One brave women took courage to stand up and fight
The tribute to Suzette Jordan by Harsh Iyer perhaps shows the real picture of the aftermath of a survivor of one such incident (“'I am not the Park Street rape victim. I am Suzette Jordan': remembering a survivor's harrowing ordeals”). In a nation with millions of such cases that go unnoticed and unreported, one brave woman takes the courage to stand up for her rights against this “male-dominated” system, where her character, her morality is assassinated in public. People like us keep comfort with the idea that this happened in one particular case and would not/ cannot happen to us.
The time has come when we should inculcate the practice of respecting women and bring up this environment in the family/society for other male members. The need of the hour is to bring about gender sensitisation in our society and the judiciary system, which has been male-dominated and still questions the woman. – Harveen Talwar
***
It's heart-wrenching to see how women are treated in our country. We should be ashamed of ourselves and the so-called 'Indian culture' that we extol. – Divya
***
I am horrified every time I read about how victims of rape and/or other abuse are treated by the society and the judicial system in India. It is truly abhorrent. I wish Suzette Jordan's story did not have to end in this manner.
That said, I write to insist that the practice of maintaining the confidentiality of rape victim's names and identities is a good one, and one that deserves to be upheld, because it is based on the knowledge that without it, many more assaults would go unreported, exactly because society tends to behave in the manner that Jordan unfortunately experienced. Therefore, when members of the media decide to loudly applaud victims who decide to disclose their identity, there exists a serious risk that the victims who do not wish for society to know their names and other details, will be seen as having brought it upon themselves. If we start to believe (due to all the glorifying attention in the media) that disclosing identity is an indication of being blameless, then those who don't automatically come to be seen as having done something wrong, especially in a society that is happy to jump to such conclusions. – Mukti Khaire
***
It is sad and sickening that day in and day out we get to read only rape stories with no solution whatsoever. We are yet to hear time-bound justice being delivered, the best example being the Nirbhaya case. Even with lakhs of people protesting on the streets, the Supreme Court has not felt the need to hand over its verdict on the judgement passed by the lower courts, and the accused are living happily inside the comforts of the jail. They don’t have to worry about earning their meals, and they are not out in the open for people to judge them, as we do to victims like Suzette Jordan. The other sad part is people like Mamta Banerjee and the female judge in the court not being a wee bit sympathetic to a victim of their own ilk. – Sampath
Café Samovar has been central to Mumbai’s cultural life
I’m very, very sad about Café Samovar closing down (“Mumbai's iconic Café Samovar was an island of calm in a frenzied city”). The ambience, menu and prices reflected the integrity and comradeship of the Khannas. I was a frequent visitor in the '70s and '80s, and received a lot of affection, good food, great companionship and mazaa from Samovar. A big thank you to Mrs Delima and my wonderful comrades the Khannas. – Subhashini Ali
***
Café Samovar will be sorely missed. For years, it has been central to cultural and intellectual life in Mumbai. – Jim Masselos
***
I do not know much about Café Samovar, I have never been there. But I can still see Chhoti Si Baat and Amol Palekar calling up Vidya Sinha to fix a lunch date. It was so romantic. I can only imagine how beautiful this place might be. – Susovan Lahiri
Everybody forgot Rohit Sharma’s double centuries
While everybody was busy cracking jokes on Rohit Sharma, no one realised that he is the only player to score two double centuries in one day international cricket, including one against Australia (“'In Rohit we trust, after every 10 matches': Twitter roasts Rohit Sharma even after his brilliant knock”). – Mubeen Ismail
Shantaram was a poorly written novel
What Chandrima Pal fails to mention is her piece about Shantaram's sequel is just how poorly written the original is (“Ten years later, Shantaram is back in a new novel”). The purple prose is atrocious and you can find howlers on almost every page. Give me a copy of Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games any day as an intro to the ‘real’ Mumbai, not this piece of self-promotional dreck. – Bethany Milton
Rapists’ lawyers have made a mockery of their profession
Being a law student, I agree about your point on the India’s Daughter documentary (“India's Daughter must be telecast: it forces us to admit that anti-women attitudes are ubiquitous”). Until the patriarchal mindset changes, no law can ever work here. It’s inherent in Indian males to think that a woman is supposed to behave a certain way and that her rights are limited.
