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| HOME | BUSINESS | COMMENTARY | ASHOK MITRA | |||
| October 24, 1998 |
How Readers reacted to Ashok Mitra's recent columns
Date sent: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 18:24:18 -0700
I felt there was something wrong with the article, "India, A vassal state?" right at the beginning, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it until I came to the insult to the Dalai Lama (George Fernandes's pet indeed). Nothing exposes the hypocrisy of the Indian "liberal, intellectual, socialist, secular" crowd (in reality they are anything but) better than their attitude towards Chinese imperialism. It reminds me of the good old Naxalite days in West Bengal ("Chin-er chairman amader Chairman" -- China's chairman is our chairman). In terms of foreign policy, they believe in the manifest destiny of Communist tyrannies. In terms of domestic policy, they think that control of the "commanding heights of the economy" by a corrupt coterie of politicians, bureaucrats, and monopolistic capitalists is the last word in the expression of a national identity. They react vehemently to any attempt at limiting the power of the two former groups, or exposing the latter to competition. Their greatest fear is that the common citizen will somehow escape this tyranny and get a chance to prosper. The article just regurgitates old and self-serving clichés regularly spouted by such groups. Unfortunately, we have been a slave race (and a vassal state, too) now for uncountable years -- we have an outstanding record of never having beaten back a foreign invader! Which other national group can boast of such an achievement). The reason is clear if you hear the daily statements from the Communist-Congress combine, whose lines which Mitra is merely mouthing. They evidently don't see any contradiction in saying, "India should not have tested" and "We have been isolated internationally", then stating that "the BJP is selling out by signing the CTBT". What point is there in not signing the CTBT if you can't test anyway? The longer we waited to get India declared a nuclear weapons state, the worse were the consequences. The tests are not an end in themselves. They are merely a first step in informing the US and China that their support of Pakistani belligerence (overt, covert, and through a refusal to take cognisance of acts of terrorism) will no longer be tolerated. It is also a belated act of defiance against hegemonistic Chinese behaviour against Tibet, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and now in south Asia through their Pakistani surrogates. The rape of Tibet was the first Chinese war crime. Unless it is reversed, or at the very least, unless the rights -- economic, cultural, social, and religious -- of the Tibetans are secured, there can be no escaping slavery in south Asia. Only people who are against the rights of the Tibetan people can make fun of the Dalai Lama. But it is an easy insult to hurl -- the Dalai Lama does not operate his own mafia, he does not even have a single kill to his name. What a non-entity! Mitra should try calling Ziang Zemin "Clintons's pet", or Gohar Ayub Khan "Ziang's pet". Will he? Or does he have more sympathy for the Ziangs, the Nawazes, and the Gohars of this world -- the murderers of Tibetans and Kashmiris. To get back to what the BJP government is trying to achieve, of course, a change of this magnitude will not be easy -- temporary isolation will be the least of India's problems. Think of the isolation the Chinese were willing to suffer when they repulsed the West in Korea and, later, in Vietnam, when they gobbled up Tibet, threatened India, developed nuclear weapons, and even tried to take on the USSR. Difficulties lie ahead, but the way is not to give power back to the politician-bureaucrat-monopolist combine, but to take more and more of it away. That may be one of the fortunate outcomes of the recent "nuclear games". This combine can only hold on to power if a weak India is acceptable. That is, as long as this weakness can be covered up by gimmickry like the Non-Aligned Movement, by occasionally bullying the Nepalese (think of the transit treaty), or going for a temporarily beleaguered Pakistan (think of the Bangladesh war), and the Bangladeshis (think of water-sharing). We could also intervene in Sri Lanka and the Maldives or brutalise less powerful Indians (the Nav Nirman Samiti in Gujarat, the JP movement in Bihar, the militants of Assam, the Sikhs...) Not many people remember that Indira Gandhi, that "paragon of socialism and secularism, and the defender of India against the evil foreign hand" started the whole mess in the Punjab in an attempt to subvert Akali rule there. Then began the war of terror when things got out of hand even before Pakistan got involved in the act. These were weak "enemies" and no problem for the courageous combine. This is the main "crime" the Vajpayee government is guilty of. They have taken on the Communists and their fellow travellers (only temporarily, one hopes) which is bad enough. Worse, the enemy is so powerful that the only way for the least chance of success is to give more power to the people. Opening of Indian markets is one step in this direction -- it empowers the people as consumers, reduces their dependence on the good wishes of the Birlas and the Tatas. This is the opposite of what slavery entails. We are slaves just now. Our every action has been governed by fear of Pakistan and its middle east allies, by terror at the prospect of Chinese displeasure, and by apprehension of the intentions of the West. Paradoxically, the third "threat" has historically only been recognised by the liberals and the socialists. Sure evidence that it is not really a threat. The Vajpayee government's actions have exposed the true state of affairs. If the Indian elite is not willing to make the "sacrifice" of empowering the people, then our status as slaves will continue. But the veil will have been ripped off then.
Date sent: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 22:23:24 -0400
There is so much untruth in this article. The Dalai Lama being called a pet -- Mr Mitra needs to know how lucky he is to have the most valuable of all rights -- the freedom of speech. I wish he had tried this out in a Communist country. The Chinese have no respect for human dignity, and neither does Mr Mitra. And if India becomes a vassal of the US if it does not test more bombs, then so be it. Mr Mitra needs to live in a country like the US, or for that matter in most developed countries, and aspire for India to be like that. I will give that there are negatives to live with in these countries but doesn't that apply to every country? With the kind of manpower and talent that India possesses we should be far from one of the poorest countries in the world. Finally, I feel very sorry for Mr Mitra, who is so bitter that his talent is wasted.
