Thursday, January 22, 2009

a few questions for Vinodji (& his friends)

A great deal of thought, restraint & re-wording has gone into this post (& it's title).
After a lot of reading him, one part of my brain says that he means no malintent, that he's just differently motivated. Another part of me has come to the (possibly premature) conclusion that the gentleman in question has questionable motives. I guess I'll just leave that to be answered by him.


Vinodji, I am aware that criticism is not nice (& I am therefore making an attempt to not criticize but attempt a criticism of your writing). I have also always been aware that your stance may just be the mirror image of mine, and in all probability I could be reading you wrong. If this is indeed the case, bachcha samajh ke maaf kar deejiyega. I only want some questions answered & iron out certain inconsistencies. I maintain that you serve as unique a purpose in the political world & in the Universe as I presume to.

Prarambh...

Positives first:

1. Vinodji, you argue against the caste system, against a situation where one's
station in life was determined solely on that basis
It would follow that you wouldn't hold anyone's birth against them, but in another comment you go on to do just that! Stung by Sagarone's bringing up the loss of life & suffering endured by certain people, you half-chiding him say:
Sagarone,
please let us not talk of the suffering of the 'royals' in pursuit of power.
Others have suffered much more. Besides, the country has suffered probably even
more due to the many Himalayan blunders they have made. Their offspring have a
right to rule?
That's very inconsistent: Holding someone's birth against them?

2. Vinodji, your posts frequently celebrate a selective view of India & a select band of Indians. And lament certain issues that the country faces. Self admittedly you write about issues that energise you sufficiently. As a blogger you have the right to choose what you want to address through your posts.

Surprisingly, when your stance is challenged, your response is at complete variance from the energised or polite Vinod we know. When I challenged your attempt to cover-up Gandhiji's assassination by hindutva groups, you completely avoided coming back with an answer. Fair enough; maybe it didn't energise you sufficiently.

But that is precisely my point! Covering up Gandhiji's assassination & the sinister forces behind it, energises you sufficiently, but not coming back with an explanation as to what you meant by putting it like that???

And for those who may want to suggest that you chose not to get into a spat, they may want to ask you why you deleted a comment of yours where you referred to me as being in possession of a jehadi mentality. Very polite I'm sure.

That's inconsitency # 2.

Now for the opportunity areas:

3. Vinodji... your friends like Amit here are in a different league altogether. I may call you differently motivated, but I will never question your intellect. I may question where you choose to use it, but I won't deny it's existence. At least you know what you're talking about when you utter the word *elected*! Commenters called Amit are one of a kind it would seem!!! ;-)
Amit questions my respect for a Western education when he's already answered his own question by his erroneous reading of my nickname. A Western education & dictionary.com were meant for people like you Amit. Here's a comment that's still awaiting your response.
And another gem from mayawati awaits your response (point # 2) here.
Do you have it in you to answer these points? I didn't think so...

That's inconsistency # 3: Running down fellow Indians solely because they're scions, while lamenting the lack of respect to other fellow Indians. Inconsistency or Double Standards? Or just plain Stupidity?

4. An apparent anti-Congress fixation (point 5 here) makes you do some bizzare things Vinodji. Such as constantly railing against the likes of Rahul Gandhi for his belonging to a certain dynasty, for no fault of his except birth (see point 1 above).
So while you will alternate between mocking Omar's candidature and referring to him as the best of the lot (inconstency again?), you will never utter a kind word about Rahul. Maybe I am reading this fixation incompletely... It's probably an anti-Congress fixation with anti-Nehru-Gandhi-Mania.

Can you, Vinodji, not see that scions like Vasundhara Raje & Varun Gandhi were given tickets by your beloved bjp? Can you not bring that up in an attempt to appear fair?
Does that not energise you enough?

5. Should your being a blatant apologist for modi1, 2 tell me a little more about you? Maybe your attempted cover-up of hindutva's involvement in the cowardly killing of The Father of The Nation should tell me more...?

Your comment here gives me faith Vinodji that I am reading you wrong. That you don't have any malintent. But then your preceding comments & posts & the points I raised in # 6 above cause much damage to that faith, and need to be addressed.
I'm totally with you that no man should be indicted purely on the basis of reports & reporting. We have a judicial system & that must find someone guilty before we pronounce them guilty!
I don't want an apology. I don't want his ouster. I want you to answer these questions:
  • Why is the Justice process getting delayed for the 2002 gujarat riots case?
  • Why haven't the real perpetrators not being brought to book yet?
  • Why does the man ("with the blistering pace" as you so fondly put it) not do enough to speed up Justice? Why does he not quickly restore my faith in my country???
  • Why does he not ACT, so that Indians of any community can feel safe visiting a state in our own country???
Do you have answers Vinodji?
_____________________
PS: You may want to pay attention to the fact what I've pointed out here... Was the 2007 guj. assembly election closer than we think?

7 comments:

  1. This post 1conoclast is a reflection of how eloquently you can put your point across...
    With respect and with carefully studied reasoning....
    With due credit to the 'opposing ' view point and at the same time a pointing out of their 'inconsistencies' with tact.....
    One which does not put the 'other' on a pedestal nor does it pull the 'other' right down to the ground...
    Just a simple viewing of the other as a human being ..warts and all..:)
    Your name is beautiful ICONOCLAST or rather 1conoclast ...:)
    That is,one who destroys dogmas,religious symbols,superstitions too if we want to redefine the word..:)

    So it should be about action rather than reaction right?
    you have so many ideas...share them all
    we all are waiting eagerly..
    Ideas not originating from reaction but action..:)

    Make this blog a brand of its own...
    Coz you can..:)
    Best wishes
    Indyeah:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Indyeah,

    Thanks. I had help writing it.

    Your words mean a lot as I was very worried at it coming across badly. My intention wasn't/isn't to hurt Vinodji, so I'm hoping that he takes it in that spirit. If he visits at all that is!

    And THANKS for getting the nickname right! And why can't we redefine it? That's what we seek to do, right?

    Thanks again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1con, we need bloggers like you to show us the other side of the coin. Show us an alternate viewpoint which you so logically put forth. And btw, my original post to which Vinod responded and which you have reproduced here was in sarcasm, perhaps you and Vinod both missed that!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Chief.

    Trust me, the sarcasm wasn't lost on me. I read that thread so many times that I was bound to get it!!! :-D

    I was disappointed that even you were joining in the taliban-style unequivocal condemnation, for being of certain birth. Although you chose the sarcasm route, but I'd have liked to hear one voice stand up & ask, "Why are you continuously taking below the belt potshots at them?".
    Was just very disappointed at that not happening...

    ReplyDelete
  5. The questions at the end gave me goosebumps.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your post sounds more like an invitation to a personal brawl instead of a debate...

    I agree with Sagarone when he says,"Show us an alternate viewpoint which you so logically put forth."

    ReplyDelete
  7. IHM,

    Seeing an open, festering sore does make human beings feel that way...
    ____

    Bones,

    :-)

    I saw your comment on Vinod's site. And I saw his (inconsistent again!) response! :-D

    He claims not to have time to respond/get into a brawl, but he has the time to delete each & every comment of mine assiduously???
    LOL! :-D

    Just convinces me all the more that I was right!!!

    AS for what Sagarone said, I think he was appreciating the alternate viewpoint that I logically put forth. Wasn't he...?

    ReplyDelete

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