Feeling Good

#30 by tahmed32 on May 17, 2004 10:07pm PT

[BJP in fact tried to turn the clock with their stupid nuclear bomb explosions. It was pakistan`s response that stopped Advani and his gloating dead in his tracks that brought BJP to the peace table.]

If what you say is true, then we wouldn`t have seen the largest ever mobilization of Indian troops following the attack on the Parliament in December 2001. That the two countries did not go to war is an another story, but if the BJP was so spooked by Pakistan`s nukes, why would have it mobilized the troops in the first place even as General Musharraf was threatening to unleash them on India?

[I wonder if the irresponsible behavior of senior BJP politicians in saying they will boycott the swearing in of Sonia Gandhi will go similarly unnoticed by the BJP followers: this indicates they have no respect for the constitutional process and no respect for the will of the majority of the people. BJP is no better than our mullah parties - they are OK with democracy as long as they are the government in power.]

You`re comparing apples with rotten eggs :-) In deciding to boycott Sonia`s swearing-in, the BJP may have been morally wrong, but is perfectly well within its democratic rights. If as you say the BJP has no respect for the constitutional process, it could have easily resorted to horse-trading and other dirty tricks (which is usually a regular feature after any election in India) to retain power.

T-Bhai, if you had been to Sudan (Khartoum, what a place boss, and if people really knew about Islamic heritage and wonders, they would understand what some of us mean when we appreciate and celebrate the facts that there are Islamic and Hindu and Buddhist aspects and components to all of us from the sub-Continent. I think Cementdaur has been there. I took the trouble to go from Djibouti to Khartoum a long time ago . . . and if I get the opportunity, would do so again, but via Addis Ababa and the Blue Nile, if possible), you would understand why I am asking Beena/Omar in Pakistan on where their coverage is on the subject? Do we forget so soon, in one generation, the relevance of these places and their people, to us?

Omar Quraishi ji . . . good to note that apart from answering on behalf of Dawn, you are now also answering for Beena Sarwar. I`ve caught you short so many times on this website, that I`ve lost count.

I understand your position, as an editor of a particular sort, when readers start asking uncomfortable questions. I unerstand, Omar ji, I understand, we all read Lewis Carroll, ``Off With Their Heads``, but did you have to stop there? May I suggest you get hold of a copy of ``Manufacturing Consent`` by Noam Chomsky, and read it again, please?

omar_r_qureishi #various
Just a couple of questions.
1. I can understand military dictators doing so, but how can journalists too demand credibility be granted to them as a right and privilege? I thought journalists had to earn it.

2. In your knowledge, do children in Pakistan in general grow up with no one disagreeing with them on anything from babyhood to adulthood? This is a genuine question.

stuka #20 Gujral had in fact developed excellent personal rapport with Nawaz Sharif. BJP in fact tried to turn the clock with their stupid nuclear bomb explosions. It was pakistan`s response that stopped Advani and his gloating dead in his tracks that brought BJP to the peace table. I am amazed that such simple facts of recent history are forgotten and BJP credited with things it`s policies had nothing to do with.

I wonder if the irresponsible behavior of senior BJP politicians in saying they will boycott the swearing in of Sonia Gandhi will go similarly unnoticed by the BJP followers: this indicates they have no respect for the constitutional process and no respect for the will of the majority of the people. BJP is no better than our mullah parties - they are OK with democracy as long as they are the government in power. Vajpayee has been left sitting high and dry by Advani and his goons - and I hope for Vajpayee`s sake that he openly condemns this irresponsible behavior of BJP and resign from this racist, petty minded party.

re: #13 by Urstruly
Hey Mullahji,
I notice you are back from Guantanama Bay. How was it man? Did they sodomise u there?
Sridhar

inquilabi -- one reason for that is that these articles are actually columns which appear in the news on sunday and chowk reproduces them here -- a footnote to these columns should say that -- second, i suppose, inquilabi, is that the writer is quite a busy individual --but then we all are -- but probably knows that if she begins responding she will get stuck in a sea of argument

temporal -- he means an actual foreigner -- i think the case of jemima would be a more apt example -- and as for veeresh sahib and his diversions, about time someone else noticed them too -- veeresh ji -- apnay questions acha hee ho ga agar mut poochain -- i think beena is being sensible by not responding to you -- i think there`s a lesson in that for all of us .. hahaha

#19 by Urstruly on May 17, 2004 11:10am PT

[My friend, these fragrent toilet soaps and these tooth pastes that promise to sparkle your teeth, which you have only now begin to realize that they existed, we always had them. What you call as your `economic reform`, we had been through it about 30 years ago. The TV quiz shows where shekhar gives out car as prizes, we had them 30 years ago. By mid 70s, a time came when such shows in Pakistan were giving out six cars at a time to a winner and people didn`t want to see the shows.]

Oh yeah, that`s perhaps why Pakistan is 30 years ahead of India. Or is it 30 years behind?

to my muslim friend urstruly from your christian friend niranjan,

Don`t equate India and pakistan.They are not equal.I actually prefer the BJP but what am i gonna do man.The people have spoken man.i was in india last month and i was sickened while watching those shining india promos on tv.Again, what are we gonna do..time and agin we have had elected govts. that bow to the will of the people.feeling jealous.So now we have a roman catholic queen and i`m fine with that.But stop equating india and pakistan man....you guys should just keep your american masters happy and keep singing for your butter, or there won`t be none...

