Editor,
Kudos to Ms Patricia Mukhim for an outstanding, bold, brutally honest and distinctly worded editorial ‘Congress does a disservice to Indira’s legacy’ (ST, January 12, 2018)! Some dedicated Congress supporters, age old sycophant politicians and political beneficiaries of Congress regime will certainly have different opinion for such an outstanding editorial; nonetheless my salute to the writer-editor for being able to call a spade a spade. Nehru has always been highlighted as India’s greatest statesman post independence by Congress sponsored modern historians who benefited greatly in holding big offices, enjoying big promotions and enjoying political as well as socio-economic benefits for generations for being loyal to India’s Nehru-Gandhi family. Nehru stands nowhere close to a tall leader like his daughter Indira Gandhi; who in spite of the dark side of her reign was greatly successful in projecting India on a global stage as a powerful nation. Nehruvian politics is entangled with male chauvinism, sycophancy, icon/idol worship to keep one’s leadership untouchable, full of lies and deceits. A vast majority of the border issues plaguing India for generations is due to childish foreign policy and geostrategic surrenders made by Nehru. He was known to never listen to his cabinet, ministers, friends and critics but was instrumental in establishing the culture of sycophants within the Congress party to keep his position secure at all times.
The monumental mistakes he made throughout his life reduces the greatness of this so-called great statesman. He was a pain, not a gain for the nation. From economic policies to failed foreign policy, Nehruvian reign is full of loopholes that have been kept hidden form public eye for decades. Unfortunately, another Congress strongman, who should always be credited as the architect of the nation called India, Sardar Patel has been kept out of the spotlight by Nehru himself and by his sycophants. The myths surrounding this great statesman often surpasses the monumental sacrifices made by the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi. But such has been the charisma, benevolence and dedication of Congress sponsored historians to project Nehru in the tallest heights possible that they have brushed aside his great weaknesses and monumental failures that have cost India for generations and will continue to haunt the country for several more decades. Shame Congress! Shame!
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada T1J 4B3
Continued caste prejudices
Editor,
This refers to the article, “Dangerous future ahead” by Dr S. Saraswathi (ST, Jan 11, 2018). Many questions are now blowing in the wind. Why must Dalits celebrate their victory under the British army against the Peshwa’s army at Bhima-Koregaon battle of January 1, 1818? How could Bhima-Koregaon become a pilgrimage for Dalits? Why did Bhim Rao Ambedkar go to this pilgrimage in 1927?
We can get the answer in Mukta Salve’s famous essay which was published in 1855 about the conditions of the Dalits under the Peshwa rule. She said, “Under Bajirao’s rule, if any mang or mahar happened to pass in front of a gymnasium, they would cut off his head and play ‘bat and ball’ with their swords as bats and his head as a ball, on the ground. When we were punished for even passing through their doors, where was the question of getting education, getting freedom to learn? When any mang or mahar would learn somehow to read or write, and if Bajirao came to know about this, he would say: education of a mang or mahar amounts to taking away a Brahman’s job. He used to say, “How dare they get educated? Do these untouchables expect the Brahman to hand over their official duties to them and move around with their shaving kits, shaving the heads of widows?”
We see that Dalits were treated like dirt and they did not enjoy even animal rights, let alone human rights under the Peshwa rule. And we must not forget what Tagore reminds us in his poem ~ Apamanita (Insulted) about the outcome of insulting human beings for centuries in such an inhuman way.
He said, “Those whom you push down will tie you/ down also,/ those whom you have kept at the back/ will pull you back./ The ones you have unwittingly hidden/ away/ are burying your wellbeing and/ creating a wide distance from you./ You will have to remember all of India/ deserves the blame for this situation./ For hundreds of years they have carried/ the weight of disrespect,/ you still don’t show your appreciation./ Can’t you see I lower my head for this/ contempt/ it has completely destroyed their confidence and faith in the divine power./ You should also share the insult with/ everyone.”
But is it still relevant to celebrate such an event after two hundred years? Is there any caste hatred at present? That caste hatred is still prevalent in our country is an open secret. Researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru University and University of Maryland have covered 42,152 households across our country to do a survey on untouchability in India in 2016. A whopping 27 per cent of the members of those households shamelessly declare that they practice untouchability. There must be some more people who cling to such inhuman prejudices without categorically declaring it to a study team for the fear of legal actions against them. This shows that a large section of our people like our ancestors, are still carrying almost the same horrifying apathy against Dalits.
We must weed caste hatred out lock, stock and barrel from the soil of our country to make India strong and united.
Yours etc.,
Sujit De,
Kolkata