Francois, pls give it a rest. You have such a convenient circular argument that Sonia Gandhi influences the govt without doing or saying anything. Thats like asking someone to prove that God does not exist. And the fact that Manmohan Singh is PM inspite of being Sikh is something I am proud of! Also that Mr Kalam is President - which by the way was something good the BJP did.
however we are, the nationality is of first concern! mind well mister, the religion/ beliefs are secondary to everything else!
the ppl who rule this country they are indians. they are hindu/muslim/christan afterwords, and the religion remaains private till their homes.
what do u expect, relying on the comments from a person outside india, the ppl here shold take action??? we are trying to bring secularity, as is is necessary for development, regardless of the religion of person.
the equality will not be the reality unless we keep the personal beliefs miles away.
People need some rituals to follow, they need the religion. but that should be kept at personal levels. for the society, s/he is just a person. the person's identity should not be based on the religion.
if you really think tnat something should be done, please, come to India, and help me to lead all of us to a developed india. basic infrasturctural development is for more important that all other issues.
i warn you, before writing any other article on India, read the books written by out President hon'ble APJ Abdul Kalam. viz, visiopn 2020, Ignited minds, at least!!!!!!!!
You chose not to publish my comments. But I am not sorry at all. I am so so happy to see that many many people have written to you, rejecting the very idea of your "westerner and born christian" columnist. And, sir/ma'am, this is people like us, seculer, tolerent, non-disriminatory, and not to be provoked, are strength of our country. And, as some one rightly pointed, now its not easy for any one to do a 'British'. The saddest part of all this is role of media. For how long will you allow these fanatics to vommit their hatterd in the name of right to expression? Is Bhagalpur ('89), Delhi ('84), Gujrat '02) .... not enough, sir/ma'am????
I admire the author's intellectual capacity to assimilate the universal and non-conflicting nature of Hinduism inspite of being a westerner. I bet that if the same thought were expressed by an Indian,he would have been looked upon as fundamantalist and rediff would not have cared to screen it!
hi this is with reference to the article cry my beloved india. i want to add a few things here 1. the fact that no other politician or any highly influenced person was not arrested in the way jayendra saraswathy was arrested is true, but that does not mean that every one escapes in the same manner like our corrupt politicians. let us take this particular incindence as the first step to control the crimes n inhuman acts of the so called prestigious persons rather than shielding them. 2. even iam a hindu and i respect my religion very much , but when it comes to these situations im strictly in favour of law be it any religion be it any person. if he is found guilty then he must be punished according to law. we also hear that sri putta parthy sathya sai baba is a fake baba and what not n recently it was aired on b.b.c too but our so called hindu samaj rakshaks r.s.s , v.h.p , b.j.p and all other major political parties who come to them for blessings couldnt even condemn the allegations made bye b.b.c. an agitation is far beyond imagination.
ultimately i wann to say that any one can be involved in crime there is no harm in waiting till it is proved. n this shud be 4 al
Shame on Rediff for publishing such an absurd and instigative article... We need unity in India, not fighting each other in the name of religion... and who the hell is the author to tell Indians what is best for them...
Funny that not one mention is made in the entire article about any of the politicians' policies, their loyalty to India, their intelligence or their ability to govern. The last country India needs to learn from is France - look at the state of minorities in France and the general stagnation of it's culture and economy. Having being born and raised and lived in India, I feel that the move away from caste and religion based politics. Societies progress by being dynamic and experimental and not focused on eternal preservation.
Do you know the problem with hinduism? Today, the only people who defend hinduism are those look at it from the eyes of selected upper caste who are all but concerned about retaining the stature of their caste. They are the most educated sections of society and have access to media and people like you fall prey to their rhetoric/ writings. They talk of the tradition of tolerance (rightly), but dont talk of the tradition of inequality and injustice. They talk of great culture and religion, but cannot take any criticism - like a spoilt child in tantrums, they take up trishuls and burn people/busses etc with shouts of 'jai bajrang bali', 'jai shri ram' etc. Anyone who talks of hinduism, but does not talk of annihilating its inherent inequalities and injustices is anti-hindu and anti-human. If hinduism is to survive, all its negative elements must die. Oh! God Forbid! We do not want to go back to the darkest days of inequality and injustice, superstition, selfishness and dishonesty. Ultimately it is not hinduism or christainity or Islam that must survive - it is the ideals like truth, human dignity, equality, love, harmony that must survive.