From my own experience, a good friend once said, “Arre ab aur kya chaiye? De diya 33% reserveration.” My response was that we need to respect women. Half the people in India are not aware about the laws just because the legislature implements the law and it should be the duty of legislature to make people aware of them.
After watching the documentary, I felt ashamed of the lawyers of the rapists. They have made a mockery of this profession. – Roopal Gupta
Taj Mahal article reads very PN Oak-ish
The Taj Mahal article reads very PN Oakish (“The Taj Mahal is an ode to eternal romance. Or is it?”). – Atiya Zaidi
***
A valuable article, this. – Ravi
Need to help rape victims help themselves
Can't we organise into one banner and help women who have been raped to help themselves? (“Suzette Jordan showed that India isn't ready for rape survivors who deny their victimhood”). – Rucha Gokhale
Shame controversial media houses
This story about problems plaguing the media is very disturbing (“Five ethical problems that plague Indian journalism”). All of us get up in the morning wanting to know what happened and also read and hear those who interpret the information. That those in positions who enjoy such blind trust, routinely filter information or slant/misinterpret news, strikes at the very heart of not just journalism, but is effectively a subversion of the constitutional right of free speech.
Because it's not under the garb of the constitutional protection given to free speech, media houses stifle and pervert free speech. Every Sunday, the Times of India puts out a cloying colourful rag called Property Times, in which an occasional five lines of gentle criticism are buried in reams of fawning articles whose sole purpose is to keep home buyers from knowing that they are being taken for a ride.
More than two decades ago, I learnt that columns in some papers in Thane were openly sold at Rs. 165/col cm. The rate may have multiplied but I am sure the system is the same.
The only cure is shaming and wide publicity through the internet. – R Seshan
***
You are part of the rot. There is a high court judgement indicting NDTV for huge money laundering. – Bindu Tandon
Author did not speak to anyone from Jamia Millia
I have a problem with your article on sanitary pads (“Why are sanitary pads with little notes stuck on trees and walls of Delhi colleges?”). My problem is that the author never spoke to anyone from Jamia Millia and wrote as if he had. That is not acceptable. You do not know our views and how we want them conveyed. – Mejazul Haque
Thanks to Discworld, I learnt to accept people who were different from me
Ever since I discovered Discworld in 1989 at the British Library in Delhi, hardly a day has passed that I didn’t explore some part or the other of it. It was a like a walk in the evening to meet old friends and see familiar sights. For a small town boy with a chip on his shoulder, these daily visits proved transformative. I learnt to question my beliefs, to laugh at myself and accept people who looked, sounded or thought different from me. The greatest sin, I learnt, was to treat people as things. Thank you Sir Terry. I only wish, the sand would flow upwards in your hourglass (“Farewell Terry Pratchett: a psychological analysis of Discworld”). – Satrajit Bhattacharya
Can’t absolve barbaric act by moving responsibility to external force
I am a regular reader of Scroll’s news articles. I admire the mostly balanced and usually well-written pieces by your correspondents and contributors. I say 'mostly' because at times your bias shows up in what appears to me to be disingenuous ways.
I refer here to the piece about Dimapur and AFSPA (“A culture of impunity: the story of Dimapur lynching started with AFSPA”). While it's evident that the 'special correspondent' seeks to highlight the ills of AFSPA, the article is blatantly skewed towards a political belief that it seeks almost to beat into the readers' heads in its repetitiveness. I get it: AFSPA is wrong. I am against it too. But to absolve the barbaric acts of a group of people by moving the responsibility away from them and towards an external influence, no matter how brutal that influence has been, is egregious. No matter how heinous the acts of institutions, responsibility of action must be accorded to participating individuals—whether soldiers or civilians; bureaucrats and politicians or ordinary citizens. The Dimapur lynching must be pinned on the perpetrators, not the 'occupiers'. I hope this is an anomaly in an otherwise remarkable news service. – Uday Benegal
Thank you for Baha’i article
Thank you for an interesting and informative article about a Baha'i student from Iran (“Iran's loss is the world's gain: The tale of my persecuted Bahà’i roommate”). I can already see the story getting several shares on Facebook. I am so grateful for the continuing coverage of the faith in this manner. – Valerie Smith
Nobody has moral authority to say someone is not Muslim
Nobody has the moral and religious authority to say that someone is not a Muslim. It is the typical "Khawarij" thinking mad men, responsible for ISIS fanatics. Even the most ancient, highly respected scholars had drastically different views on subjects that appear to be at variance with the Quran and Hadith. Even Ibn Khalidun has been questioned.
