Readers’ comments: ‘Scroll.in should award itself Nobel for best media house in the solar system’

Winning ways

This is a poor article that is nothing more than the rant of a person who dislikes Modi (“Why Narendra Modi deserves not one but all the Nobel Prizes”). This should have been a blog and not an article on a news publication. Furthermore it has been written in a very naive manner. I’m not a journalist and this is how someone like me would write an article. If Scroll.in can’t find decent and informative content, it’s better not to publish than to have us read this. I don’t think I would go to your website for news again. – Prerit Varun

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While I am seeing a lot of wrong taking place under the current government, I cannot understand the negative vibe of this article. Surely many good things are happening too. The tone and tenor of your writing is that of a frustrated rant. – Rateesh Sharma

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I am delighted to read your article on Modi’s versatility and why he deserves multiples Nobel Prizes. Please let me avail of any such opportunities to support this mission. I appreciate your style and rich command over English. – Raghunandan

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Before writing any article do some ground work and get the facts. Or maybe, Scroll.in should give itself the Nobel for Best Media House in the Solar System. – Manish Singh

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I don’t think sarcasm is meant for news publications. It’s misleading. So report the facts, especially at a time when there is increasing fake news in India and people often read just the headline. – Parin Patel

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Your sarcastic article does not impress me at all. I am not a BJP supporter but if you point to the past, don’t be selective. Talk about the Sikh riots, where one of my friends was murdered by secularist Congress goons. And then there’s Kashmir, where hundreds of Hindus were killed and thousands became homeless because of Nehru’s policies. Or maybe, this publication deserves a Nobel-like prize from Pakistan for promoting communalism in the name of secularism. – Ashish Mukherjee

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It’s disappointing to read such articles filled with venomous and cooked-up remarks made against Prime Minister Modi. The article moves away from fact-based writing. It fails in any sense to equal-minded citizens. So, kindly keep all Nobel prizes with you till 2019. Thereafter, you may keep it as a memento. And try to do some meditation, please. – Shyam Bhat

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What type of journalism are you doing? It’s not like our prime minister has done nothing. The previous one has also done stuff for our nation. We should be positive in our approach. – Nikhil Sahni

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Publishing a sarcastic article is not right, not many people get it. I can understand the author’s frustrations about Modi not delivering on his promises. But before bashing the prime minister, you should see the genuine work he has done and tell people about both pros and cons of the current government. The best thing about this government is that they have not been involved in corruption, unlike the UPA regime, which was making money wherever they could. Let’s stop the blame game, please give us information that shows both sides of the current government’s functioning. – Aahan Ratnaparkhi

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This article was a huge waste of time. I have taken offense not just at the single-minded perspective offered but also the way the author portrays this as the collective feeling of more than a billion Indians. I don’t know how many hits this article has received but I count as one of them and yet I strongly disagree with a majority of the views expressed here. They are well written but devoid of any meaning or information and do not represent how Indians feel.

Aren’t the articles edited by logical people? The views are so exaggerated that it appears as though the writer lives in a bubble, with no access to other’s perspectives. Is the author totally oblivious to his surroundings? For instance, he says, “rule of law prevails”. Not in my state, it doesn’t. Unless you scream at the top of your lungs in English and attract some media attention, it is not easy to get justice. The law in this country gravitates toward the rich and powerful. – Mor Sofinz

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Girish Shahane deserves the Nobel Prize for Literature for his convoluted and great fictional piece on Prime Minister Modi! How wonderfully easy it is to be an armchair critic, lifting only a pen to take pot shots at the prime minister and his contribution to the nation’s well being. This article is far from the truth. Thank you, Scroll.in for a fun read! – Radhika Hoon

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There are some who praise Modi for everything. Similarly, there are many who criticise Modi for everything. I have seen a similar situation when Indira Gandhi was prime minister. People said “Indira is India and India is Indira”. People deified her. The author should not write such nonsensical articles. – Chandra K Murthy

Man of words

I have been reading Scroll.in’s articles carefully (“Independence Day: ‘Impatient’ Modi delivers a clear (but forgettable) pitch for 2019”). This increasingly looks like a Congress propaganda tool rather than unbiased reporting as you claim. How come there is never any criticism of Congress rule, to which most of present-day problems can be traced? Your criticism of the current prime minister, though valid, comes across as part of a campaign against the BJP. – Vaidyanathan Natarajan

Partition memories

The reliving of the trauma of Partition and the role of oral history was welcome (“Seventy-one years on, the Partition is inflicting fresh trauma – on those who document its horrors”). I have just one submission. A lot has been written on the Punjab partition. Now someone should please write something on the Bengal partition. There are, so far, just two books on it in English. The first is by AJ Kamra who died halfway through the book. Moreover Kamra knew no Bengali. The second book is by yours truly, titled My People,Uprooted. Someone please take off on it and write something more. – Tathagata Roy, Governor of Tripura

