Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Irresponsible

At such a crucial time in the peace process, Rahul should not have said what he did. Let his family not take credit for any future war with Pakistan. He should apologise to the people of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and take political sanyas for some time.

V.B. Chandrasekaran,
Visakhapatnam

* * *

Only recently, Rahul humiliated Narasimha Rao by saying that had a member of the Gandhi-Nehru family been active in politics in 1992, the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished. But for Rao, the country would not have progressed economically.

Similarly, his grandmother took a drastic decision with regard to East Pakistan under extremely unbearable circumstances. It was certainly not her intention to divide Pakistan.

T.V. Narayana,
Nellore

* * *

The neglect and step-motherly treatment of Bengalis by the Pakistan Government over the years led to a revolt in East Pakistan. With the army cracking down on them, lakhs of people fled the country and landed as refugees in India. This forced India to send its forces in. It had no intention of interfering in Pakistan's affairs otherwise.

As expected, Islamabad has made capital out of Rahul's irresponsible statement. And instead of restraining him, the Congress has come out in full support of him. When will the Congress shed its dynastic mindset?

V. Hari Haran,
Chennai

* * *

The creation of Bangladesh was no doubt the Indian Army's achievement under the political leadership of Indira Gandhi but to use it to further the family's prospects is in bad taste. Rahul should read history to know that during Lal Bahadur Shastri's time, the army reached the outskirts of Lahore.

H.R. Ramesh,
Tumkur

* * *

It was a pyrrhic victory for India in the 1971 war if one considers its long-term consequences. Earlier, India had to deal with only one enemy whose eastern wing was its Achilles' heel. In 1971, it relieved the Pakistani military establishment of the onerous burden of safeguarding its east and enabled it to focus on Kashmir. We are now in an unenviable position of having to deal with independent but inimical states on both our flanks.

V. Nagarajan,
Chennai

* * *

Rahul's claim that his family created Bangladesh is an insult to the people of that country.

Bangladesh was part of a historical dialectic where genuine self-determination was facilitated by India. It is respect for the same principle that has made India desist from occupying Kashmir. To date, it is striving to achieve an understanding with Pakistan in the interests of Kashmiris.

A. Krishnamurthy,
Chennai

* * *

When India and Pakistan are trying to find new ways and areas of conciliation, Rahul's comment comes as a huge blow to the peace process. It cannot be viewed holistically and one expects the party leadership to make efforts to clear the air of the unwarranted controversy.

Tarun Sharma,
Sahibabad, U.P.

* * *

The claim that India divided Pakistan under Indira Gandhi's leadership will bring a bad name to her because she maintained that India was only stopping the refugee influx from East Pakistan and the threat to our own borders.

K.R.A. Narasiah,
Chennai

* * *

Instead of concentrating on people's issues, Rahul is using his family name to get votes. His attitude reminds us of the old raja-maharaja system.

A reference to Pakistan's dismemberment by a prominent leader of a ruling party has the potential to jeopardise India's interests.

V. Srinivasa Reddy,
Nizamabad

* * *

Of what possible relevance in a State election is Rahul Gandhi's latest boast that his family was responsible for the division of Pakistan? It is terribly insensitive. How would we (the Congress in particular) react if someone from the British royalty were to boast that his family was responsible for the Partition of India?

Sivakumar K. Narayan,
Bangalore

* * *

Rahul is a growing politician. He should take utmost care while commenting on historical events because they involve the sentiments of freedom fighters and the country as a whole.

P. Senthil Saravana Durai,
Tuticorin

* * *

When young political representatives make such statements, one wonders whether one should be happy about the youth partaking in democracy or be mortified at their lack of comprehension of sensitive issues.

How can a war ever be called an achievement? Mr. Gandhi's repeated reference to "the family" seems to be the only highlight of his campaign.

Pratima Vishnuprasad,
Kochi

* * *

If the credit for getting India freedom and dividing Pakistan should go to his family, he might as well take the blame for all the historical blunders such as creating Pakistan in the first place.

A.S. Mahadevan,
Bangalore

* * *

The entire Kashmir problem is attributable to the strategic blunder of stopping the Indian army when the Pakistan army was in retreat in the 1947 war and prematurely approaching the U.N.

Brig. V.R.P. Sarathy,
Chennai

* * *

While listing the things his family is responsible for, Rahul seems to have missed out the partition of India and the Kashmir problem.

R. Jayashree,
Tiruchi

* * *

For someone portrayed as the next generation leader, Rahul's understanding of a host of issues leaves much to be desired. He is a vote bank politician who seems unable to speak without using the words "my family."

Atul Malhotra,
New Delhi

* * *

Rahul should learn Indian history first by reading The Discovery of India by his great grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, and The Story of My Experiments with Truth by a non-familial Gandhi called the Mahatma.

P.V. Maiya,
Bangalore

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