Readers’ comments: Nothing can make up for the loss of Aarey Colony – Mumbai’s green lung

State stalemate

In my view, whether or not the Bharatiya Janata Party can meet the logistical demands of a nation-wide National Register for Citizens is an important question, but not so important as another (The Daily Fix: Rhetoric aside, can the BJP actually meet the logistical demands of a nationwide NRC?). We must first decide if the exercise in Assam can be called a success in any sense. – Mukul Dube

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Kashmiriyat is a term used loosely to describe a situation where the Muslim majority and the Hindu minority of the valley of Kashmir learnt to live with each other or, one could even say, tolerate each other (Kashmiriyat: The death of an idea). Hindus and Muslims of the Valley were never comfortable with each other. There was hardly any interaction between these two religious bodies. Muslims never considered themselves as a part of India as a whole. One always heard the majority of Muslims say, “Kashmir banega Pakistan [Kashmir will join Pakistan]”. The word Kasmiriyat is a fantasy word that never existed. One could go on and on about the notion of Kashmiriyat and come to no conclusion. – Krish Dhar
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Your articles on Kashmir are anti-India. Are you a supporter of terrorism and [are] being funded by Pakistan? Why don’t you write articles on the thousands of people being killed by Pakistan in Balochistan, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and their other provinces? Have you forgotten about the 9/11 attack, the Taliban attack and the Pulwama attack? Can you tell me where these terrorist attacks originated from?

Everyone in the world knows that these attacks originated from Pakistan and are being committed by terrorists sheltered and trained by them. Also, why are you silent on the offences being committed by Pakistan on minorities by forcing their girls to marry Muslim boys after changing their religion? Stop supporting terrorism by printing anti-India articles and leave India immediately. – Ashok Kainth
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Kashmiriyat has been dead since 1991 when [Kashmiri] Pundits were thrown out of Kashmir. You reap what you sow. Kashmiris are getting what they did for the last 30 years. – Ankur Shandilya
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You are anti-India and anti-national. How much money have they given you to do this drama? – Dev Bade

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Can the author kindly let us know why after so many days the curfew is still existing? (As J&K students are cut off from home for over a month, they struggle to make ends meet) Maybe because of the lack of communication, the author doesn’t have an idea. You stop publishing nonsense here and there the curfew will be fully removed; peace and harmony will be restored. These few Kashmiris are making trouble for the whole union territory. Why don’t you show that part? Why [question] the curfew when stone-pelting incidents are being carried out?

Stop all this. Be mature and show the right path to these guys. They don’t want outsiders to come to Kashmir. – Ashish Gusain

Bookmarked, dog-eared

I certainly hope the author is not implying that he stole those motorcycles in England (In this novel a Kerala village institutes a deity who only wants to ride motorcycles). Sounds to me like that is the case. Whatever happened to honour among thieves?

To quote, “For obvious reasons, I always rode at night and rode fast.” So you have read a tiny little bit of Hunter S Thompson, but obviously not enough. If the good doctor was alive he would hunt you down like a mangy dog and give you the good kicking you deserve.

There is never any justification for motorcycle theft, especially your poor attempt to justify it, by wrapping it up in romance and mystical allure. – James Gannon

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The review tells [us] a lot about the book and the subject that the book is about (This collection of Partition interviews gives us new ways to look at migration and refugees). Quite a relevant and timely publication – as the world grapples with large scale exodus and migration from disturbed provinces. – Saraldas Mishra

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Dear Selina Sen, your article on gardens and gardening left me teary-eyed (How gardening helped me heal after a personal tragedy – and can help you too). Your references to Babur and the picture of the garden in Kabul was such a lovely treat to the eyes. As a History teacher and an avid gardener I loved your article. God bless you. Keep writing and sharing your wisdom with mortals like us – Leeza Dutta

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Love your writing and advice for vegetable growing. We have a common friend who shared your blog with me. I love your articles as they are easy to read and each word is highlighted with your passion for gardening. I wanted to ask if you have grown vegetables organically without using chemicals. I keep getting worms or a powdery white infection.

Every season I am tempted to grow vegetables and after reading this I could not stop myself from buying zucchini seeds which will arrive soon. – Shalini Sinha

Revising time

Our coastal lines from Gujarat to West Bengal may be a surprise now. (Two new genetic studies upheld Indo-Aryan migration. So why did Indian media report the opposite?) A huge amount of ancient evidence is being found everywhere. Possibly, the first Aryan migration – that is the entry of the outer Aryans via Gilgit and Chitrol – had taken place just after Ice Age nearly 12,000 years ago. And these migrants, along with locals are the founders of our civilization.

