Your cover package on Gujarat (November 12) was a good thumbnail sketch of the political climate in the state ahead of the assembly polls. The thoughts of every right-thinking person will go back to how a fascist danse macabre overshadowed the polls last time. Justice should be delivered to all those whose lives changed post-Godhra. Yes, the Tehelka tapes may have checked Narendra Modi’s national ambitions—but is that enough?
Dr Vitull K. Gupta, Bhatinda
Let the secular media led by Outlook keep harping on the Gujarat riots (And God Save the Messiah). Modi, meanwhile, will get elected as the chief minister for a second term.
A.K. Ajmani, on e-mail
It’s pathetic how Chandan Mitra tries to make a superhero out of an inveterate villain (A Sting Without Venom).
Madhu Ranganathan, Cuddalore
Your revelations on Haren Pandya were shocking (A Midnight Meeting...). What took you so long to reveal them?
Jaipat S. Jain, New York
I agree with your viewpoint that it may be hard for Modi to win the polls this time (And God Save the Messiah). He has instilled fear among minorities, and now estranged his own people, so he has to bear the consequences. But if the CM does get re-elected, Outlook must come up with its set of reasons for it—honest, candid.
Bindu Tandon, Mumbai
I think you weren’t discreet enough in going after Modi. If the people are keen to retain him as the CM, it only shows that the fate of Gujarat is to continue as a ghettoised state. Outlook needn’t be overly perturbed or intolerant about it.
Vivek Chatterjee, Calcutta
In case Modi is back, we better get prepared to face another riot and a pogrom—whether or not a Godhra-like provocation happens. And then stop calling India a secular nation anymore.
Ankur Ankesh, on e-mail
Critics be damned—Modi and his BJP will come out with flying colours. And more than anybody else, it would be a slap in the face of Outlook, which has been spinning a fantasy yarn on the future ascension to the throne of Rahul Gandhi.
Arun Mehra, Mumbai
It isn’t for anybody to judge Modi on the basis of one mistake. Viewing him always through the prism of the post-Godhra riots is itself a proof of your bias. Let time decide the merits and drawbacks of Modi.
George Olivera, Mysore
Outlook and the entire brigade of pseudo-secularists seem to have missed a key point in the heat of your self-righteousness: Modi is, after all, the leader of a democratically elected political party. Trying to hide that fact only shows your reluctance to accept the people’s mandate. It’s clear that Muslims the world over have a problem when it comes to leading a peaceful coexistence—be it in Britain, Russia or India. And I think that has more to do with the contents of the Quran than anything else. In other words, it calls for a broader debate.
Sachin Dixit, Mumbai
What is so uncivilised and depraved about Modi? He rules a state that’s doing well economically—in fact, Gujarat has taken the top slot in many developmental indices. If anything, it ought to have been the plight of Bimaru states that bothered you. Or maybe, terror-hit ones like Jammu and Kashmir or Assam.
Varun Shekhar, Toronto
It isn’t surprising that Outlook "went out on a limb" after it projected Modi’s electoral demise in 2002—you had anyway made no bones about your dislike for the Gujarat CM. This time you have pitched your anti-Modi chargesheet on a ground that’s even more unsound: "the myth of Gujarat’s development". And that when you have nothing to talk about economic stalemate in other states of the country.
Ankan Kumar, Columbus, US
I did not read your cover story this time. For, I don’t care about Modi or any politician. If the BJP wins the elections, we get to see the same man continue as CM. If it loses, a new person—as unscrupulous as Modi—would take over. So how does it matter to our people? No wonder the print media is losing readers. And less people are reading Outlook despite the big subscription gifts.
Dinesh Kumar, Chandigarh
None of your cover stories had a mention of the grisly incident at Godhra station where passengers inside a train were burnt to death. Call it Islamic fundamentalism by the elitist English press in India.
T. Mukherjee, Rochester, US
As an ardent believer of secularism, I don’t mind if the Tehelka tapes actually end up helping Modi retain power (‘Is it for another riot?’). To me, the expose has won its purpose if it could take us back to the bitter memories of a genocide. And, in any case, we all knew Modi was its chief architect.
