LETTERS

Bal Thackeray

The Cover Story ("Thackeray's Day Out", August 18) exposed how the circumstances surrounding the arrest of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray turned people away from their one-time "hero" in disgust. The myth of his invincibility has been shattered. By preach ing violence and making inflammatory speeches, Thackeray has ensured his own decline and fall.

R. Ramasami
Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu

AIDS

The article on the international conference on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ("AIDS and social realities" , August 18) was a balanced one.

The South African government has decided to review all that is being said about AIDS in Africa by the international agencies dealing with AIDS and take an independent policy stand on the issue. President Thabo Mbeki's stand has only met with outright con demnation, scorn, censorship and distortion by the international establishment and media.

In this context, it was refreshing to read the article on this most 'controversial' issue, which is of particular interest and relevance to the poorer among the developing nations.

Purushothaman Mulloli
Received on e-mail

Cricket

Kudos to the Income Tax Department for conducting raids on the premises of cricketers, bookies and cricket administrators, who were under the scrutiny of the Central Bureau of Investigation ("On the trail of a scandal", August 18).

Abhijeet D. More
Nashik

Dalits

Apropos the article "Dalits and the state" (July 21,) it is a fact that there has been only a marginal improvement in the condition of Dalits despite many measures taken by the government for their welfare. The Constitution guarantees fundamental rights and there are laws against untouchability and for protecting human rights, but the majority of those who should execute these laws are from the upper castes. According to a Central government report, 91 per cent of the posts in Group A services are held by members of the upper castes (in spite of the reservation policy). In such a situation one cannot expect a fair deal for Dalits.

Sunil S. Kashikar
Mumbai

Anti-Christian campaign

This has reference to "A campaign against Christians" and "Attacks and denials" (August 4).

During Congress rule there were no deliberate attacks on Christians and their institutions. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its Parivar, which suspect the bona fides of Christians as loyal citizens of India, had all along been preaching hatred against the community. Now that they are in power, it has become easy for them to unleash violence against Christians without fear. The Inter Services Intelligence of Pakistan has made use of this situation to create a confrontation between Hindus and t he minorities.

G.E.M. Manoharan
Coimbatore

The accusations and counter-accusations relating to the attacks on Christians in India of late, represent a case of the pot calling the kettle black. The fact remains that religious conversions have triggered social tensions in far-flung tribal areas. No social anthropologist has looked disinterestedly at the modus operandi of those making evangelistic forays into these areas and the resultant tensions and strife over the past decade. This perhaps is the reason why there is no credible explanatio n yet for the communal conflicts that erupt from time to time.

It needs to be borne in mind that the attacks on churches and priests and nuns are not directed at the Christian religion as such but primarily at the methodology and practices of proselytisation.

In Kerala, Hindus and Christians live in amity despite the fact that the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are active in the State. The history of Christianity in Kerala dates back to A.D. 52. The missionary forays of Christian evangelism and the related conversions, development-oriented though, were a fallout of colonialism. Christian religious leaders need to do some introspection to find the real reasons for the resentment they are confronted with of late.

K. John Mammen
Thiruvananthapuram

The article "Targeting Christians" (July 7) portrayed the humiliation and sufferings Christians have been undergoing. The minorities, Christians in particular, are attacked and intimidated in many parts of the country, and this has created a sense of ins ecurity among them. India is quintessentially a secular country. All its achievements have been made because of the toil of all communities and because of its secular credentials. A pluralistic country like India will face serious consequences across th e world if it buttresses the idea of a monolithic Hinduism.

V. Ajith Kumar
Thalikkulam, Kerala

Jammu and Kashmir

I fully endorse Aijaz Ahmad's views on the Jammu and Kashmir Regional Autonomy Committee report, which seeks to divide the State into eight regions on communal lines as against the existing three - Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh ("Kashmir conundrum", August 4 ). However, I cannot accept his suggestion that "the State Autonomy Committee (SAC) report... offers the maximalist version of the secular demand for autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir as a whole". For, he has overlooked two basic aspects. One is that the SA C report has been designed to re-invest the valley's ruling class with extraordinary legislative, executive and judicial powers; facilitate and perpetuate the domination and exploitation of the people of the State; sever the State's 50-year-old politico- constitutional ties with New Delhi; and establish a dispensation that will be outside the constitutional organisation of India. The other aspect is that the report in no way represents the general will and is being imposed on the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh whose secular demands range from the State's full integration with India and the application of the Indian Constitution to it in full, to the State's trifurcation on the basis of region as opposed to religion.

The recommendations of the National Conference report on State autonomy, which have been condemned, have nothing to do with the principles of secularism or federalism. The document is a replica of the March 23, 1940 Pakistan resolution, which advocated t he country's vivisection on religious lines.

Dr. Hari Om
Professor of History
University of Jammu
Jammu