The second Aryan migration – that is the inner Aryans via the Hindu Kush – had taken place around 2000 BC and due to Assyrian conquest. Evidence shows our Austric migrants from Africa migrated to the far East but had been stopped due to massive volcanic eruptions nearly 75,000 years ago. But it is also a fact that not all our tribes migrated from Africa. This is [true] also for Dravidians. They are really indegenous to the [subcontinent]. The drying up of the river Saraswathi 6,500 years has been repeatedly explained in the Vedas, along with different songs of tribes which are singing to explain the arrival of white people. When Greek historian Megasthenes came to Patliputra he found no differences between Indian people and Europeans. – Sutanu Chakraborty

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Absolutely garbled version by the author (Why Hindutva supporters love to hate the discredited Aryan Invasion Theory). Scroll.in true to its anti-Hindu posture is publishing such misrepresentations of Indian culture. – Jambunatha Radhakrishnan

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This is in reference to your article on Gumnami Baba of Faizabad (Who was Gumnami Baba, the man rumoured to be Netaji? Was he actually Kaptan Baba, the killer?). With all certainty, he was not Netaji Bose. Journalistic integrity has since been failing in discharging its fairness in projecting an honest narrative about the survival of the greatest icon of our freedom struggle and his survival till April 17, 1977.

Shardanand ji of Shaulmari Ashram fame was Netaji, though [he] vehemently denied that. During Justice Khosla commission’s inquiry, his handwriting was published in Nagpur Times and see how he had admitted his past identity saying, “Suresh did shaitani [mischief]. He published my handwriting in Nagpur Times. In a way, it is good for the future. It is the only piece of evidence before the world.” He appeared adamant on not making his past public but at the same time the revelations made time to time by him went on confirming his past.

With great regards to Gandhi, he talked of Nehru’s “real meanness and genuine greatness” and for his greatness, he will be adorned for all time to come and for his meanness the history of humanity will never pardon him. Once replying to a query raised to him by Niharendu Dutta Majumdar, a former law minister of the West Bengal government and also an associate of Netaji’s, as to whether Subhash Bose is alive, in 1965 he expressed, “The black heart of Nehru has shown its blackness.”

When Majumdar expressed his curiosity whether Netaji is still alive, Shardanand ji smilingly said, “Subhash has not died yet,” and with this, he stopped him from raising any more queries.
My book नेताजी सुभाष चन्द्र बोस सायगान से आगे [Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Beyond Saigon] is an evidential depiction of his life from 1945 to 1977. Its first copy was presented to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 19. – Shyama Charan Pandey

Miscellaneous comments

I am really impressed by the standards of journalism exhibited in this and similar reports (Eco India: Over 1,000 hectares of Mumbai’s mangroves are fiercely guarded by a fishing community). Bravo! A friend and supporter of Scroll.in from France. – Julian Crandall Hollick

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P&ID’s claim is like trying to fetch water from a dry well (The $9.6 billion penalty imposed on Nigeria by a UK court poses a serious threat to its economy). Where is the indigenous legal expertise to thrash issues like this? How can P&ID even talk of earning 7% interest on an income they are yet to earn? Or is this something else? Should this not lead to drastic actions against conspirators? – Adigizey John

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Imposing Hindi on the nation will increase animosity between Hindi speaking people and the rest of india (Hindi row: Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa says no compromise on Kannada’s importance). Earlier decisions like the tri-language formula have been withdrawn because of the unrest they created. Language preferences should be left to the people themselves. Amit Shah and his companions, with such irresponsible opinions tend to destroy the national fabric of India. – Ramesh Babu Ghanta

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You cannot understand relativity in depth without math and gravity is a definitive part of the general theory relativity (Video: Piyush Goyal dismisses growth-rate maths saying that never helped ‘Einstein discover gravity’). The latter provides a new radical understanding of gravity. – S Srinivasan

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I have been frequently using Uber and Ola cabs and during rides talking to owner-drivers (Millennials’ preference for Ola and Uber adding to auto sector crisis, claims Nirmala Sitharaman). It appears that most of them are youths facing unemployment who have taken car loans and started contracting with these companies. In fact, millennials are buying cars to serve as such drivers with Uber or Ola. – Hiren Gohain

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According to the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation, the metro car shed can’t be moved to Kanjurmarg because the land belongs to Godrej and is under litigation in Court (Saving Aarey: Why a city with a weak protest culture is demonstrating to protect Mumbai’s green lung). But when so many buildings and plots were acquired to build flyovers, the Metro and for road widening, no choice was given to affected citizens.

There is an important clause in the Constitution that if a plot of land owned privately is to be acquired for public work, the government has full right to acquire it. Also, people like Godrej, Tata, Wadias own thousands of acres of land by virtue of serving the British in the pre0Independence period.

Why should only a small number of people own all the land which should be given to the government for various public projects like the Metro? The government or a Court of Law should offer a price affordable to them as compensation and acquire the land. I hope I have put my point of view clear enough. Nothing can compensate for the loss of hundreds of trees and the destruction of diverse habitat in Aarey. Save Mumbai’s Lungs. – Usha Kaptan