There is nothing much wrong with Zakir Naik. A lot of condemnation comes from ignorance, bias, vested interests within and outside the community (“Why a Saudi award for televangelist Zakir Naik is bad news for India’s Muslims”). – Naiyer Razzaqui
***
I salute your courage and clarity of thoughts on the subject. Your explanation of the message behind the award for Zakir Naik has a long-lasting impact on a reformist Muslim like me. I hope more and more open-minded Muslims read and get enlightened. – Haji Bux
Sad that you link Supreme Court’s effort to Modi
It is sad that even the noble actions of the Supreme Court have been viewed by the author as being influenced from religious backings (“Is the Supreme Court so concerned about cleaning up the Ganga because the Hindus consider it holy?”). It is sad that instead of appreciating the efforts of the Supreme Court, you have resorted to link this to Modi/ Hindus.
Let me draw your attention to the first line of your own article which states that around Rs. 2,000 crore has been spent so far in cleaning the Ganga. The judiciary has been poking the Centre time and again for cleaning the Ganga effectively because the Centre has already spent/ allocated this amount of tax payers’ money for the same. The court never said allocate another Rs. 2,000 crore, nor did it restrain any state government to not clean any river that is polluted. The point is about making the executive answerable to the citizens about the money set aside for this project. There is a concept of judicial check in our legal system whereby I believe we are lucky to have an apex court to coax the government (Centre or state) to discharge its functions effectively.
It’s sad that instead of viewing the pro-activeness of the Supreme Court in taking such steps, you're mulling over your narrow understanding of the issue based on religion and region. – Meghna Chandra
Entertaining!
Good and entertaining (“Tom Alter’s 10 favourite Hindi film songs, from the top of his head and the bottom of his heart”). – Pushplata Shali
Story marred by sly remarks
I've been a Scroll reader for a few months now. I thank you for the good and diverse collection of articles. I feel Vaasanthi's well-written article about the Thaali is marred by three sly (or, at least contemptuous) remarks (“Thaali power: Why the golden Tamil wedding thread drives men to bomb TV offices”).
“… the first “self-respect movement” led by a radical EV Ramasamay Naicker in the 1920s…”
1. EVR is better known in Tamil Nadu as "Periyar", meaning "a great person". (Personally, I don't like using adjectives like periyar, mahatma, etc.)
2. He fought against caste and casteism, as the author herself states. This being the case, I wonder why the author had to append his name of his caste. It was completely unnecessary.
“… The story of Kannaki, which is championed by Tamil chauvinists and Dravidian politicians as the symbol of Tamil culture and womanhood…”
3. The author doesn't seem to want to mention that this story is part of the great Tamil epic, Silappathikaram. She seems to know only about "Tamil chauvinists" and "Dravidian politicians!" – T Ramakrishnan
***
First of all, great scoop. However, I would also want highlight a few facts:
1. The mangalsutra is worn by almost all Hindu women. There would have been protests if the subject was raised in any state.
2. The mangalsutra is worn by married women. It is not worn by widows/divorced women.
3. The mangalsutra signifies marriage for a lady. This is similar to the act of including three threads to the sacred thread (a practice followed by Brahmins).
