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January - February letters3/05/2000. As many of you know, when you email a letter to the editor, you get a short acknowledgment from the auto-responder, notifying you that your message has been received. Several of these auto-responder messages recently bounced, meaning that the return addresses contained in the letters was invalid. We don't know if this was intentional or not, but we will not print letters to the editor that have invalid return addresses. We print all non-libellous letters to the editor after correcting punctuation and grammar, so if yours was not printed, then you should check the settings in your email program to insure that the return address is valid.
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 14:01:26 -0800
Subject: Letter to the editor
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
The US president Clinton's itinerary for his Indian Sub-continent visit is all set to make history for its last minute 'finalisation', irrespective of of his decision to include Pakistan or not.
He can send a clear, unambiguous signal to Pakistan and the world by saying a democratic US president will not visit Pakistan under a military dictator, either to 'engage' them or for its blackmail [effect -- ] that it will strengthen anti US sentiments within Pakistan.
Or, he can send a confusing signal to the rest of the world by shaking hands with a military ruler under the logic of 'engagement'. He could even surprise us and strengthen his engagement logic by visiting another cold war ally like Pakistan --Afghanistan -- and discuss about Osama-bin-Laden.
In either case, 1 billion people, B for boy, under the world largest democracy, is watching the US president action very closely.
Venkat Sellappan
Bloomington,IL,USA
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
Subject: Letter to Editor for publication
Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2000 09:40:12 -0600
[Deleted at the request of the writer, whose letter was in opposition to the taxation of Social Security benefits and that also mentioned that the writer had not received replies to the email messages on the subject that he had sent to senators and members of Congress.]
You ask a reasonable question. Unfortunately, email messages, from what we are told, have a much lower priority than written letters or faxes with most sentators and congresscritters. Handwritten letters are probably the most effective. You might try writing Cochran and Lott the old-fashioned way and see what happens. It takes more effort to write a letter and mail it than to send an email -- at least, this is why they pay more attention to them. --Editor.
To: "'editor@jacksonprogressive.com'"
Subject: McCain and Republicans
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 12:00:40 -0500
The Republican Party will lose the Presidency if it's not careful. They cling to their anointed son in George W. Bush, even though solid polls show John McCain trouncing both Democratic contenders in a general election. Will the Republican leadership surrender their best shot at the Presidency in 8 years because their good candidate was outshone by a better candidate? Hopefully, wiser heads will prevail if Republicans don't want to risk 16 years of a Democratic Presidency.
Sincerely,
Scott Salvato
Flushing NY
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 11:24:02 -0800
Subject: Letter to the editor - Good Morning President Clinton
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
The Pakistani Military Junta, and its military dictator Gen. Parvez Mushharaf has banned public meetings in Pakistan, thereby curtailing the right to protest, and President Clinton is visiting Pakistan!
Just last week the lawyer representing the deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif was shot dead by armed personnel in his office.
President Clinton by going to Pakistan would be endorsing the military rule, and the ruling General. I feel it is high time that President Clinton realises the serious threat that this military rule holds for human rights, and democracy.
What can one say but, "Good morning Mr. President", as the military has now effectively banned public meetings terming them a luxury that Pakistan can no longer afford.
Vishal Sharma
Mumbai, India
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 21:59:55 -0800
Subject: Letter to the editor - 35 more innocents murdered by Islamic terrorists
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
Dear Editor,
The Pakistani Islamic terrorists have murdered 35 innocent Sikh civilians in Indian Kashmir on late Monday, March 20th.
This is the latest in the series of religious cleansing of Hindus by the Islamic terrorists in Kashmir, which has been going on for more than a decade.
More than 300,000 Kashmiri Hindus have been killed or forced out of their ancestral homes at gunpoint by the Pakistani-backed Islamic terrorists.
Anybody who supports a balance between the terrorist state of Pakistan and the democratic India should be ashamed.
Shame on those who ignored the proliferation of nuclear bombs and missiles from China to Pakistan.
