjoy the blessings and so is
> able to throw stones at the local police and innocents who protest against
> it, as seen in the case of fighting against the AMU campus being built in
> Bihar.
>
> As for the managed perceptions, how many perceptions about Modi can be
> wrong? (The same was asked of Lalu when he used to make the same claim that
> Bihar is doing very well). The media showed what the 2002 pogrom was all
> about. Out of the few times the Indian media had done a commendable job,
> this was one among them. This was brought about further by films like
> Parzania and documentaries like 'the Final Solution'. The Gujarat police
> had
> colluded with the ruling party associates to bring about this genocide
> which
> then resulted in mass violence against Muslims and also animosity amongst
> the two communities which resulted later in violence against some Hindus
> during end of March and April. This led to communal polarization in central
> Gujarat where the BJP reaped rich political dividends. Nobody can hide the
> reality that during 2002 Gujarat elections, Modi's speeches were more
> focused on Godhra and the 'karara jawab' that the 'sampradayik tatva' had
> to
> face because of it. One can understand on his own what all that was about.
> All know what was the situation of relief camps and what Modi had termed
> them as ('baby-producing camps'). Neither I nor you made the comment of
> 'hum
> paanch humare pachees'. His speeches were laced with references to Mian
> Musharraf after the Akshardham attack, and of course the famous quote that
> if the Congress were to win, there would be celebrations in Pakistan. Going
> by that logic, Pakistanis would have got many opportunities in the last 60
> years to celebrate.
>
> Dubious logic can't withstand the seriousness of facts, and hence Modi has
> been unable to answer any query on his handling of the post-Godhra riots at
> all. Instead, he likes people to forget it and trumpet his achievements
> (which a section of the Indian population, including Ratan Tata and others
> indeed do), among the populace. We would also like to know as a populace
> what does he mean by development, since he has bogus definitions and
> understanding as seen through various quarters (as witnessed in many cases
> ranging from the recent Nirma plant case to salt factories which have
> mushroomed polluting the very salt they are supposed to process).
>
> Modi is a public figure (and an administrator), and he has to answer 2002.
> And even if he doesn't want to, the BJP has to. They claim their name as
> 'Bharatiya Janata Party'. We also wish to know what they did and why they
> didn't take effective action against those culpable for instigating
> violence
> against a section of the 'Bharatiya Janata'. That we not only includes me
> but several others who want that answer.
>
> As for his development theories, I would like to listen to them too. He is
> generally seen to raise his voice only to improve his self-image.
> Sometimes,
> it would be prudent to speak the truth as well out in the public. And for
> his positive achievements, congratulations, but equally if he can take
> compliments for positives, he must learn to take brickbats and abuses for
> his negatives as well.
>
> Rakesh
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