Also, since you have championed the cause of Hindu women, can it be expected that the same sort of championing would be done for Muslim women as well? Their problems are:
1. Muslim women are made to wear burqas (sometimes against their will).
2. Sharia law does not allow for equal rights to women.
3. Sharia states that a lady who is raped needs to be killed.
4. Muslim law allows for minors to be married.
I would understand if you guys chicken out since the ‘sickulars’ are always looking for a chance to pounce on Hindus but run for cover if anything goes against the so-called minorities. – Shishir D Nath
Thank you for the article on Terry Pratchett
I’d like to thank Monidipa Mondal for the excellent article on Sir Terry Pratchett (“Five things you can do to remember Terry Pratchett”). Warm, thoughtful, concise and articulate, evincing emotion without mawkishness. I appreciated your gift. – Linda Stoutenburg Kirkland
Well-deserved award for Supriya Sharma
Congratulations! A well-deserved award for Supriya Sharma (“Scroll.in's Supriya Sharma wins prestigious Chameli Devi Jain award”). My husband and I have become a great fan of Scroll.in because of Sharma. May the good work continue and more laurels come her way. I also take this opportunity to appreciate the quality of articles posted in Scroll. I see a lot of research going into many of the articles. Your feature of introducing many new novels and novelists is also very appreciable.
Keep up the quality and honesty in presenting the stories. – Indira Sampath Iyengar
Scroll just earned itself a fan
The article about Cape Town's pass system was truly brilliant (“South African apartheid museum offers free passes to town with racist work permits”). I am woah-ed out at what is happening in this day and age!
I would love to hear more about South Africa. That country has fascinated me for years for its ostensible similarity to India. That news bit clinched it for me; as of today I subscribe to Scroll.in straight to my inbox. You just earned yourself a fan. – Kartik Das
Action should be based on economic status, not caste
Though I don’t believe in affirmative action, if we are to have it, why can’t we have it based on economic status rather than caste? How does it make sense to have a seat reserved for a rich person from a ‘backward caste’ while not having one for a poor person from a ‘forward caste’? (“The one paragraph from the Supreme Court's Jat quota judgment that slams competitive backwardness”).
Looking at it from a more cynical perspective, wouldn’t it benefit any political party in number of votes if they were to promise reservation for all people who come from families who earn under a particular amount rather than for entire community? I’m sure there are more poor people in the country than there are Jats or Gujars or whatever else combined. – Utkarsh Dalal
Started reading news after 20 yrs thanks to Scroll
Thank you so much, Scroll. After 20 years, I again started reading news again. You guys are great. If you can change the television news coverage and presentation too, then India would soon again become the 'sone ki chidiya’ that it was. – Pradeep Puthran
What political party are you linked to?
It is with a sense of bemusement that I glanced your headlines that appeared on my Facebook newsfeed. Having read quite a few of your articles, I was forced to question my presumption that you are in the news media space. My question for you is, like Saamna or Organiser, are you also linked to any political party? Or are you committed to your own brand of ideology?
If so, your viewers should be aware of the ideological filter your articles pass through before it reaches them. If not, then kindly provide me with a link to articles that highlight the achievements of the current BJP government and the many wonderful nuances of the multifaceted Hindu culture. If there are no such articles on your site, I hope that gives you time to pause and question your assumption that the current BJP government can do no good and that the practices of Hindu culture is 'wrong' or at any rate, not worth taking up bytes on your site. As an individual I am committed to learning, not partisanship.
Here's to a vision of less propaganda and more truth seeking, free and equal information for all, and a media free of egregious bias. – Nikhil Sohonie
Hope police deny permission for cricket matches too
I hope the Mumbai police or for that matter, the police in every city in India, will deny permission to host cricket matches since no Indian cricket venue has parking for more than a couple of hundred vehicles, as against spectators numbering in the tens of thousands (“Behind the Seinfeld cancellation, an alleged ego clash between CM Fadnavis and Mumbai police chief”). – PB Appiah
Lest we forget
In the future, we must all remember the sexist comments made by politicians who come to us with a smile on their faces to beseech us for our valuable vote (“Seven ridiculous statements which prove that India's political class is sexist to the core”).