Shame on those who hide under the banner of real-politik and turn a blind eye to the devastation caused by Islamic terrorism.
No amount of nuclear weapons will save the evil from the wrath of the righteous.
Sincerely,
Mac Kher
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 08:12:25 -0800
Subject: Letter to the editor - Presdient Clinton touches Indian hearts by meeting widow of Rupin Katyal
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
President Clinton on his visit to India has touched the hearts of Indians all over by agreeing to meet Rachna the widow of Rupin Katyal who was killed during the Hijack of Indian Airlines plane during last christmas and taken to Afghanistan.
Rupin and Rachna Katyal were married by 19 days, when Islamic terrorists killed Rupin in cold blood. Rachna just 20 years old, and married only 19 days was made a widow, by this curel barbaric attack.
President Clinton has termed his meeting with Rupin Katyal's aged father, and his widow, as "humanitarian".
With The US, and India both at the receiving ends of Islamic terrorism whether financied by Osama Bin Laden, or Pakistan's ISI, need to address this issue more effectively.
Vishal Sharma
Mumbai, India
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 05:52:54 -0800
Subject: Open Letter to Peter Jennings
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
March 22, 2000
RE: Peter Jennings special, "The Dark Horizon: India, Pakistan and the Bomb." Aired Monday, March 20, 10pm EST.
Tom Yellin, Executive Producer
Peter Jennings, Anchor
ABC News
New York, New York
Dear Mr. Yellin and Mr. Jennings,
On behalf of the Indian-American community, we thank you and your network for being the first to highlight the serious, potentially nuclear confrontation that exists between India and Pakistan. Peter Jennings succeeded in conveying to the American public the complex geopolitical factors underlying the conflict over Kashmir, including the involvement of the U.S. and Afghanistan. We encourage ABC to produce additional programs on Kashmir, in order to educate the American public on what President Clinton recently called "the most dangerous hotspot in the world."
However, we are deeply disappointed by two serious factual omissions in the broadcast of this program. The first omission occurred during the historical explanation of the conflict, when Mr. Jennings stated, "Under great pressure from both sides, he [Maharaja of Kashmir] chose India."
The general consensus among historians and U.S. experts is that the pressure was only from one side, namely Pakistan. This pressure was exerted directly and forcefully via an invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani troops and tribesmen. It is this unilateral "pressure" which forced the Maharaja of Kashmir to choose India, and thus obtain the military assistance to ward of the invading Pakistani forces. The best evidence for this comes not from India, but from Pakistan itself, in a book written by the Pakistani general who led the invasion into Kashmir (Raiders in Kashmir, by Major General Akbar Khan, Pak Publishers, Karachi, 1970).
The evidence of unilateral pressure from Pakistan is further corroborated by H.V. Hodson, a British civil servant who worked with Lord Mountbatten and was intimately involved in the partition of India and Pakistan. He documents in his book, The Great Divide (Oxford Univ. Press, Karachi, 1985), that Indian leaders were disinterested in the question of Kashmir's accession to either Pakistan or India (thus disproving Peter Jennings' assertion of Indian pressure).
The second serious factual omission relates to the statement, "Most Kashmiris regard the Indian army as an army of occupation, with a brutal 10-year history of repression." This statement does not take into account the views of 400,000 exiled Kashmiri Hindus, Sikhs, and Buddhists that instead consider Islamic terrorism and its "jihad" as the primary force of repression in Kashmir. This minority community has constituted the largest post-Independent exodus in India, with a statistical significance that in percentages matches the exodus of ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in early 1999. Tens of thousands of these refugees still languish in makeshift camps in the region of Jammu. Yet during all of Mr. Jennings' travels to Pakistan, India, and the Valley of Kashmir, he was unable to show any video footage of these Kashmiris whose lives have been drastically altered by the repressive forces of Islamic terrorism.
