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E-mail from readers the world over
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 09:04:11 -0400 This report is totally biased. Mr George Iype wants to present facts from only one point of view. And as usual, the sufferers of Jammu-Kashmir are ignored altogether. Why? Because the majority of them are Hindus? Why does Mr Iype not want to interview those deported people from Kashmir? Do their opinions not count? He gives biased views almost through the report. He quotes some MEA official, '"Now top on the agenda for the secretary-level talks will be the nuclear weapons race." Does Mr Iype not wish to find the facts? When China's nuclear tests in 1996 did not end in secretary-level talks between India-China, why should it happen now? There is no answer in the report! I think these lop-sided reports are aimed at creating misunderstanding among Indians. Fortunately, there are now, lot of sources other than reports like these, which give unbiased facts. Anyway, it would be better, if a prominent e-zine like Rediff does not publish such mischievous reports! Vijay
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 07:45:17 -0700 India nor Pakistan can afford a war, any peaceful means should be first pursued. America may be able to intervene on behalf of India in a conflict with Pakistan. Kashmir will be like Palestine, one party has to die before the other will give up, thanks to the British for dividing a line with so much ambiguity. India and Pakistan are both buying arms they cannot afford financially. Any nuclear fall-out will be disastrous to both our countries. If India does opt for a war with Pakistan it will be a war that has been simmering since 1971. May be our ex-prime minister Gujral can play a statesman's role and go to see Pakistan Prime Minister Sharief before we start hurling all our bombs. Iran may also be able to help India by approaching Pakistan and discouraging them from using mercenaries in Kashmir.
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 09:28:17 -0400 This is a great move indeed. This was necessary from a long time. It is a a well known fact that all countries try to remove terrorism by this means. US attacked terrorist bases in Libya to evolve peace. Israel attacked different bases in the Gulf for the same. Pakistan has been sponsoring a proxy war against India for a long time. Kashmiris recently realised it would be better to be in India rather than being independent or with Pakistan, the later being hell for them. This was clearly expressed by many leaders including some JKLF leaders. They expressed happiness at India's attempts in industrialising J&K versus the terrorisation of POK. Pakistan realised this and began giving work to Afghan mercenaries. They started sending mercenaries to India and they were told to kill Hindus which the people of J&K refused to encourage. Lately, the people of J&K after being fed up with Pak's atrocities, were making an attempt to merge with the Mainland. Pak found this frustrating and tried all sorts of cheap and dirty tricks to maintain terrorism. Under this situation, I feel it is not possible for India to have a peaceful dialogue with Pakistan, and hence have to deal with them boldly. Ajay Gannerkote
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 18:16:21 +0530 To my understanding the prime minister's stance should be applauded. At least one of our prime ministers has at least considered PoK to be a part of India and not a part of Pakistan. This is definitely a brave stance and one much needed. A Singhania
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 03:39:20 -0500 George Iype's article does appear very biased when he refers India's stand as 'belligerent' and 'adventurist' etc. He also uses adjectives such as, 'adventurist Advani.' Is Mr Iype unaware of the hundreds of innocent Hindus massacred by Islamic terrorists trained in Pakistani terrorist camps, and pushed into India to kill innocent women and children. Pakistan has been pursuing terrorism and while India followed a spineless policy of not retaliating in kind. It seems journalists like Iype have an agenda to help Pakistani terrorists. It is time that readers respond to these clever manipulators of the news media and put them in the dock.
T R Rao
Date sent: Mon, 25 May 1998 20:55:46 EDT Home Minister Advani's directive to attack terrorist training grounds inside PoK is the first signal in fifty years that India is a free country. For twelve hundred years, the terrorists have been coming to India and attacking India with impunity. Enough is enough. It is about time that India starts paying back in kind. If India cannot do so, it might as well prepare itself for another round of slavery. This is not called jingoism, it is simple preservation of the self. Three cheers for Mr Advani. Finally after a long spell, we have a man as the home minister. Vinod Kumar
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 09:13:23 -0400 I think it's a great move by the home minister to improve the standard of living of army personnel posted in the Jammu Kashmir region. This will give a boost to the sagging morale of the army personnel. At least the BJP government is thinking about the people who are shedding their blood for the sake of the country. Three Cheers to our home minister.