But what is even more frightening is that the next politician that we elect may be far worse than the first. We are caught up in a 'catch 22' situation where the people of our country are 'damned if we do and damned if we don't’. – DJ Mody
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
The tribute to Suzette Jordan by Harsh Iyer perhaps shows the real picture of the aftermath of a survivor of one such incident (“'I am not the Park Street rape victim. I am Suzette Jordan': remembering a survivor's harrowing ordeals”). In a nation with millions of such cases that go unnoticed and unreported, one brave woman takes the courage to stand up for her rights against this “male-dominated” system, where her character, her morality is assassinated in public. People like us keep comfort with the idea that this happened in one particular case and would not/ cannot happen to us.
The time has come when we should inculcate the practice of respecting women and bring up this environment in the family/society for other male members. The need of the hour is to bring about gender sensitisation in our society and the judiciary system, which has been male-dominated and still questions the woman. – Harveen Talwar
***
It's heart-wrenching to see how women are treated in our country. We should be ashamed of ourselves and the so-called 'Indian culture' that we extol. – Divya
***
I am horrified every time I read about how victims of rape and/or other abuse are treated by the society and the judicial system in India. It is truly abhorrent. I wish Suzette Jordan's story did not have to end in this manner.
That said, I write to insist that the practice of maintaining the confidentiality of rape victim's names and identities is a good one, and one that deserves to be upheld, because it is based on the knowledge that without it, many more assaults would go unreported, exactly because society tends to behave in the manner that Jordan unfortunately experienced. Therefore, when members of the media decide to loudly applaud victims who decide to disclose their identity, there exists a serious risk that the victims who do not wish for society to know their names and other details, will be seen as having brought it upon themselves. If we start to believe (due to all the glorifying attention in the media) that disclosing identity is an indication of being blameless, then those who don't automatically come to be seen as having done something wrong, especially in a society that is happy to jump to such conclusions. – Mukti Khaire
***
It is sad and sickening that day in and day out we get to read only rape stories with no solution whatsoever. We are yet to hear time-bound justice being delivered, the best example being the Nirbhaya case. Even with lakhs of people protesting on the streets, the Supreme Court has not felt the need to hand over its verdict on the judgement passed by the lower courts, and the accused are living happily inside the comforts of the jail. They don’t have to worry about earning their meals, and they are not out in the open for people to judge them, as we do to victims like Suzette Jordan. The other sad part is people like Mamta Banerjee and the female judge in the court not being a wee bit sympathetic to a victim of their own ilk. – Sampath
Café Samovar has been central to Mumbai’s cultural life
I’m very, very sad about Café Samovar closing down (“Mumbai's iconic Café Samovar was an island of calm in a frenzied city”). The ambience, menu and prices reflected the integrity and comradeship of the Khannas. I was a frequent visitor in the '70s and '80s, and received a lot of affection, good food, great companionship and mazaa from Samovar. A big thank you to Mrs Delima and my wonderful comrades the Khannas. – Subhashini Ali
***
Café Samovar will be sorely missed. For years, it has been central to cultural and intellectual life in Mumbai. – Jim Masselos
***
I do not know much about Café Samovar, I have never been there. But I can still see Chhoti Si Baat and Amol Palekar calling up Vidya Sinha to fix a lunch date. It was so romantic. I can only imagine how beautiful this place might be. – Susovan Lahiri
Everybody forgot Rohit Sharma’s double centuries
While everybody was busy cracking jokes on Rohit Sharma, no one realised that he is the only player to score two double centuries in one day international cricket, including one against Australia (“'In Rohit we trust, after every 10 matches': Twitter roasts Rohit Sharma even after his brilliant knock”). – Mubeen Ismail
Shantaram was a poorly written novel
What Chandrima Pal fails to mention is her piece about Shantaram's sequel is just how poorly written the original is (“Ten years later, Shantaram is back in a new novel”). The purple prose is atrocious and you can find howlers on almost every page. Give me a copy of Vikram Chandra's Sacred Games any day as an intro to the ‘real’ Mumbai, not this piece of self-promotional dreck. – Bethany Milton
Rapists’ lawyers have made a mockery of their profession
Being a law student, I agree about your point on the India’s Daughter documentary (“India's Daughter must be telecast: it forces us to admit that anti-women attitudes are ubiquitous”). Until the patriarchal mindset changes, no law can ever work here. It’s inherent in Indian males to think that a woman is supposed to behave a certain way and that her rights are limited.