In commenting upon a 10-year history of repression in Kashmir, Mr. Jennings also omitted the most gruesome examples - the massacre of thousands of moderate Muslims and secular Hindus who spoke against Islamic extremism, and the very reason behind the Indian army's presence in Kashmir. The repression of Kashmiri minorities by ethnic cleansing is well-documented, yet did not receive a single word of mention in your broadcast. This omission is quite significant, since the historically secular fabric of Kashmiri society was by definition secular through the peaceful coexistence of the Hindu minority community with the Muslim majority, a coexistence that was shattered with the onslaught of Islamic terrorism.
The Indian-American community would like these omissions to be acknowledged by your network, and moreover, be rectified in future broadcasts on Kashmir. In addition, we would like the opportunity to meet with your staff and offer a personal clarification of this very serious issue. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Rajiv Pandit
Chicago
Community Action Network,
of Hindu Students Council
Ph. 617-698-1106
Fax 801-382-3919
Email: hsc-can@hindunet.org
Board of Directors,
Kashmir Information Network
www.kashmir-information.com
Vijay Sazawal
Indo-American Kashmir Forum
Email: vks@iaol.com
Jeevan Zutshi
Indo-American Community Federation
Email: G1Zutshi@aol.com
Ashok Koul
Indo-Canadian Kashmir Forum
Email: Ashok.Koul@nrc.ca
Bharat Barai
National Federation of
Indian-American Associations (Chicago)
Email: bhbarai@concentric.net
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 00:00:42 -0800
Subject: Letter to the editor - massacres in Kashmir
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
March 23, 2000
On behalf of Kashmir Overseas Association, Kashmir Information Network, Panun Kashmir, and Kashmir Solidarity, we express deep shock and condemn the senseless massacre of 40 Sikh villagers in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani terrorists. We express our sympathies with the victims' families. Islamic terrorists and mercenaries trained and armed by Pakistan initiated a cycle of violence and destruction in 1989, resulting in the expulsion of nearly 400,000 Kashmiri Hindus, who still languish in camps across India. This is the first time that minority Sikhs, who are the only pro-India minority remaining in appreciable numbers in Kashmir valley, have been targeted by Pakistan-supported Islamic terrorists. Kashmir Overseas Association plans to offer support to the families of the victims.
We demand that the US and other western nations end their neglect of the dangers of Islamic fundamentalist violence emanating from Pakistan. An immediate international recognition of the rogue and terrorist nature of the state of Pakistan is imperative to end this dangerous spiral of Islamic violence exported from the country. Unfortunately, US President Bill Clinton's visit to Pakistan promises to shore up a government that provides overt and covert support to numerous international terrorist groups that have been involved in civilian massacres and ethnic cleansing in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, these groups have been involved in numerous international terrorism incidents, including a recent hijacking of an Indian jet. We suggest that President Clinton deliver an ultimatum to Pakistan to permanently end its support to terrorists and mercenaries, and immediately disband all terrorist camps and bases in that country. We also call for a new initiative for a cross-community effort to tackle Pakistan-inspired ethnic cleansing and violence unleashed against pro-Indian minorities in Jammu and Kashmir, including Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists. The continuing ethnic cleansing is part of a decades-long plan to alter the composition of Kashmir valley in favor of the Muslim majority, and should not be allowed to succeed.
We also demand that the government of India use all effective and feasible means to end the Islamic menace in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and provide the necessary protection and relief to minorities targeted by Pakistan-supported terrorists.
Kashmir Overseas Association (www.koausa.org)
Kashmir Information Network (www.kashmir-information.com)
Panun Kashmir (http://panunkashmir.org/)Kashmir Solidarity, USA
Subodh Atal
Columbia, MD
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
Subject: Guns & Cigarettes
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 12:04:14 -0800
To the Editor,
I had the pleasure of waking to my alarm radio with Mr. Trent Lott stating, "with the track record of the FDA, I wouldn't trust them to regulate cigarettes".