S.M. Shervani, New Delhi
Reading your piece on Haren Pandya’s mysterious death (A Midnight Meeting On Feb 27 And A Murdered Minister), I felt it was strange that an interface between bureaucrats and senior police officials left no trail of paper. The minutes may not be available for various reasons but the meeting would have led to the execution of some key decisions. No police commissioner would attend a meeting in a tense situation without informing his aides where he can be reached. The question is: where are the logs? Why are they kept hidden?
V.R. Ganesan, New Jersey
No amount of hard-hitting evidence is going to deter people like Modi from carrying out similar inhuman acts in the future. Given their attitude, the CM and his friends would be gloating over the elimination of a potential threat to their career even as they deny their involvement in the act—that’s only to circumvent the law.
Arun Prakash, Doha
Long before Modi aired his action-reaction statement, we had a prime minister who openly said the earth is bound to shake on the fall of a tree. And about that Outlook is silent. What height of hypocrisy!
T. Mukhopadhyaya, on e-mail
Did Pandya tell Outlook about that February 27 meeting? I, as a regular reader of the magazine, expected you to be fair and objective in reporting—not selective and motivated.
R.K. Sudan, on e-mail
You need to only sample the accounts of some survivors of the pogrom to realise that it’s better to avoid talk of 2002 (The Quiet Riot). You needn’t be a Congress leader to do it.
G. Parthasarathy, Chennai
Chandan Mitra’s column, A Sting Without Venom, cleverly stuck to Gujarat’s developing economy. Rightly said—why keep harping on the old story of post-Godhra riots?
T.R. Harikumar, Coventry, UK
Mitra’s was expectedly a rant against the Tehelka expose. As an MP with right-wing leanings, the writer’s indignation doesn’t surprise us. But I was taken aback when he said Gujarat, like Delhi and Punjab, has recovered from the communal cloud. As a historian and a journalist, Mitra should know that societies, no matter what all they go through, move on. What is crucial is they better themselves with the passage of each such convulsions.
V. Ravi Chandra, Dresden
Mitra’s entire support for Modi will fall flat if a new government comes to power after polls, and institutes an independent body to probe the 2002 riots.
Pradeep Sharma, Mumbai
The BJP has again proved that its dictionary is devoid of one valuable word: repentance.
M. Vijayakumar, Bangalore
Indian journalism has exposed its darkest side. Its already low credibility has now plumbed unfathomable depths.
N. Maganti, Hyderabad
Mitra said exactly what he was expected to, what’s surprising is that Outlook provided space even to a Modi apologist.
Dilip Chandulal, Ahmedabad
Mitra should have been ashamed of the Godhra riots—with or without the Tehelka tapes.
Satish N., Hyderabad
Mitra blithely states Ehsan Jafri’s post-mortem revealed three bullet injuries. This, when the Congress MP’s body wasn’t found at all!
Sameer M., Bangalore
Such assertions show Mitra is dishonest. I was there at Jafri’s burnt house. After a long search, we found a few pieces of his body. No post-mortem was done on it. Wonder where Mitra got his ‘facts’ from!
Najid Hussain, Newark, US
It seems Vinod Mehta’s pet, ‘Editor’, cleared Mitra’s piece.
Dr Rumin B. Shah, Baroda
It’s a pity someone who was prime minister years ago is neck-deep in petty, opportunistic provincial politics (Flip A Coin, Nov 12)! Only weeks after reneging on a political commitment to accept a bjp CM in Karnataka, the jd(s) father-son duo of Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy did a somersault when they found their political survival imperilled. All the manoeuvring that followed this to put up a government must have involved a huge play of money. It’s time to cut down the influence of political party bosses and let the CM be elected through a direct vote by mlas.
Subhash C. Agrawal, Delhi
Justice Liberhan’s extensions benefit him and the politicians alike (42nd Street Blues, Nov 12). But for a prolonged tenure, how can the judge earn enough to put bread on the table? It’s good for the media too—it gets enough fodder to chew on. Mostly, commissions such as these are appointed precisely to put issues on the backburner. Remember the Banerjee Commission on Godhra that handed in its findings in under six months? Now, Justice Nanavati seems to be on a never-ending mission. He deserves a pat on the back for letting the nation forget all about Godhra. There’s no harm if Liberhan takes another decade to come to a conclusion.