From my own experience, a good friend once said, “Arre ab aur kya chaiye? De diya 33% reserveration.” My response was that we need to respect women. Half the people in India are not aware about the laws just because the legislature implements the law and it should be the duty of legislature to make people aware of them.
After watching the documentary, I felt ashamed of the lawyers of the rapists. They have made a mockery of this profession. – Roopal Gupta
Taj Mahal article reads very PN Oak-ish
The Taj Mahal article reads very PN Oakish (“The Taj Mahal is an ode to eternal romance. Or is it?”). – Atiya Zaidi
***
A valuable article, this. – Ravi
Need to help rape victims help themselves
Can't we organise into one banner and help women who have been raped to help themselves? (“Suzette Jordan showed that India isn't ready for rape survivors who deny their victimhood”). – Rucha Gokhale
Shame controversial media houses
This story about problems plaguing the media is very disturbing (“Five ethical problems that plague Indian journalism”). All of us get up in the morning wanting to know what happened and also read and hear those who interpret the information. That those in positions who enjoy such blind trust, routinely filter information or slant/misinterpret news, strikes at the very heart of not just journalism, but is effectively a subversion of the constitutional right of free speech.
Because it's not under the garb of the constitutional protection given to free speech, media houses stifle and pervert free speech. Every Sunday, the Times of India puts out a cloying colourful rag called Property Times, in which an occasional five lines of gentle criticism are buried in reams of fawning articles whose sole purpose is to keep home buyers from knowing that they are being taken for a ride.
More than two decades ago, I learnt that columns in some papers in Thane were openly sold at Rs. 165/col cm. The rate may have multiplied but I am sure the system is the same.
The only cure is shaming and wide publicity through the internet. – R Seshan
***
You are part of the rot. There is a high court judgement indicting NDTV for huge money laundering. – Bindu Tandon
Author did not speak to anyone from Jamia Millia
I have a problem with your article on sanitary pads (“Why are sanitary pads with little notes stuck on trees and walls of Delhi colleges?”). My problem is that the author never spoke to anyone from Jamia Millia and wrote as if he had. That is not acceptable. You do not know our views and how we want them conveyed. – Mejazul Haque
Thanks to Discworld, I learnt to accept people who were different from me
Ever since I discovered Discworld in 1989 at the British Library in Delhi, hardly a day has passed that I didn’t explore some part or the other of it. It was a like a walk in the evening to meet old friends and see familiar sights. For a small town boy with a chip on his shoulder, these daily visits proved transformative. I learnt to question my beliefs, to laugh at myself and accept people who looked, sounded or thought different from me. The greatest sin, I learnt, was to treat people as things. Thank you Sir Terry. I only wish, the sand would flow upwards in your hourglass (“Farewell Terry Pratchett: a psychological analysis of Discworld”). – Satrajit Bhattacharya
Can’t absolve barbaric act by moving responsibility to external force
I am a regular reader of Scroll’s news articles. I admire the mostly balanced and usually well-written pieces by your correspondents and contributors. I say 'mostly' because at times your bias shows up in what appears to me to be disingenuous ways.
I refer here to the piece about Dimapur and AFSPA (“A culture of impunity: the story of Dimapur lynching started with AFSPA”). While it's evident that the 'special correspondent' seeks to highlight the ills of AFSPA, the article is blatantly skewed towards a political belief that it seeks almost to beat into the readers' heads in its repetitiveness. I get it: AFSPA is wrong. I am against it too. But to absolve the barbaric acts of a group of people by moving the responsibility away from them and towards an external influence, no matter how brutal that influence has been, is egregious. No matter how heinous the acts of institutions, responsibility of action must be accorded to participating individuals—whether soldiers or civilians; bureaucrats and politicians or ordinary citizens. The Dimapur lynching must be pinned on the perpetrators, not the 'occupiers'. I hope this is an anomaly in an otherwise remarkable news service. – Uday Benegal
Thank you for Baha’i article
Thank you for an interesting and informative article about a Baha'i student from Iran (“Iran's loss is the world's gain: The tale of my persecuted Bahà’i roommate”). I can already see the story getting several shares on Facebook. I am so grateful for the continuing coverage of the faith in this manner. – Valerie Smith
Nobody has moral authority to say someone is not Muslim
Nobody has the moral and religious authority to say that someone is not a Muslim. It is the typical "Khawarij" thinking mad men, responsible for ISIS fanatics. Even the most ancient, highly respected scholars had drastically different views on subjects that appear to be at variance with the Quran and Hadith. Even Ibn Khalidun has been questioned.
