Readers’ comments: ‘Hindus across the spectrum should unite to protect Hinduism’

Majoritarian views

Conversion to Christianity is what hurts Hindus most (“The TM Krishna column: Why the Hindu majority must push back against the BJP’s politics of hate”). The previous governments have supported the intolerance towards Hindus. Hindus across the spectrum have to unite to protect Hinduism, without violence. – DS Rao

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Great article! Thanks. – Thiru Ramakrishnan

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TM Krishna has no idea what he is talking about. Neither has he any notion of the predicaments Hindus are facing because of pseudo-secular vote-bank politics. – Shikharesh Bhattacharya

Tax overhaul

The model Ajaz Ashraf has illustrated will not work since the moment wholesaler moves out of the GST chain, they will lose input tax credit (“Faced with a decline in (illegal) income, traders admit they will try to slip through GST net”). Their costs will go up and the Income Tax Act will catch up with them for cash transactions beyond a certain limit.

Certainly compliance costs will go up, as you point out, but taking both the GST and IT Acts for a ride will be an extremely difficult proposition. – Alakto Majumder

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With due respect, the journalist knows little about the intricacies of the GST. A seller selling goods under fictitious names cannot hide his purchases because his purchases were in order. Similarly, invoice wise-details of a person buying goods worth up to Rs 2.5 lakhs per invoice need not be provided or uploaded where the buyer is an unregistered dealer. – Ravi Shankar Sistla

Language debate

This article raises some sensitive aspects of the language debate in India (“Hindi’s prototype was a mélange of dialects – but the language is now undergoing a purification”). No doubt, learning English has become almost necessary to do well in India but what was the mode of communication before English was imposed on us? And how have countries like China, Japan, Germany and Russia advanced so much without foresaking their language in favour of English?

We have to accept Hindi as a symbol or our national identity. Yes, all Indian languages should be respected and cherished, but Hindi is the most widely spoken language in the country. Yes, the official Hindi is clumsy. That’s because much of it has been translated by people who did not get to the roots of the words. It is wrong to protest against Hindi. Instead, it should be taught well at the school level so that all children can be comfortable with it. – Sanjay Sharma

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I thank Scroll.in and Mrinal Pande for giving a dressing down to the BJP on the Brahmanisation of Hindi. However, the author could have also pointed out that Hindi, like most modern Indian languages, was created by missionaries. For extensive documentation of this, see Babu Verghese’s book Let there be India! – Prabhu Guptara

House in disorder

The Speaker did the right thing by suspending six Congress MPs (“Opposition protests against Lok Sabha speaker’s suspension of six Congress MPs”). The Opposition parties seems to be hell-bent on disrupting all Parliament sessions, just like the BJP did when they were in Opposition. But two wrongs do not make a right.

MPs, irrespective of their party affiliations, should strive to ensure the dignity of the temple of democracy. Speaker Sumitra Mahajan always tries to carry out the proceedings and refrain from adjourning the House. The taxpayers’ valuable money is spent on running the Parliament and the conduct of several MPs inside the Parliament sadly seems to be stooping to new lows everyday. – KB Dessai

In the end

Linkin Park made my childhood so meaningful (“Video: This is what Chester Bennington meant to Indian fans who grew up in the late 90s”). I started listening to the band when I was 10. I’m 18 nothing now and nothing has changed in all these years. Songs like In the End, Castle of Glass and Numb made by day. Chester, you were and will always be my inspiration. Rest in peace. You are in a better place. – Priyanka Patnaik

Valley crisis

Scroll.in doesn’t give the full picture of Kashmir (“The Readers’ Editor writes: In Kashmir, the media’s work should not end with reporting on violence”). There are two sides to a coin but you hide the other one. You should also look at how local media spreads hatred in the Valley, how religious leaders hold the strings to peace and how religion is used as a tool in Kashmir. These are the root causes of the crisis in the region and they must be addressed. Blaming the State is not enough. – Kushal Baidya

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It is dangerous to draw simplistic conclusions (“Dealing with protests in Kashmir: The army chief has spoken. Why is the prime minister silent?”). Kashmiri leaders have let the people down. Count the number of produtive days lost because of bandh calls. Count the money spent by the government in protecting separatist leaders. Count the hours lost that could have been spent on developing the state. There are many things to blame, including external agents who are deliberately trying to disturb the peace in Kashmir.

What is the first duty of a state? To provide security to all citizens. Perhaps, if Modi’s hands are strengthened electorally in the coming months, he could perhaps solve the Kashmir issue once and for all. It’s a beautiful state with beautiful people but confused and selfish leaders. – Nanduri Rao

Left out

Hats off to Scroll.in for this story on separate schools (“As states push separate educational systems for backward groups, debate about ghettoisation grows”). It helped understand a growing national problem. Separate schools for different classes or castes or religion are getting mixed views. I believe it could lead to to disintegration. The story puts together different views on it very well. – N Narayana

Row at EPW

Sanjay Srivastava has spoken for many of us who would consider themselves part of the Economics and Political Weekly but cannot identify with those who are casting aspersions on our colleagues and passing orders on what should be done (“We should give EPW trust a chance before accusing it of cowardice – but it must explain itself”). Nothing will better suit the Adanis and other corporate honchos, who would like to break our ranks and bring down some of our universally respected colleagues. I hope Srivastava’s words strike a chord with the trust and encourages them not to go public with their problems but instead have interal dialogue to strengthen the journal’s community. – Devaki Jain

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I read with sadness about events at EPW. I hope the voice of concerned people will stem this unfortunate muzzling. – Maithreyi Krishnaraj

Seeking statehood

This is an excellent article on the Gorkhaland demand (“The Gorkhaland demand is valid – and the racism I face in mainland India reinforces this view”). Gorkhas are indeed one of the most honest, loyal and peaceful people and they deserve respect, like anyone else. – Rajesh Shankar

Italian job

It is sad to hear about the plight of Indian farm labour in Italy (“Indians working in exploitative conditions on Italian farms are using opium to numb the pain”). Even 70 years after Independence, our brothers are being exploited. The Indian government must look into this. The country must provide gainful employment to its people.

These migrant labourers have gone abroad for money but we must forgive them for leaving the country and bring them back. – Ram Deshpande