JOHN MONTEIRO(JM) wrote: Not too sure the fact Mrs Gandhi was murdered by Indian hands is 'quite as simple' as that though. After rmuch political & social unrest, I remember the many disasterous decisions made by Mrs Gandhi, Comment: Could you kindly enumerate the 'many disastrous decisions' for our information please? JM: she was almost paranoid at the end, she was responsible for many atrocities commited against her own people,from civilians being brutalised to marshal law & curfew inforced due to all sorts of financial mismanagement & her wheeling & dealing to stay in power, Comment: Could you kindly enlighten us on the 'many atrocities' committed on her own people? Also what kind of 'financial mismanagement' was committed? JM: Mrs Gandhi as you know sent in troops into the Sikh's holy shrine, at The Golden Temple at Amritsar, this violated their religion & their charity. Comment: Are you aware of the background to this? Are you aware what kind of activities were being carried out from the holy shrine? What was the alternative to this according to you? JM: Mrs Gandhi was very shrewd, albeit slightly off the wall in her last few months, a canny a politician but as she got ingrossed in the day to day changes of it all, she became a bit lethargic as far as her position was concerned , she was so sure of herself, she thought she was the benefactor of all things Indian & side-stepped advice from her political colleagues & friends abroad. Comment: Could you kindly quote the publication from which you picked up the following phrases 'slightly off the wall in her last few months', 'she became a bit lethargic', 'side stepped advice'? Or were you her official biographer with close access to her to observe all this behaviour? JM: She got herself tangled up with heriditary & hierachy, for her it was as a natural progress to pass on the baton from father to daughter, the one that held the baton of Prime Minister was all consuming her. Comment: It is news to me that she handed over the baton of PM to her son. So far as I know, after she was assassinated, the Congress Party took a decision to instal Rajiv Gandhi as PM promptu before anyone else could throw his hat into the ring. Though it is a fact the Indira did not trust anyone outside her immediate family. Rajiv was a greenhorn when the prime ministership was thrust upon him. He did not aspire for it and was a reluctant candidate. JM: In the end, she paid the ultimate price, her Sikh bodyguard, she called him "Uncle"... eventually was the man to do the dastardly deed, the Brutus to her Julius Caesar it had that sort of a ring to it. Comment: Could you kindly quote the book from where you picked up the words that she called her bodyguard 'Uncle'.Your analogy to Caesar and Brutus is also off the mark as the bodyguard was not among her trusted confidants nor was part of her trusted circle of friends or advisors. JM: Mrs Gandhi was well aware of what she was doing & the message she was giving to the Sikh community, as well as to India in general, Comment: Please enlighten us what message she was giving to the sikh community. We are keen to know. JM: Rajiv did something very similar, but to the other end of the country, with sending soldiers & assisting the Sri Lankan government in attempting to disrupt the Tamils fight with the Singhalese government for recognition that they exist, let alone are residents, in the north of the island, for generations. Comment: What is the similarity between curbing sikh militancy and assisting in bringing peace to a troubled island? Can you kindly enlighten us on your knowledge of the Tamil problem in Sri Lanka and the activities and track record of the LTTE? JM: The Tamil Tigers (Eelam) were outraged by Rajiv's decision to send in Indian soldiers to dismantle what had taken several lifetimes to build, Comment: Are you aware that the government of India was responsible for supporting(financially,logistically and supplying weapons) and building up the Tamil resistance groups in Sri Lanka and that without India's support they would have been liquidated long back. The LTTE which is nothing short of a mafia liquidated all rival tamil groups by violent means, forced children to become suicide bombers and generally have displayed fascist tendencies in all their operations. JM: The messenger of death was in a poor woman, loaded with explosives on her back, she succeeding in killing him when she knelt to touch his feet & blowing herself up in front of him. Comment: So you feel that the assassin of a former PM was an act of bravery, do you?You sympathise with the assassin calling her a 'poor woman'. Did you ever pause to reflect that this dastardly deed put Inda back by over 20 years? Rajiv Gandhi for all his faults and mistakes was a progressive person with a modern mind. The great telecom and IT revolution that the whole world is taking about today was inspired by him. After his death we had Narasimha Rao who acted passively while the BJP destroyed the Babri Masjid and created communal havoc for which the country is still paying the price to this day. JM: So the Tamils & the Sikhs, in fact the majority of Indians disliked both & resorted to this final act in sheer desperation. You dont kill simply because you disagree with someone, they must have done something unforgiveable to you to take such action. Comment: Please quote from where you picked up that 'the majority of Indians disliked Indira and Rajiv' and that they were 'killed in desperation' and not as acts of vandalism. What are the unforgiveable actions of Indira and Rajiv- please enlighten us. JM: Orissa has been in the headlines, this has brought not only State to State conflict but has taken religion as a way of getting revenge on fellow Indians. Comment: This is precisely the legacy that the assasination of Rajiv Gandhi has brought to the nation. It brought about the rise of communal forces and the results are there for all to see. First the destruction of the Babri Masjid, then communal riots and bomb blasts in Bombay followed by genocide of Muslims in Gujarat and now the extermination of Christians in Orissa besides inflaming passions in Jammu.Prior to this all conflict was restricted to Jammu and Kashmir only. Today, the entire country is unsafe. Thanks to the rise of Hindutva forces. Finally, I generally do not like to comment on such postings in detail but this time I felt that such gibberish posting had to be exposed for what it is worth.In future, may I suggest that you get your facts right before rushing to the keyboard.
Regards, Marshall
