The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : National anthem

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 21, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

National anthem

This refers to the article "A Hindu wrote Pakistan's first national anthem" (June 19). It has indeed made everyone turn back the pages of history.

V. Bhimeswara Rao,
Nidadavole, A.P.

* * *

With the revelation that Pakistan's first national anthem was authored by a Hindu, and given that the national anthems of India and Bangladesh were written by Rabindranath Tagore, there is little reason for the estranged brothers of the subcontinent to live in mutual suspicion and hostility. They share a common culture, history, and language.

Ismayil Ibrahim Liyakath,
Tirunelveli, T.N.

* * *

Churchill called Gandhi `a half naked fakir' and was against giving freedom to India. Yet we hail him as a great leader.

Why then can Jinnah, who created an Islamic Pakistan but had a vision of a secular state, not be accepted as a tall and secular leader?

S. Gokul,
Chennai

* * *

It does not matter whether Jinnah was secular in his private life. The fact remains that he demanded a separate nation based on religion and got it through hate and violence. Frankly, we as a nation have more pressing things to worry and debate about.

Varun Venkateswaran,
Inkster, Michigan

* * *

If Jinnah was truly as secular as the article claims, his sectarianism must have been for quenching his desire of heading a state, which was not possible in an undivided India. Sectarianism for personal gains is worse than fundamentalism.

B. Ramabhoopathy,
Sriharikota, A.P.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Opinion

News Update

Stories in this Section

Accusations that are over the top

A new high in stock markets

Central Asia — a region destabilised

Tsunami leaves a world of ghosts'

Murmurs over Andhra Pradesh move on quotas

"Involve Kashmiris in the peace process"