'Sonia Gandhi knows that politics is a whirlpool which you can enter but not escape'

Mother's burden

This is a very apt analysis of the Congress and its politics (“In politics, it may be all about loving your family, but voters won’t have it anymore”). And it is a fact that there are umpteen people who vote for the Congress because of its liberal and secular values, and they would love to see the party putting its act together and challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party.

However, I beg to differ with the writer on one point, which is Sonia Gandhi’s love for her son Rahul. In the 12 years since Rahul Gandhi began his political career, on no occasion has Sonia Gandhi suggested that she wants him to become prime minister. In fact, the delay in his appointment as party president has something to do with Sonia Gandhi’s reluctance, as she knows her son’s work ethic better than the public.

She might have let him enter politics in 2004 thinking he would mould himself into a good leader. In those days, there wasn’t such antipathy for dynastic politics as there is now. Had she known that Rahul Gandhi had no interest in politics and that things would turn out this way, she would not have brought him into the picture, because she loves her children more than anything.

She had the opportunity to make her son prime minister during the United Progressive Alliance’s second term, when Rahul Gandhi was around 40 years old. After the Uttar Pradesh election defeat in 2012, she said there was no question of making him prime minister.

However, because of the Congress’ sycophantic politics, Sonia Gandhi’s decision to bring her son into politics has become an albatross around her neck. The fact that Priyanka Gandhi has not entered politics should be seen from this angle, because Sonia Gandhi knows that politics is a whirlpool which you can enter but not escape. – Vishal Jindal

Premature obituary

I have never come across such a baseless article (“Obituary for Indian National Congress (1885-2016): ‘Death was slow in coming’”). If the writer thinks that the Congress has died or is dying just on the basis of one general election and a few state Assembly elections, then it shows the bankruptcy of his understanding about the political tendency of Indians as a whole, and his failure to grasp the capitalist pattern of elections.

The Congress has faced a similar situation before – after the Emergency, and later when VP Singh took over as prime minister in the wake of the Bofors scandal.

Indian politics does not work on ideology or principle. Rather, it flows on sentiments and propaganda.

How can people forget that at the peak of Narendra Modi’s fame, the Bharatiya Janata Party lost Delhi under his nose and then later lost Bihar, even though he tried very cheap trick possible to win that election. – AK Shukla

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There are two points raised in the article that cannot be denied. The Congress is bleeding to death and Rahul Gandhi, a descendant of the Indira Gandhi clan, cannot be the solution.

But the party could take a new form. The BJP, after all, is different from the Jan Sangh, even though it took over from that party.

Unfortunately, the current leaders of the BJP are trying to get back the ideals of the Jan Sangh and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. As far as economics goes, they are an extreme rightist party. The extreme Leftists are also diminishing and in slow death. But with have-nots comprising the majority of the population, the BJP, which is supported by the haves, cannot find a solution.

We need a left-of-centre party, which has a role to play in helping the 70% of the population who live in villages as farmers or are dependent on agriculture, as well as have a vibrant economy to balance the concerns of the corporates and the other extreme “poor” and as also the middle class.

The question is whether from the ashes of the old Congress, which is dying, we can find a new party with clear goals and with widespread grassroot-level workers and not mere computer-gazing, IT-proficient intellectuals.

Maybe it will be a collection of smaller parties with regional support throughout India that should work itself out. It seems an impossible dream, but can we accept Modi and the BJP as our karma? The Aam Aadmi Party has a good base, but right now it is too involved in a few who have arrogated to themselves all the rights of that party. – SN Iyer

Futile attack

In the story on the proposed renaming of Akbar Road, the writer seems to be more concerned about attacking the government rather than looking at the issue in-depth (“By comparing Akbar to Hitler, BJP shows there’s no place for even a 'good' Muslim in India’s history”).

The writer’s primary concern is that some person in the BJP likened the Emperor to Hitler. But if one person has a ridiculous opinion, everyone can’t be vilified.

If your real concern is that icons from minority communities are not being recognised in India, why don’t you look at whether there are any non-Muslim historic icons in Islamic countries? Or in the US, where they have only now decided to put Harriet Tubman, a female black activist, on a currency note?

Similarly, I don’t know if Turkey ever honours its Byzantine rulers. Pakistan is home to the Taxila University. What are they doing to preserve this icon? Do Iran and Iraq honour anything dating back to Mesopotamia?

The sad truth is that we don’t care about our culture and we cling on to whatever we find, whether it’s ours or is stolen. But attacking the government over everything is futile. And having sensational headlines will not help your cause. – Siddhit Sanghavi

Cultural heritage

An excellent appeal for the preservation of our cultural history as well as a dirge for its loss (“The ruination of ruins: How we destroy our future by disregarding our past”). This is exactly the feeling I experienced standing before a digitised replica of the destroyed Palmyra monument on Trafalgar Square. Tourists were clicking away and I too went as a tourist, but came away saddened by a sense of permanent loss which this replica only served to heighten. – Usha Subramanian

Singled out

This is a well-researched article (“Why saffron terror is not a myth”). There are violent Hindus too and there is what is called “saffron terror”. But history did not begin with Narendra Modi, nor did terror. It is not only those who hold a brief for BJP and its saffron allies, but there are many others who would like research on the history of terror of all hues through the centuries. And where does the saffron stand on the scale of terror? Or does post-modernity invalidate all such historical interpretations? – srkmoorthy

Soft target

The author seems to be suffering from Hinduphobia (“Extravagance in the time of drought: Why Chouhan opened up the Madhya Pradesh treasury for the Kumbh”). He tries to win brownie points by making avoidable comments about an event that happens once in 12 years. Does he have the guts to criticise the wastage of millions of rupees on subsidising the Haj pilgrimage, and the subsidy for Christians to visit the Holy Land?

