comment from a reader

April 20th

One of my friends sent me a link to your blog which had an article on how
India fought for China's permanent membership to the UN!
(http://rajeev2004.blogspot.com/2005/04/nehru-urging-world-to-give-security.html).
After reading the article, I sent him a reply, which could be of interest
to you. I am reproducing the email below:

Hello Kannan,

We as a nation, have little sense of history today and consequently, any
pride in our religion, culture and art / music. Nehru's legacy, combined
with our current educational system where Hindu religion is marginalised by
secularism, where Indian culture is largely ridiculed by adopting western
culture & values (Here, thanks to the media) and no awareness or sensitivity
for Indian art / music is developed through exposure to relevant works, is
creating a nation of youngsters with no backbone - forget they thinking
about what the country needs, they do not even have clarity about what is
good for them. Most of them are subliminally conditioned (by the
educational system,media, the functioning of the political system prevalent
in the country and peer pressure) into thinking that what ever they are
doing / going after, is what is good for them.

Witness the brouha and emotional outpouring by the media - first for the
Pope's death (we even had a three day national mourning for it!), for the
visit of the Chinese prime minister (the country which supplied all the
nuclear technology to Pakistan, is planning to do the same to Bangladesh now
and is claiming Arunachal Pradesh as its territory) and now Musharraf's
visit (The murderer behind Kargil). The Indian media has made Musharraf
look like a great statesman, instead of the tin pot dictator that he is.
Compare this to the total elation by all the media when the Sankaracharya
was arrested (ignoring the fact that you were destroying a spiritual
institution and that too on the basis of allegations) and no apologies from
a single source, so far, when it is clear that a defensible case against him
just does not exist. Our politicans (just as 1,000 years ago) will allow
foreigners all benefits of doubt since we have to be holier than thou, but
will plot the deepest conspiracies against their fellow country men, for
power. Witness the lack of any strong response to the killing (one is
almost dead, while the other was produced dead) of two jawans of the BSF by
Bangladesh (a country which will get wiped out if we open the Farakka
Barrage) Security Forces. On the other hand, we have China which has
provoked nation wide protests against the Japs for not correctly portraying
their invasion of China.

It is impossible to build a strong nation, if you do not have pride in what
you are (This is true of one's work as well). India has been tested out by
its neighbours for what it is - A soft state.

We not only treat Pakistani's kids for heart ailments and other major health
problems but also put together a nice fund for them on the way back (to be
used for other Pakistani kids) , while our kids lie dying in slums, go blind
in the countryside or keep begging at traffic signals in the cities.

Now, Manmohan Singh is promising IIT seats for Pakistanis! (While there is a
huge shortage for our youngsters, with the success ratio already at 1:100).
And we are talking of soft borders with Pakistan (a recognised hot bed of
terrorists), so that we can add to the Muslim population in this country, I
suppose. Why don't we start offering all our good looking girls to the
Pakistani boys and the well educated boys to the Pakistani girls.

We are also very concerned about Pakistan's economy and thinking of creative
measures to kick start their economy - Can we loan out part of our forex
reserves (which have been going up, of late), for Pakistan to invest in
their countryside, Can we get our VCs to provide risk capital to Pakistani
IT companies etc. But what about our backward states - UP, Bihar, North
East etc. These can wait guys. Peace at any cost - Welfare of Indians,
forget it. Haven\'t you imbibed good secular Hindu practices - Ancient Hindu
culture dictates that you should offer food to your guest, even if you go
hungry (This specific Hindu practice is adopted nowadays by the
secularists!).

Musharraf and Wen Noodles (or whatever he is), must be calling each other
and planning a secret celebration (venue could be a Dabba on the road
through which Chinese nuclear material was transported to Pakistan - the
Karakoram Highway. The road which China laid for access to Pakistan,
through land that Pakistan stole from India (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) and
gifted to China) of how India fools itself at every opportunity it gets in
the international arena. Soon, it will be your turn Mr. Bush, to screw
India. We expect to hear the media go ga-ga over the commonality between
the world\'s two biggest democracies! We are waiting for you, Mr. Bush.

Best regards