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 17:24:53 -0600 Advani's statement that he would initiate "deep strikes" into Pakistan held Kashmir in "hot pursuit" of terrorists causes grave concern. Does he pause to think about the consequences of such actions? India's position, irrespective of stated principles or security threats, is already weakened in the aftermath of nuclear tests and narrowly escaped sanctions. If there is a military strike against Pakistan held Kashmir, expect China and US -- two of the strongest nations -- to back Pakistan. Advani's sabre-rattling is presumably due to nuclear "teeth" the army has supposedly acquired. Assuming "no-first-use" guaranty is genuine, the latter has to depend on conventional weapons. This, with the prospective delivery of F-16s to Pakistan, will be blunted in the attack and expect further doses of help from both US and China to Pakistan both on military and diplomatic fronts. India will be an aggressor and isolated internationally. If Messrs Vajpayee and Advani are thinking that this won't have any economic impact because foreign investment will any way pour in, don't count on such illusions. We should realise that India is not a strong economic power like China to attract investment under any circumstances, and if the political or military climate is vitiated investors will run away. With both home minister and defence minister indulging in provocative chest-thumping, India doesn't need enemies. It is high time that people in responsible positions come down from their jingoistic highs and talk sense.
Srikanth
Date sent: Mon, 25 May 1998 15:09:10 EDT Dr Subba Rao raises some valid concerns. To date, the scientists connected with the Indian nuclear tests have not offered a convincing explanation for the weak seismic values from the explosions. If the thermonuclear device failed, or was actually a 'boosted-fission' device, the government needs to acknowledge this and not mislead the nation. A parliamentary inquiry should be held, and if it is necessary, further testing should be done until India actually possesses a reliable nuclear deterrent.
Satadru Sen
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 11:19:59 -0700 Subba Rao's contention is not implausible. But it also looks like this disgruntled scientist may be creating a situation to cleanse his own image from the earlier fiascoes he administered. Either way, the government/DAE needs to come out clean, with specific answers in response to the serious aspersions cast by Subba Rao with respect to the explosions. Eashwer
Date sent: Mon, 25 May 1998 13:37:19 PDT So, they CAN'T build N-weapons and are begging the world to give them more non-nuclear weapons to match Indian technology?
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 08:47:35 -0700 I fail to understand why you always spell Shri L K Advani's middle name as "Kishinchand," when everybody else spells it as "Krishna" -- as in Lal Krishna Advani. Looks like your corporate spell checker always "corrects" his middle name this way. I will appreciate if you can reconfigure your spell checker soon -- it's a bit irritating to put up with such mistakes consistently. Abhay Patil Mr Advani was born Lal Kishinchand Advani, and not Lal Krishna Advani, as is made out today.
Date sent: Wed, 27 May 1998 12:15:22 +0800 Dear Mrs Sonia Gandhi, Please do not discuss unnecessary things, better to think in a way that country can rise. Do not try to push it back. Up till now we did not have any sanctions, but do you know how many in India were eating proper food. So do not talk about this. You can work on population control. So give your hand to help the BJP.
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 12:51:35 -0600 I have only two questions to Mrs Sonia Gandhi. 1. What is the difference between Pokhran I and Pokhran II 2. Did mother-in-law Gandhi explain Pokhran I to the nation or Parliament? As usual our invertebrate Indian pressmen had no guts to ask this question.