Please don’t give space to Hindu baiters. India is the only country which can preserve Hindu heritage. – JR Krishnan

Unfair account

The demonstrators at the Vedanta Jaipur Literature Festival London 2016 rejected offers of a debate, one saying it would mean them “getting involved” (“JLF Southbank: By ignoring boycott call, writers may have missed out on powerful stories of dissent”). Their behaviour (I was there) was angry, ugly and destructive.

You make the point that “Vedanta and the struggle of the adivasis in Niyamgiri” and the “allegedly unethical practices of Vedanta” were not on the agenda, but why should they have been? Should every lit fest debate these issues, or change their programmes because some demonstrators threaten disruption? And yes, it is correct that “the protesters figured as unwelcome disturbances”, but they threatened to ruin constructive debates on books and issues, not “the festive atmosphere”.

I am confused by you saying that “through their refusal to celebrate literature and writing that was at odds with its materiality….the protesters were able to challenge the logic of sponsorship”. They weren’t challenging the “logic” at all, just the unwise choice by the festival producer to sign up Vedanta – a criticism with which many of us agreed, hoping it does not happen again. – John Elliott

Incomplete picture

Gladson Dungdung continues to get a lot of media attention, but what remains hidden is the case of domestic violence against him filed by his wife, Barkha Lakra, in which he was also denied bail (“‘Am I a Maoist?’ Adivasism is not Maoism, argues Gladson Dungdung”). After Dungdung was recently “offloaded” at Delhi airport and his passport confiscated, he alleged harassment from the government because of his work a human rights activist in Jharkhand, but made no mention of the fact that a domestic violence case against him is pending in court. Several reports have likened this incident to that of Greenpeace activist Priya Pillai, who was stopped from boarding a flight to London, as a familiar instance of government repression. The national and international media have bought this narrative because it is a convenient one.

Dungdung has subsequently blocked me and anyone else who has raised questions about his version on social media. Not a single media outlet has bothered to dig deeper or see the court documents that his wife has been consistently sharing on social media. Dungdung enjoys police protection in Jharkhand and has been absconding for more than a year, ever since we started pushing for action in the case.

As a gender rights activist and feminist academic, I think this case illustrates a wider problem of how gender gets subsumed under other categories such as Adivasi, Dalit, among other things. Vertical oppression is easy to identify, but violence within the same group is difficult to acknowledge. – Swati Parashar

Delayed reaction

What are we to make of the events unfolding in this country (“Hyderabad man arrested for assaulting Nigerian student after Sushma Swaraj orders report”)? Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government wakes up only after the representatives of African states decide to boycott the Centre’s Africa Day event.

Sushma Swaraj had spoken up about the murder of the Congolese national in Delhi only after the boycott threat was raised. She sought a report from the Telangana government over the attack on a Nigerian student in Hyderabad two days after the incident took place. Had the incident involved a student of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the entire government would have gotten involved and ordered strict action and people would have been branded as anti-national. Their tardy approach towards attacks on African students seems to be a discriminatory approach and an extension of their Hindutva bias.

The death of Muslims, Dalits, tribals and people of colour doesn’t seem to stir the souls of BJP nationalists, because the victims are not from the majority community. With regard to the attack on the Nigerian student, the police are saying it’s a minor scuffle even though the student was beaten with an iron rod. This is similar to how former Delhi police chief BS Bassi had underplayed the attack on Jawaharlal Nehru University student Kanhaiya Kumar in court. Modi is living in a fool’s paradise if he things these are “acche din”. – Onkar Singh

Fact check

There are several factual errors in the piece extracted from Gurus: Stories of India’s leading Babas (“How Ravi Shankar broke with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and became Sri Sri”). Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji was never in charge of the Maharishi Institute of Vedic and Management Sciences in Bhopal. Rather, he played a key role in the establishment of the Delhi chapter. This included full charge of Vedic studies and yagnas, along with Dr C Anna Rao, former chairperson of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam.

Maharishiji always had great affection and regard for Sri Sri ji and even urged him to move to Puri with a view to contesting for the post of Shankaracharya. In deference to this, Gurudev did spend some weeks in Bhubaneshwar, but he was disenchanted with the multiple court cases involving the Puri Mutt and was not inclined to even consider this option.

At no time was Maharishiji’s mind poisoned against Sri Sri, who simply had a different vision for the Art of Living. Gurudev’s heart has always been inclined towards social service activities in villages. In 1981, the knowledge of Sudarshana Kriya was revealed to him, and he was committed to sharing this with the entire world.

None of this would have been possible in the earlier setup, so he moved away in 1984 on his return from Germany. The Ved Vignan Vidya Peeth was established in 1981 (not 1985), with Justice Krishna Iyer, and with the blessings of Maharshji. – Karthik Krishna, The Art of Living International Centre

Urgent cause

This is a very informative article (“The debate on triple talaq and Muslim women’s rights is missing out on some crucial facts”). However, the writer may be missing the anxiety over the speed with which things are changing for Muslim women in India. Does she find it acceptable that even when Muslim countries including Pakistan have banned the age-old practice of triple talaq, India continues to allow it? – VS Gurumani

Resettling Pandits

Townships along religious lines for Kashmiri Pandits who left Kashmir in 1989 and are now returning is a very bad idea (“Should Kashmiri Pandits be resettled in special townships in the Valley?”). It is contrary to the jointly shared notion of Kashmiriyat, which supersedes religious identities and politics. The resettlements should be done only in mixed neighbourhoods. – Hashmat Khan