Could someone point out why we have a weekly columnist, or should I say twice a weekly columnist who never bothers to respond to any of the comments made? Is it that, to borrow from sadna, if i may that `oh-we-are-so-liberal-disagree-with-us-and-be-labelled-hindoo-extremist` attitude too good for the rest of us?

Before you begin feeling really really good, you might really really want to look at the larger picture, which you don`t seem to be looking at, but then again, lens narrow ho to kya kiya jai?

Malyck: Dude, you are one smart guy. And I am completely serious.

Beena:
Your analysis is somewhat superficial. You might do well to visit the two other boards discussing this issue.

HP#19:
You are quite on the mark. The NDA made a big mistake by not sticking with the theme of economic development and the dismal record of the earlier Congress govts. India Shining campaign was too early; its effect had already fizzled out by the time of the election; jokes mocking the campaign were more common.
But give credit where the credit is due; Sonia picked her allies carefully and they turned out to be winners; BJP picked losers and lost alongwith them.

Pakistan can forget about any progress in talks with India. Tthe foreign born PM has never taken a major policy step in her infantile political career and she will not do so now.

My Dear Hindu Friend Niranjan,

My question was simple: Why are you people so pissed at us for your defeat? We didn`t cause it. It is your own doing. I am surprised that despite being a banya you do not realize that it is nothing else but ``Purchasing Power Parity`` based marketing by MNCs in your country that has caused the defeat of religious nuts in election. Once you begin to understand what PPP marketing is, not only you will understand why you lost, but also may thank kaali mata that Congress have won. Unless of course, these socialists, like our Peoples Party have also made a pact with devil already. My friend, these fragrent toilet soaps and these tooth pastes that promise to sparkle your teeth, which you have only now begin to realize that they existed, we always had them. What you call as your `economic reform`, we had been through it about 30 years ago. The TV quiz shows where shekhar gives out car as prizes, we had them 30 years ago. By mid 70s, a time came when such shows in Pakistan were giving out six cars at a time to a winner and people didn`t want to see the shows. Please don`t drag us into something, which we have nothing to do with. My request is simple.

In a mature democracy like India, chances of people using their votes to show their displeasure at incumbents should not be a cause of so much emotive outpouring. Political parties win some and lose some.

BJP has not lost by much but it has lost because in reality it ran a negative campaign.

1. Throughout the election campaign BJP and its allies continually went after Sonia and her being Foreign born. They never attacked Congress on its record of 40 years at the helm.
2. The BJP used its developing relationship with Pakistan to woo Muslims votes. BJP almost brought Musharaf into Indian Elections. BJP had always denounced the Congress for its minority appeasement policy but right at elections, BJP took a step further and tried to use Pakistan to get Muslim votes. That must have turned off lots of majority and minority voters. This was out and out opportunistic policy and an election gambit that backfired.
3. While the BJP was wooing Muslims, Advani and Modi were taking out “Ruth Yatra” in all major Indian cities. This was to woo their core support group.

The BJP was playing on both sides of the wicket.

4. BJP never announced any new economic initiative before the elections.
5. BJP failed to sense voters mood. Indian Shinning had fizzled out in early April but BJP never tried to revive or replace it with some new initiative.

After Elections.

The BJP is showing signs that the defeat is not acceptable and has bought its own negative propaganda.

BSE and Index loss is not something out of this world.
Indian foreign exchange reserve jumped from $100b to $117b in less than 45 days time. That only meant that lots of speculative money was pouring into the Indian stock market and its pulling out now for obvious reason that the political climate in India is a little shaky at this time but as things start to settle down this money will come back. With stock markets all over the world down or stagnant, there is lots of investment capital out there and that money will come back to India.
Next you will hear that the Indian Foreign Exchange reserves are down. But they too will be down temporarily.
Our erstwhile India friends need to look at where Index was a year ago and where it stand today and they will not find much difference.

Worth repeating :
``The very thought of Indian issues being given the standard `Pakistani elite` pious `we-can`t-handle-complexities-but-oh-we-are-so-liberal-disagree-with-us-and-be-labelled-hindoo-extremist` treatment gives me the heebie-jeebies.``


Re hostile government policy towards farmers. India along with Brazil took the lead of developing countries last year in the WTO/GATT in blocking Western demands to open their agriculture markets because it will hurt Indian farmers. Do you know a whole lot of other things like the mechanism of government support prices and agricultural income tax, before making the above statement?

The governments were apathetic to the situation with debt-ridden and drought-ridden farmers - this was true of all governments, not just the BJP-supported ones. The Congress decision to provide free electricity will not help this situation. It requires crop insurance, storage facilities, better crop planning, proper marketing and transport facilities, farmers cooperatives.

The question is, how are those things ever going to happen. Those are unprincipled politicians offering freebies mindlessly, and here we cannot expect even educated thoughtful commentators to spend two minutes thinking before writing.