Date sent: Tue, 26 May 1998 20:24:30 +0530 What I don't understand is why does the CIA have a 'large station' in Delhi, and the government is doing nothing about it. Is it legal or what? Priya
Date sent: Mon, 25 May 1998 12:18:05 +0530 The recent series of nuclear tests conducted by India has set off a series of protests (as expected) from self-styled protagonists of nuclear non-proliferation. However, what takes the cake is the near hysteric behaviour of the self-appointed 'GLOBOCOP,' the US President Bill Clinton, who himself has been embroiled in a host of controversies, the most recent being the allegation that the Chinese had funnelled money into Democratic coffers during the last presidential elections, and a much more serious allegation that the USA had transferred technology to China -- and that Bill Clinton himself had approved sale of two US satellites to be launched on Chinese rockets. And now the same Bill Clinton is acting as a GLOBOCOP. If this is not the height of hypocrisy, then what is? No wonder Clinton preferred to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear when India complained about China selling arms and missiles to Pakistan in helping that country go nuclear. The GLOBOCOP has been desperately trying to persuade or should we say bully every nation to impose sanctions against India. It is evident that this anger and near hysterical behaviour stems from the realisation that India has gone nuclear without approaching the 'great Yankees' with begging bowls like some of our neighbours. In the eyes of Americans, India has always been a poor meek country with acute poverty. A country which can be easily tempted with offer of aid. A country incapable of doing anything great, leave alone develop nuclear weapons indigenously. What was the GLOBOCOP doing when India was crying itself hoarse against Pakistan arming itself from all and sundry, like there was never a tomorrow? When Pakistan had declared that it had nuclear capabilities and this was endorsed by few Americans in power. When India was repeatedly complaining about Pakistan waging a proxy war against India by abetting terrorism in various parts of the country, and these facts were supported by documentary and other evidences? Obviously Bill was fiddling when India was burning. Now when India has shown the world that it is not a meek state that can be made to dance to the tunes of the superpowers, Bill has risen and hit the roof. Conducting nuclear tests cannot and should not be the monopoly of any one or a group of nations. If Americans are preaching about the values of non-proliferation and the like, they should be reminded of history. Just consider these basic historical facts : 1. The US is the only nation, thus far, to have used the N-weapons. 2. Maximum number of N-tests were conducted (and are still being conducted) by the US, a whooping 1,200 odd tests have been conducted thus far by the Yankees, followed by the erstwhile Soviet Union (700) and China (140+). 3. The US is the only aggressor in the world, in today's world; it stages wars and proxy wars -- never for its country nor to defend it. It enjoys wars. It can assume the mantle to storm the Iraqi deserts, for and on behalf of Kuwait. They do not even need an invitation to do that! 4. None of the so-called test ban and non-proliferation treaties proposed by US talk about dismantling of US N-warheads! 5. The US preaches (and practices) "what is good for Americans, is good for the rest of the world." All other nations, unfortunately, are bullied to buy this theory. The US does not want to play on a level play ground, it stands high above all, over a huge stockpile of arms and preaches to the Third World about the dangers of it. Unfortunately, countries like Australia, which had taken a tough stand on France's pacific N-test, for its own ecology have to sustain the same on India. Japan's reaction should be viewed as plain anguish of someone who had undergone the horror of what the N-weapon was. Just tell the Americans that we will never try to fabricate ICs and small cars and will buy from them; they will be happy. The so-called, big five nuclear nations are just an illusion. The US, the erstwhile USSR, China, France and UK are not the only countries with N-arms. Now, we too are there -- rightfully, along with a host of other shadow powers like, Pakistan, N Korea, S Korea, Iraq(??), Uzbeck, Kazak, Turkmanistan, Ukraine, etc. The real danger is with the countries who have not toiled to get it, but acquired through other means. The entire Arab nations have access from parts of ex-USSR; Pakistan has access to Chinese technology. India waited for about 25 years before the circumstances forced it to go for the second test. This reluctance on the part of India just indicates that it did not wish to be seen as an aggressor, it never had been one. Last, but not the least, if anyone is not willing to look into the ground realities ask them to shut and ponder about the consequences of the 1,200 odd tests by the US. If 1,200+ cannot harm the earthlings, a mere 4 tests can never do that. It is time we Indians put the Yankees in their proper place. This is the time when all Indians, irrespective of their geographic locations, should rise as one and give a fitting reply to the American multinationals who have always used India as the 'dumping ground' by pawning off out-dated technology at ridiculously high prices. Is it not an irony that America and its allies have imposed sanctions but Boeing, which is trying to bag orders from Jet Airways and AI, claim that these sanctions do not prevent them from going ahead and clinching these deals. This is what America is. Impose sanctions but allow its multinationals to go ahead and do lucrative trade with India. Jet Airways and AI should set the example by refusing to negotiate with Boeing and instead strike a deal with Airbus Industrie, since France has refused to toe Bill Clinton's line and refused to enforce sanctions. As our PM has stated, the entire credit for the five successful tests last week goes to our scientists, and we as Indians should salute these scientists and hit the Americans where it hurts most .... American trade with India. Ranjan Guha Majumder How Readers responded to Varsha Bhosle's recent columns How Readers responded to T V R Shenoy's last column
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