Sohan Aggarwal, Rockville, US
Our education system has failed to generate any respect for our cultural symbols (Jab We Met, Nov 12). How can we expect this generation to preserve and expand our literary heritage? Nations around us, like Japan and South Korea, with no links to the English, have done far better than us. We have a wrong notion that the whole of India knows English very well, while most Indians will find it hard to construct a grammatical sentence. The current love for Hinglish won’t help us do any better either.
Jitendra Singhji, Melbourne
If this continues to happen, people will surely forget Hindi, leaving us with a garbage language and culture. I think it’s better to polish one’s English than to learn a third language called Hinglish.
Aseem S. Johri, Toronto
I agree completely. In encouraging this phenomenon, we are diluting our past cultures and evolving none.
Ashok Mathur, Delhi
I see no reason to panic about the economy (The Scent of a Crash, Nov 12). India is far too large to keep growing on the basis of exports alone. The appreciation of the rupee against the US dollar will force manufacturers to restructure along lines that serve the local market. This will lead to technological innovations and changes in production processes aimed at greater efficiencies. This in turn will drive foreign demand for Indian goods, and foreign cash inflows will then fund the requirements to meet this increasing demand.
Nirmalan Dhas, Colombo
Your article Pluck the Hydra (Nov 5) was an irritatingly obvious example of the pick-and-choose policy practised at times by your magazine. There are thousands of breast cancer survivors in India, and many have probably weathered worse storms, and in less privileged conditions, than Ms Mulford! Why her?
Rupesh Bhandari, Amritsar
Dilip Vengsarkar has been the most interfering chairman of the selection panel, travelling with the team everywhere, laying down strategy, and demoralising players with his remarks (The Fourth Umpire’s Call, Nov 12). Get him off the team’s back and its performance might improve drastically.
L.K. Balasubramanian, New Jersey, US
A player who averages eight in the last 10 matches deserves to be dropped. Period. If performance is the yardstick, why should things be different for Dravid? It’s unfortunate that there’s a witchhunt for Vengsarkar by a section of the media. While Indian fans are volatile and regional, one expects journalists to be objective.
C. Krishna, Bangalore
If a man like Dravid can be treated thus, what about the others? Dravid, characteristically, did not retaliate, nor will he do so. Vengsarkar is mean-minded, vindictive.
Kalamurth, Mumbai
Vengsarkar is justified in dropping Dravid from the odi team for poor performance. Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag too were given similar treatment, so why not Dravid? Let’s not forget that about a decade back, he was kept out of the shorter version of the game for almost two years due to his inability to rotate the strike and slow scoring. Even after his comeback, his good stats have only come from a few series. His batting style continues to be orthodox, without a touch of flamboyance. Maybe now he’ll introspect, and return as a stormtrooper!
Shanti Prakash Karir, Noida
When pot-bellied politicians can play cricket, why can’t cricket selectors play at politics? Vengsarkar and his cohorts will do well to remember that they are dealing with one of India’s all-time greats.
Capt A. Nagaraj, Bangalore
Khushwant Singh does the Mahatma immense disservice by claiming that he fasted for a Rs 55-crore payment to Pakistan (Books, Nov 12). I am 95 years old, knew Gandhi and as a student of history was following events anxiously. What Singh says was a general impression created by Muslims to malign Patel and by Hindu communalists to malign Gandhi. I too had fallen prey to it. The charge has been refuted since by Pyarelal Nayer in his book Mahatma Gandhi, The Last Phase, Part II, where he writes that Maulana Hafizur Rahman met Gandhi with some others, and told him to arrange for his migration to England since he could neither stay in India nor did want to go to Pakistan. It so disturbed Gandhi that he decided to go on a fast. When the same group met him afterwards, he asked them, "Are you now satisfied?", and to Rahman he added, "I had no answer to give you then, should I now ask the government for a passage to you to England—‘Here are unfaithful Muslims who want to desert India, give them the facility they want’." Ashamed, the group asked for his pardon but Gandhi hadn’t finished. "Do you not feel ashamed for asking to be sent to England? How dare you, who claim to be patriots and nationalists, utter such words? You have to cleanse your hearts and learn to be cent per cent truthful. Otherwise India will not tolerate you for long and even I shall not be able to save you."
Vishwanath Tandon, on e-mail
