Mail Bag
Right to identity
With reference to Ananya Jehanara Kabir’s article “Summer of Discontent” (August 31), the author has correctly identified the essence of the current unrest in Kashmir. The controversy over a small piece of land is merely a symptom of the deep sentiment in favour of the desire to script one’s own destiny. The successive governments in Delhi have run roughshod over that sentiment through shallow and unmeaningful engagement. Now that the sentiment has re-erupted without any external assistance, it is time for leaders in Delhi to rise above ideological affiliations, and address the issue for good to the satisfaction of each community.
Javaid Iqbal Bhat
University of Kashmir, Srinagar
Lost battle?
“Her last battle” (August 31) makes heart-rending reading. Laxmi Indira Panda’s spirit has no recognition in our land. The people at the helm of affairs should have addressed the plight of Panda by helping her financially. People fall over one another to pamper financially sound sportspersons, but people in distress who fought for the freedom of the country are neglected. I hope the Union Government takes cognizance of her condition and helps her financially at least in the twilight of her life.
H.P. Murali
Bangalore
Inspiring figure
I’d like to convey my appreciation of the article on Dara Shikoh in the Magazine (Forgotten link, August 31). In the course of researches I have done on Anquetil Duperron, I have been led to admire the great figure of the Mughal prince who realised the Samudrasangama of Sufi monotheism and advaita. It appears that Anquetil Duperron, who was an accomplished scholar in Persian and who did heroic efforts to learn Sanskrit in a quest for philosophical truth, was deeply influenced by the teaching of the Sirr-e-Akbar in his personal faith.
Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat
Professor Sanskrit (Rtd), Paris University
Mysore
Contradictory stances
On August 11, 1947 when Jinnah said that, “You are free to go to your temple, you are free to go to your mosque to any other place of worship, in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with the business of the State”, it was too late. It came at a time when the call for Direct Action, given on August 16, 1946 had created its havoc. And the momentary change of Jinnah’s mindset did not bring about a corresponding change in its national policies. It is truly enigmatic as told by Ramachandra Guha in “Enigma of M.A. Jinnah “ (August 31).
J. L. Ganjoo,
Delhi
To me there is nothing bizarre about the speech of Jinnah to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan on August 11,1947. There is nothing hypocritical about it either. It was some sort of ‘homecoming’ for the man.
He was, to start with, a secular minded Muslim and a messenger of Hindu-Muslim harmony. But gradually his interaction with the Mahatma’s spiritualism and other Hindu leaders like Malaviya convinced him that the fate of Muslims will not be safe in Hindu dominated India. His Islam-oriented politics took shape completely, only after he lost his wife and came increasingly under the influence of his sister Fatima Jinnah. Then the creation of an Islamic nation became his only aim in life. Being an ambitious person he strained every nerve to become the founder of such a nation.
Having achieved his goal, there was nothing preventing him from returning to his core values which he expressed with all sincerity to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan . That is why I say that it was a sort of ‘homecoming’.
K.P. Luke Vydhian.
Bangalore
Right to life
The article “Alive to the joys of life” (August 31) is thought provoking. The physically impaired children have every right to live in this world. Disability is not a crime or sin but it is an accident. The government should provide necessary facilities and suitable opportunities to the differently-abled children to boost their morale to lead a normal, joyful and fruitful life.
Gande Parashuram Rao
Karimnagar
Very, very tasty
Your food writer is a great addition to The Hindu family. She writes in a warm, light-footed and reader-friendy style which relieves the strain of serious reading. Her recipes, written in an easily understandable way, are accurate. I tried the Kashmiri mutton yakhni given by her and it came out superb! Yellow dal-and-rice is undoubtedly an all-India standby. A dollop of ghee — another all-India favourite — makes it special.
N. Khosla
Panchkula, Haryana
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