Date sent: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 21:17:49 -0700
Ashok Mitra seems to be either anti-everything or Communist, though the distinction between the two is not very clear to me. There are some very real concerns that need to be addressed during the process of globalisation of the Indian economy. But Mr Mitra wants to throw the baby out with the bath water. Is he proposing that India should isolate itself from the rest of the world and spend the rest of the time till eternity in a self-absorbed stupor, dreaming that the world's attention is focussed on the 'great sun of Indian civilisation'? He may be disappointed to find out that the world will look elsewhere the moment it realises that it has nothing to gain from India. Dr Ashutosh Barve
Date sent: Mon, 03 Aug 1998 12:49:39 -0700
Excellent article. Wish the political leaders of all "third world" and developing countries have (by now) figured out the new world order being imposed on them by the US and her allies through the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial traps. In this process, all of us lose our identity and culture and fall prey to consumerism, propagated by multinationals such as McDonalds, Coke, Levis... to name a few. A sad plight indeed. A concerned Indian
Date sent: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 09:30:35 -0700
The way Mitra keeps praising socialism and Stalinism, and bad-mouthing India and Hindutva, while praising Saddam speaks volumes about the "brain-washing" of the populace by Communists in West Bengal, among them Mr Mitra. Stalin killed more than three million people and Saddam killed probably a fourth of that; but for the Communists, anyone who opposes the US is a hero. On the other hand, anyone who says something even slightly positive about Hinduism is "communal". I think this time Hindus take a lead and brand anyone who is communist as "tankhia" or non-Hindu. These Communists are causing more harm by remaining in the Hindu fold than they could ever do outside. Communists and its supporters like this Mitra guy have wrecked havoc on West Bengal by encouraging Muslim infiltration from across the border so that they can get votes. Commies have already converted West Bengal, which was one of the most advanced states, to the most poor, filthy and backward one in India. Even Rajiv Gandhi called Calcutta a dying city. And it is with Rajiv's party, the Congress, that Chief Minister Jyoti Basu dreams of forming a "secular" alternative government. If that Communist friend of Mitra succeeds, that will be his last revenge on India for daring to fight Communist China. Jay Kulkarni
Date sent: Sun, 9 Aug 1998 10:13:50 +0530
Mr Ashok Mitra's article about Mr Niyogi and about Mr Thackeray reeks of cliches and lacks any understanding of history or reality. In a country where the police station and the court are terrifying places for most people, what justice is he talking about? Indeed, we have always been surviving using the common street justice that most people understand. To compare Thackeray with Hitler is truly a worn out cliché. For every Thackeray, there are matching entities in the other religious/linguistic communities. Our society is the ideal breeding ground for such attitudes. Actually, these are the safety valves that keep the system going. Mr Mitra writes like an automaton writing to earn a living -- a poor reflection on Indian journalism. Amar Madnani
Date sent: Fri, 04 Sep 1998 13:45:34 -0500
Take your Communist nonsense somewhere else.
Date sent: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 13:52:23 -0400
Ashok Mitra's article -- Kashmir is as good as gone from India -- is negative. Please avoid publishing such junk!!! Such opinions can do more harm to India's search for the solution to the problem. Rediff is a widely accessed Web site all over the world and I hope some one there makes sure such hopeless articles never get to see the light of the day.
Date sent: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 19:23:46 EDT
Who is this Ashok Mitra? He sounds like an intellectual, but he should write with red ink. He appears a hardcore "progressive" pinkie. He talks of the Left's national morality. The history of Indian Leftists is full of deception and opportunism. If this is his definition of morality then he is right. This article is like a nicely packed gift -- with a dead rat within.
Date sent: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 23:16:57 EDT
The article is old wine in a new bottle, but more subtle, unfortunately for India. It puts forth the old argument for an independent status for Kashmir, cleverly using the argument involving the northeast to bear on Kashmir. The justification for the independence of Kashmir is the failure of the Indian government to eradicate terrorism. Mitra even views the elected government of Jammu and Kashmir as a sham. Strangely, there is not a single word in the piece about the decade-long proxy war, which was highlighted during the recent US strikes on terrorist camps in Afghanistan. Clearly, Mitra is friend of that outdated, rejected, but still recurring demand for an independent Kashmir. He suggests that the affinity of Kashmiris to the central Asian republics is based on the conversion in the last century of people in that area to Islam. But even thousands of years of conversion in Pakistan and some part of India have not eradicated their pride in their Indian ancestry. Even Indonesian Muslims have proclaimed their pride in their nation time and again. This writer is opportunistic and not credible. Rasik Sanghvi
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1998 19:36:15 EDT
You should have columns from people who can write something that can be understood by the common reader. Ashok Mitra's column does not make any sense. What is he trying to recommend? Can anybody please explain?
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 15:55:33 -0400
India has tried Dr Mitra's religion for the past 50 years, and with what result? Countries like South Korea, devastated by wars in the 1950s, have overtaken us today that even to emulate their success seems impossible. Sorry, but can anyone really be blamed for switching away from his brand of opium? Ashish Narain
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