Some of you might have read the above article in the webzine theprint.in I had sent a set of comments on the article back to Ms Bamzai. I thought the comments ought to be in public domain. Hence this blog
Read the article carefully. Frankly, I am disappointed. Not because you have violently differed with me, which you have a right to do, but because of your diffuse, noncommittal manner of presentation, avoiding any conclusions, and taking random pot-shots. Take the following:
'Toxic': One of your definitive expressions of disapproval. But 'toxic' is not always undesirable! Ever hear of the drug Adriamycin? It's so toxic it can pierce your skin and dissolve your flesh if it comes in contact with bare skin. But it is invaluable in the treatment of cancer. It's the same way with a polity infected to the core, its value system warped by the Left-Nehruvian version of 'secularism'.
'Conspiracy theories about the deaths of Right-wing ideologues Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee' and Deen Dayal Upadhyay': Dr Mookerjee died in Sheikh Abdullah's prison. The medical reasons given for his death were challenged by more than a dozen very eminent doctors. Yet there was no inquiry, Nehru and his Home Minister Katju stonewalled any inquiry without giving any reason. As for Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, his dead body was found in Mughalsarai rail yard. Would anybody in his senses say that these very prominent people (your personal prejudices against Right-wing ideologues notwithstanding) died a natural death and there is no need for an inquiry into their deaths? In fact you have also not said so, just left the question hanging!
'seemingly urbane': Ah, you think I am a country bumpkin inside, with only a veneer of urbanity? Well...
'who is able to eloquently articulate the RSS' deepest, darkest, blah blah blah' : I take that as a compliment. Thanks.
'Hidden history': It is here that your I object most to your diffuse style. Did or did not Gandhiji, upon the advice of C.Rajagopalachari go to see Jinnah and practically conceded Pakistan? Yes or no? On 12th February 1950 was or was not there a massacre of all Hindu passengers over the Meghna Bridge in East Pakistan? Yes or no? Were or were not all Hindus in Muladi, Madhabpasha, Lakutia and Rajapur in Barisal district of erstwhile East Pakistan slaughtered? Yes or no? If you differ with me why don't you say I'm lying? The Ram Guha-Bipan Chandra type of historians would try to avoid all these subjects, BECAUSE TO ANSWER TO EACH ONE OF THESE IS 'YES'. And in their Nehruvian logic a Muslim can do no wrong, so these ought to remain hidden -- until a toxic Governor comes along. Actually Meghna Bridge, Muladi, Madhabpasha, Lakutia and Rajapur ought to be as well-known as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Treblinka, Sobibor, Maidanek or Katyn Forest. They are not, because the victims themselves, infected by the Left-Nehruvian version of 'secularism', have chosen to conceal them.
I appreciate what Tufail Ahmed has said, because he is specific with his allegations. I don't agree with him - in parts. I do think there has been overmuch of pluralism, an undue emphasis on 'diversity' rather than 'unity'. I am not anti-Muslim and I differ with your description of my views as 'relentless spewing of hatred towards Muslims'. It is just that I do not believe in the Left-Nehruvian dictum "A Muslim can do no wrong", and I am as forthcoming with wrongs done by Hindus (such as the mass murder of 3,000 Sikhs in 1984) as I am with those done by Muslims (such as driving out 3,50,000 Kashmiri Pandits from the valley in 1989-90). I am not an Islamophobe either, although I had a right to be one, having seen the driving out of a crore of Hindus from East Pakistan and Bangladesh, among which members of my extended family were also there. I am just, if I can coin a term, virulently anti-anti-Hindu.
But you are right that I have a visceral abhorrence of the late lamented Jawaharlal Nehru, who among other things, was guilty of the very creation of the Kashmir problem, acquiescing in the Chinese annexation of Tibet, batting for Communist China's entry to the UN security council and condemning the refugees from East Pakistan to the most unimaginable misery. I have named just a few. After all, one must be kind to the dead.
I did not block Saswati Sarkar because she 'called me out'. I never do that. I block people only when they are abusive. Incidentally, you have given the impression that Saswati is a scholar of history at U Penn. No, she teaches Electrical Engineering there.
The article, incidentally, has not created much reader interest. I posted it on Twitter, calling for responses. No response. This is apart from the Coup man giving publicity to it.
Thanks for posting a very favourite photograph of me, at one of the most beautiful places on earth I have visited. This is at Yosemite National Park, California.