Soaring allegations

Commonsense suggests that there is a scam here (“Rafale explainer: How are Anil Ambani and Reliance involved in the controversial deal?”). Anil Ambani’s group is in debt. He has no money to pay debenture holders and banks. And what expertise does his group have in comparison to HAL? What is the secrecy class? Why doesn’t Modi disclose the details of the deal in the interest of the nation and to clear his name? Does the answer to these questions lie in who funded Modi’s mega election rally in 2014? And which group is going to fund in 2019? – Prasanna

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You conveniently forgot to mention that the French company was not ready to give guarantee of planes manufactured at HAL, that this was a big issue between the UPA government and French company and that no final agreement was signed. If no final agreement was signed, how can it be compared with the present one? Besides, you also forgot to mention that the present agreement incorporates several India-specific changes and enhancements and latest weapon systems that were not part of the UPA’s negotiations.

The maintenance clause, which says that 75% of the planes must always be in ready condition out of the total planes supplied, is among the many other clauses that were not negotiated by previous the government. There is a difference in offset clause also, much to India’s benefit. And the two most important aspects that you forgot is that (1) it is a government-government contract (with no middle man involved unlike Bofors) and the chances of corruption become almost nil in such contracts; and (2) It is not Anil Ambani’s company alone that the deal has been struck with but a joint venture in which Dassault is to supply all the 36 and is a 49% shareholders. So, the allegations that Reliance being new company, so unable to complete work doesn’t hold water. – JP Gupta

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This article is lucid and does not beat around the bush. We hope better sense will prevail. – Pranab Dey

Simultaneous polls

I am not in favour of simultaneous elections for several reasons (“The Daily Fix: Why we must be wary of BJP’s attempts to alter our democracy with simultaneous polls”). First, people vote differently in state assembly elections and the Lok Sabha, mainly because most of the benefits of governance comes to them through their state governments. The local MLA is easily identifiable and approachable and is held accountable for his acts of omission and commission. People feel that local issues are best dealt by local representatives, but for national issues, they may have a totally different perspective.

MPs are not easily approachable, though they should be, and the expectations from them are different and broader – largely to do with matters of national importance, laws that affect the entire country, international concerns and more.

The government’s reasoning that simultaneous polls would reduce the period during which the code of conduct for elections would be in place is also arguable. There is no embargo on ongoing projects during the code of conduct. It only restricts freebies, promotions and announcements of new projects. The idea is to prevent the incumbent government from having an unfair advantage over others. If their intentions were good, these schemes would have been introduced earlier and not just before the elections.

As far as campaigning goes, the ruling party is the one that has started the trend of carpet-bombing. No other prime minister has campaigned for days on end for state elections and with such a scale and media blitz. The money spent on these campaigns will not only be from party funds but also the taxpayer.

Frankly, if a government has delivered, its work will speak. – Zarina Bazliel

Discordant note

No one objects to TM Krishna rendering songs in praise of non-Hindu deities (“Communalising Carnatic music: Artists face threats for singing devotional hymns in praise of Jesus”). In fact Bharathiyar has composed songs on Jesus and Allah; even Kannadasan has contributed a master literary piece Yesukaviam. Hindus the world over are all appreciation for these works.

The problem arises when TM Krishna and his tribe employ their musical learning by mischievous replacement of words and terms in krithis of the Trinity and other composers. A blasphemous conceit oozes in their action.

TM Krishna has repeatedly spoken about the upper-caste domination in the institutions of Carnatic music. This is just a hollow charge. Musician of the past and present have always got their due based purely on competence. TM Krishna seems to be seeking cheap publicity. No one prevents him from performing at kuppams and fishermen colonies, that is only popularising Carnatic music. Let him even select and tutor deserving people from these colonies. – R Vasudevan

Pitch battle

I agree that there needs to be a comprehensive review of the team’s performance, but I don’t agree with the singling out of players (“High time we accept that Kohli-led India are ill-equipped to dominate teams overseas”). The real questions need to be asked of the team management. What are Ravi Shastri and the backroom team doing? In the first test, we dropped umpteen catches, which puts a question mark on the fielding coach. The batsmen’s lack of technique is down to the batting coach. The constant chopping, changing and dropping of players is down to the captain and the coach.

When I see this team, I see a coach who is a rubber stamp for the captain’s hare-brained decisions. The trouble is that our captain really doesn’t walk the talk. So while a KL Rahul is expected to open in one test and play at No 3 in the next, Pujara has been dropped constantly as has Ajinkya Rahane and Kohli continues serenely at No 4. Let’s face it: Kohli the batsman is brilliant but Kohli the leader is not. It’s time to give him a strong coach like Anil Kumble who will counter him. We are doing him no favours by giving him a Shastri, a mediocre player and coach. – Murali Gopal