There is nothing much wrong with Zakir Naik. A lot of condemnation comes from ignorance, bias, vested interests within and outside the community (“Why a Saudi award for televangelist Zakir Naik is bad news for India’s Muslims”). – Naiyer Razzaqui
***
I salute your courage and clarity of thoughts on the subject. Your explanation of the message behind the award for Zakir Naik has a long-lasting impact on a reformist Muslim like me. I hope more and more open-minded Muslims read and get enlightened. – Haji Bux
Sad that you link Supreme Court’s effort to Modi
It is sad that even the noble actions of the Supreme Court have been viewed by the author as being influenced from religious backings (“Is the Supreme Court so concerned about cleaning up the Ganga because the Hindus consider it holy?”). It is sad that instead of appreciating the efforts of the Supreme Court, you have resorted to link this to Modi/ Hindus.
Let me draw your attention to the first line of your own article which states that around Rs. 2,000 crore has been spent so far in cleaning the Ganga. The judiciary has been poking the Centre time and again for cleaning the Ganga effectively because the Centre has already spent/ allocated this amount of tax payers’ money for the same. The court never said allocate another Rs. 2,000 crore, nor did it restrain any state government to not clean any river that is polluted. The point is about making the executive answerable to the citizens about the money set aside for this project. There is a concept of judicial check in our legal system whereby I believe we are lucky to have an apex court to coax the government (Centre or state) to discharge its functions effectively.
It’s sad that instead of viewing the pro-activeness of the Supreme Court in taking such steps, you're mulling over your narrow understanding of the issue based on religion and region. – Meghna Chandra
Entertaining!
Good and entertaining (“Tom Alter’s 10 favourite Hindi film songs, from the top of his head and the bottom of his heart”). – Pushplata Shali
Story marred by sly remarks
I've been a Scroll reader for a few months now. I thank you for the good and diverse collection of articles. I feel Vaasanthi's well-written article about the Thaali is marred by three sly (or, at least contemptuous) remarks (“Thaali power: Why the golden Tamil wedding thread drives men to bomb TV offices”).
“… the first “self-respect movement” led by a radical EV Ramasamay Naicker in the 1920s…”
1. EVR is better known in Tamil Nadu as "Periyar", meaning "a great person". (Personally, I don't like using adjectives like periyar, mahatma, etc.)
2. He fought against caste and casteism, as the author herself states. This being the case, I wonder why the author had to append his name of his caste. It was completely unnecessary.
“… The story of Kannaki, which is championed by Tamil chauvinists and Dravidian politicians as the symbol of Tamil culture and womanhood…”
3. The author doesn't seem to want to mention that this story is part of the great Tamil epic, Silappathikaram. She seems to know only about "Tamil chauvinists" and "Dravidian politicians!" – T Ramakrishnan
***
First of all, great scoop. However, I would also want highlight a few facts:
1. The mangalsutra is worn by almost all Hindu women. There would have been protests if the subject was raised in any state.
2. The mangalsutra is worn by married women. It is not worn by widows/divorced women.
3. The mangalsutra signifies marriage for a lady. This is similar to the act of including three threads to the sacred thread (a practice followed by Brahmins).
