Dear Mario, I think we are fundamentally on the same page here. It's true that Nehru led the country on a path to self-destruction with his socialist agenda, but let me put his socialism in context. Nehru although a product of solid western education had a deep suspicion and dislike for all things western (which didn't ofcourse extend to Lady Mountbatten :))
After independence he wanted to distance himself from western ideology on priciple and unfortunately he equated capitalism with western imperialism. Add to this socialism was in its heydays. The stories coming out of Russia of reform and rapid industrialisation were compelling. We now know underneath lay rotting poverty. On the other side of the pond, not even Americans fifty years ago could have dreamed of the affluence that the free market would herald. The free market did two things, it fostered innovation and technology and left the rest of the world behind. Getting back to Mr Kamat. I don't know his writing but through private emails I've been told that he is a BJP sympathiser and his writing shows this bias. The fact that the Nehru family is a political dynasty cannot be contested. But he doesn't provide a context as to why, instead he muddies their reputation in allegations of corruption. India is a country where almost 60% of the population is either illiterate or semi-literate. Their poverty and illiteracy makes them victims of a saviour-complex and they foist their hopes and aspirations onto this family. Indeed Sonia is lovingly embraced by the millions of poor who see her as a genuine person and interested in their welfare. The Nehrus are icons in India. They are part of our history woven into the very fabric of our Indian consciousness. They have given us their daughter and their son, forsaken their families and risked their lives for us. Have you ever heard of Americans speaking ill of Lincoln or Eisenhower or Roosevelt, regardless of the party they belong to? The fact that we as Indians do this frequently is telling of how divided we are as a country and how contemptuous we are of our history. I have only this to say to Mr Kamat. Shame on you, Shame on you indeed. Selma ------------------------------------------ --- Mario Goveia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Selma, > > > Unfortunately, what the post-independance Nehru > family, who were heroes and leaders in the fight for > independance, did split was India's business class, > for whom they had the utmost contempt. Instead, > they > implemented Fabian socialism and government > bureaucratic control over India's economy. This > then > held India's economy back, caused the massive brain > drain that has only recently slowed, and did not > benefit most of the country until a new national > hero, > Manmohan Singh, was able to make important > adjustments, which the BJP continued until Manmohan > Singh regained control more recently, this time with > the support of yet another Nehru family member. > > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org