Does this mean that Mr. Lott can trust the tobacco companies but not the FDA? There comes a point where the total lack of moral obligation must be considered when voting for our public servants. Our friends and children continue to die from tobacco-related illness more than car accidents, AIDS, murders, and suicides combined. Tobacco companies are marketing overseas to hook millions more. Mr. Lott also supports the gun industry over common sense. Last year, 16,000 Americans were murdered with handguns, but 15,500 of those victims knew their killer. Of the 500 killed by strangers, 300 victims were killed with their own guns. That leaves 200 (about 1%) who died because they weren't packing heat. Too bad for the other 99% who apparently had good intentions.
Most Americans consider themselves "good Christians" but how can anyone honestly support corporations who lied to the nation and congress that tobacco isn't known to be harmful. Mr. Lott also states the current administration doesn't enforce existing gun laws but he fought to reduce government spending for prosecuting gun-related criminals. Some politicians seem to have the authority to judge others and publicly denounce them. Good Christians know that when all is said and done, there is only one real judge and we will all have to answer for the decisions we've made that affected so many of God's people.
It's simply a matter of moral choice that every voter has to live with.
David Wright
Seattle, WA 98102
From the editor: As you might have surmised, we are not fans of Senator Lott. You might be interested, however, in some findings recently published by Sam Smith in The Progressive Review:
WILD SHOTS
* Recent poll finds only 29% want new gun laws; 68% want stricter enforcement of existing laws.
* The Columbine murderers violated at least 17 state and federal weapons control laws, and none of the proposals for trigger locks, waiting periods or gun show restrictions would have stopped Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold from obtaining either their guns or bomb-making materials.
* Clinton says, "American children are killed by gunfire at a rate nine times higher than the combined total of the next 25 top industrial nations." Excluded from the tally: Russia and Brazil, which have among the toughest gun bans in the world and still have murder rates four times higher than those in the US.
* "Accidental gun deaths among children are fortunately much rarer than most people believe. Consider New York, with more than 2.6 million children under the age of 10. From 1993 to 1997, the Centers for Disease Control report that there were only six accidental gun deaths in that age range an annual rate of 1.2 deaths. Yet, with over 3.3 million adult New Yorkers owning at least one gun in 1996, the overwhelming majority of gun owners must be extremely careful or such gun accidents would be much more frequent."
* "Guns clearly deter criminals: Americans use guns defensively around 2 million times each year five times more frequently than the 430,000 times guns were used to commit crimes in 1997. And 98 percent of the time, simply brandishing the weapon is sufficient to stop an attack."
*"Recent research that I have done, examining juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides for all the states in the United States from 1977 to 1996, found that safe-storage laws had no impact on either type of death. However, what did happen was that law-abiding citizens were less able to defend themselves against crime. The 15 states that adopted these laws during this period faced over 300 more murders and 3,860 more rapes per year. Burglaries also increased dramatically."
[John R. Lott Jr., Yale University Law School, author of "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws" in the NY Post and Wall Street Journal]
These findings may or may not be valid. We would like to know, for instance how the rest of the country fared from 1977 to 1996 on juvenile accidental gun deaths or suicides before we can accept that the increase in these kinds of deaths in the 15 states adopting safe-storage laws was statistically significant.
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 19:07:42 -0800
Subject: Letter to Editor: Pakistan deserves respect
To: editor@jacksonprogressive.com
Dear Sir:
President Clinton again and again demands that democracy should be restored in Pakistan.
Does he forget that even the US has been ruled by generals for most of its history? General Ulysses S. Grant and General Dwight D. Eisenhower are prime examples. Bush senior, JFK, Andrew Jackson have all been military men.
In his zeal to promote democracy, Clinton forgets that our own democracy is terribly flawed. What good is democracy if votes can be bought by the power of the almighty dollar?
By harping on democracy, Clinton lowers the US prestige in the eyes of the world, which is sick of US interventionism. It is no wonder why so many outsiders hate us, because we like to put our hands in their business!
Sic Semper Tyrannis is probably applicable to the US today. Long live Pax Americana!
Yours truly,
Mohammed Harrami
Detroit