Also, since you have championed the cause of Hindu women, can it be expected that the same sort of championing would be done for Muslim women as well? Their problems are:
1. Muslim women are made to wear burqas (sometimes against their will).
2. Sharia law does not allow for equal rights to women.
3. Sharia states that a lady who is raped needs to be killed.
4. Muslim law allows for minors to be married.
I would understand if you guys chicken out since the ‘sickulars’ are always looking for a chance to pounce on Hindus but run for cover if anything goes against the so-called minorities. – Shishir D Nath
Thank you for the article on Terry Pratchett
I’d like to thank Monidipa Mondal for the excellent article on Sir Terry Pratchett (“Five things you can do to remember Terry Pratchett”). Warm, thoughtful, concise and articulate, evincing emotion without mawkishness. I appreciated your gift. – Linda Stoutenburg Kirkland
Well-deserved award for Supriya Sharma
Congratulations! A well-deserved award for Supriya Sharma (“Scroll.in's Supriya Sharma wins prestigious Chameli Devi Jain award”). My husband and I have become a great fan of Scroll.in because of Sharma. May the good work continue and more laurels come her way. I also take this opportunity to appreciate the quality of articles posted in Scroll. I see a lot of research going into many of the articles. Your feature of introducing many new novels and novelists is also very appreciable.
Keep up the quality and honesty in presenting the stories. – Indira Sampath Iyengar
Scroll just earned itself a fan
The article about Cape Town's pass system was truly brilliant (“South African apartheid museum offers free passes to town with racist work permits”). I am woah-ed out at what is happening in this day and age!
I would love to hear more about South Africa. That country has fascinated me for years for its ostensible similarity to India. That news bit clinched it for me; as of today I subscribe to Scroll.in straight to my inbox. You just earned yourself a fan. – Kartik Das
Action should be based on economic status, not caste
Though I don’t believe in affirmative action, if we are to have it, why can’t we have it based on economic status rather than caste? How does it make sense to have a seat reserved for a rich person from a ‘backward caste’ while not having one for a poor person from a ‘forward caste’? (“The one paragraph from the Supreme Court's Jat quota judgment that slams competitive backwardness”).
Looking at it from a more cynical perspective, wouldn’t it benefit any political party in number of votes if they were to promise reservation for all people who come from families who earn under a particular amount rather than for entire community? I’m sure there are more poor people in the country than there are Jats or Gujars or whatever else combined. – Utkarsh Dalal
Started reading news after 20 yrs thanks to Scroll
Thank you so much, Scroll. After 20 years, I again started reading news again. You guys are great. If you can change the television news coverage and presentation too, then India would soon again become the 'sone ki chidiya’ that it was. – Pradeep Puthran
What political party are you linked to?
It is with a sense of bemusement that I glanced your headlines that appeared on my Facebook newsfeed. Having read quite a few of your articles, I was forced to question my presumption that you are in the news media space. My question for you is, like Saamna or Organiser, are you also linked to any political party? Or are you committed to your own brand of ideology?
If so, your viewers should be aware of the ideological filter your articles pass through before it reaches them. If not, then kindly provide me with a link to articles that highlight the achievements of the current BJP government and the many wonderful nuances of the multifaceted Hindu culture. If there are no such articles on your site, I hope that gives you time to pause and question your assumption that the current BJP government can do no good and that the practices of Hindu culture is 'wrong' or at any rate, not worth taking up bytes on your site. As an individual I am committed to learning, not partisanship.
Here's to a vision of less propaganda and more truth seeking, free and equal information for all, and a media free of egregious bias. – Nikhil Sohonie
Hope police deny permission for cricket matches too
I hope the Mumbai police or for that matter, the police in every city in India, will deny permission to host cricket matches since no Indian cricket venue has parking for more than a couple of hundred vehicles, as against spectators numbering in the tens of thousands (“Behind the Seinfeld cancellation, an alleged ego clash between CM Fadnavis and Mumbai police chief”). – PB Appiah
Lest we forget
In the future, we must all remember the sexist comments made by politicians who come to us with a smile on their faces to beseech us for our valuable vote (“Seven ridiculous statements which prove that India's political class is sexist to the core”).
But what is even more frightening is that the next politician that we elect may be far worse than the first. We are caught up in a 'catch 22' situation where the people of our country are 'damned if we do and damned if we don't’. – DJ Mody