05-23-2004, 06:21 AM
<b>Cry, my beloved India</b>
Francois Gautier
I have met many Congress leaders over the last 35 years; many of them are nice, intelligent and balanced. I could not understand, therefore, how so many of them - saying "we are no good, you are the only one; please lead us to salvation" - could debase themselves live on television, one after the other, in front of Ms Sonia Gandhi, while she listened with a slightly bored expression on her face. If she had wanted, she could have stopped it right there, saying her decision was final. But she sat and listened till the last Congressman and woman had finished wallowing in dirt before her.
I am a born Christian and a Westerner, but after scanning the Indian media during these last 10 days and seeing how much Capital's newspapers rooted for Ms Sonia Gandhi and her children, I am a tad bewildered. A senior columnist like Dilip Padgaonkar said that her becoming the Prime Minister of India would have been in tune "with the highest Vedantic ideals". I wondered why is it that in a country so ancient, men and women of substance are looking for leadership from a lady, who, regardless of her qualities, not only belongs to another culture and religion, but is also basically unaware of the realities of India?
To put it bluntly: Why do Indians have such fascination for White skin? Every man here is looking for "a fair bride"; women spend a fortune on creams to preserve their "fairness"; Indian intellectuals, however brilliant, often ape their White counterpart even as the best brains of this country migrate to the developed world leaving the land of their birth.
<b>Ultimately, Indians have to ask themselves if they want a Government which reflects the ancient Vedic values of this land or a Government which is going to make India a pale copy of the West? </b>I have written over the years that the Indian voter always casts his or her vote in a mature manner, but this election has proved me wrong. Look at Tamil Nadu. At one time they wipe out the DMK; next <b>they drub Jayalalithaa after she enacted the anti-conversion law, and stopped free electricity to farmers. And now she has backtracked on all these decrees. Is this what democracy is about?</b>
The BJP too has some hard introspection to do. How is it that in five years of Government it managed to get so little positive feedback from the press? Let me tell you my experience. There is a very nice man - I won't reveal his name - whom I knew in the late 1980s as a journalist and who was later in the PMO at a very important post under Mr Vajpayee. While our ideas concurred before he came into the Government, I watched how power made him shift his focus; from the essential, his attention, and that of the PMO, shifted to the most superficial matters. In the office, they brainstormed about how best to project a positive image of Mr Vajpayee and the BJP. I must say they failed miserably. I hope now he has returned to his senses. It is always best to stick to one's ideals rather than worry about what people will say about you.
Ultimately, Mr Vajpayee will have to shoulder the blame. I remember interviewing him for the first time in 1998. But the man, however nice he was, had very little of substance to say. The entire election was fought on his image and the BJP lost because of that. And who cares about the Indo-Pak peace talks or even India beating Pakistan in cricket? It made no difference to the election outcome.
I, however, feel bad for the two pillars of the BJP, two soldiers who have weathered so many battles - Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Mr LK Advani. The former was the only minister who was true to his ideals and implemented his ideas, however much he was criticised. The latter is a good, decent, incorruptible man, who would not hurt a fly, whatever his detractors may say, and would make a good prime minister. Unfortunately, Mr Advani and Mr Joshi did not get along well - for whatever reasons - and this is the saddest thing in the history of the BJP. It would be essential now that they forget their differences and face the problems together for the good of the country.
<b>The two will, of course, face the hostility of most of India's intelligentsia, who would rather root for Ms Gandhi than for their own people. Christian missionaries and European colonisers could never do much against India on their own; it was always <span style='color:red'>Hindus who betrayed Hindus</span></b>.
Cry, my beloved India. Look at what thy children are doing to thee!
Francois Gautier
I have met many Congress leaders over the last 35 years; many of them are nice, intelligent and balanced. I could not understand, therefore, how so many of them - saying "we are no good, you are the only one; please lead us to salvation" - could debase themselves live on television, one after the other, in front of Ms Sonia Gandhi, while she listened with a slightly bored expression on her face. If she had wanted, she could have stopped it right there, saying her decision was final. But she sat and listened till the last Congressman and woman had finished wallowing in dirt before her.
I am a born Christian and a Westerner, but after scanning the Indian media during these last 10 days and seeing how much Capital's newspapers rooted for Ms Sonia Gandhi and her children, I am a tad bewildered. A senior columnist like Dilip Padgaonkar said that her becoming the Prime Minister of India would have been in tune "with the highest Vedantic ideals". I wondered why is it that in a country so ancient, men and women of substance are looking for leadership from a lady, who, regardless of her qualities, not only belongs to another culture and religion, but is also basically unaware of the realities of India?
To put it bluntly: Why do Indians have such fascination for White skin? Every man here is looking for "a fair bride"; women spend a fortune on creams to preserve their "fairness"; Indian intellectuals, however brilliant, often ape their White counterpart even as the best brains of this country migrate to the developed world leaving the land of their birth.
<b>Ultimately, Indians have to ask themselves if they want a Government which reflects the ancient Vedic values of this land or a Government which is going to make India a pale copy of the West? </b>I have written over the years that the Indian voter always casts his or her vote in a mature manner, but this election has proved me wrong. Look at Tamil Nadu. At one time they wipe out the DMK; next <b>they drub Jayalalithaa after she enacted the anti-conversion law, and stopped free electricity to farmers. And now she has backtracked on all these decrees. Is this what democracy is about?</b>
The BJP too has some hard introspection to do. How is it that in five years of Government it managed to get so little positive feedback from the press? Let me tell you my experience. There is a very nice man - I won't reveal his name - whom I knew in the late 1980s as a journalist and who was later in the PMO at a very important post under Mr Vajpayee. While our ideas concurred before he came into the Government, I watched how power made him shift his focus; from the essential, his attention, and that of the PMO, shifted to the most superficial matters. In the office, they brainstormed about how best to project a positive image of Mr Vajpayee and the BJP. I must say they failed miserably. I hope now he has returned to his senses. It is always best to stick to one's ideals rather than worry about what people will say about you.
Ultimately, Mr Vajpayee will have to shoulder the blame. I remember interviewing him for the first time in 1998. But the man, however nice he was, had very little of substance to say. The entire election was fought on his image and the BJP lost because of that. And who cares about the Indo-Pak peace talks or even India beating Pakistan in cricket? It made no difference to the election outcome.
I, however, feel bad for the two pillars of the BJP, two soldiers who have weathered so many battles - Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and Mr LK Advani. The former was the only minister who was true to his ideals and implemented his ideas, however much he was criticised. The latter is a good, decent, incorruptible man, who would not hurt a fly, whatever his detractors may say, and would make a good prime minister. Unfortunately, Mr Advani and Mr Joshi did not get along well - for whatever reasons - and this is the saddest thing in the history of the BJP. It would be essential now that they forget their differences and face the problems together for the good of the country.
<b>The two will, of course, face the hostility of most of India's intelligentsia, who would rather root for Ms Gandhi than for their own people. Christian missionaries and European colonisers could never do much against India on their own; it was always <span style='color:red'>Hindus who betrayed Hindus</span></b>.
Cry, my beloved India. Look at what thy children are doing to thee!