The former prime minister, V.P. Singh courageously staked his political future on maintaining two progressive principles. Those principles being, as stated in the New York Times, "protection of religious minorities in a secular democracy and affirmative action to improve the lot of the low caste Hindus."

V.P. Singh always put the country first. Though he is dead, his legacy will live forever like Shivaji and Asoka the Great. He showed the courage and tolerance to fight injustice and stood up for human rights. There isn't a single individual that is a part of the saffron leadership nor any prime ministers, dead or alive, that will ever co me near to what V.P. Singh has done for the country. There are no BJP leaders who are worthy enough to touch the shoelaces of V.P. Singh. He is the greatest prime minister we have ever had and is greatly respected throughout the world by individuals who understand the importance of religious tolerance, equal opportunity and human rights.

 

When=2 0the BJP, RSS, VHP divided people based on religion, caste, and region; it was V.P. Singh who foresaw the disintegration of the country and stopped the evil forces form tearing the country apart. He lost the prime ministership for trying to extend reservations to Dalit Christians but make no mistake—he did his part to keep the country's secular rights in tact and uphold the constituion of India. Unfortunately, as the saying goes, what is popular is not always right and what is right is not always popular.

You refer to Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav and Minister Ram Vilas Paswan as "Franksteins" created by V.P. Singh—if being a voice for the underrepresented, justice, and human rights constitutes Frankenstein'ish behavior to you—then you need to reread the cliff notes on Mary Shelley's novel. If at all anything, Ministers Yadav and Paswanji have applied V.P. Singh's example of religious tolerance and compassion to their politics, case-in-point they were the first to denounce the ongoing religious cleansing in Orissa.

The Mandal Commission is the equivalent of affirmative action in the United States—policies that are intended to promote the access to education and employment of historically and socio-politically oppressed people. How many high caste Hindus immigrate to the United States and utilize affirmative action to gain access to educational and employment opportunities? High caste Hindus are in no way an oppressed group, yet they constitute a minority in the United States and are therefore eligible to benefit from affirmative action. Many caste Hindus hate Christians and Christianity but they love the West and Western opportunity (the West being predominantly Christian nations). So if you want to talk about opportunistic, where shall we begin?

It was stated, "V.P.Singh had fallen from grace of every one; even god didn't like his selfish social justice. Apparently, the curse of all Mandal-self-immolated youths turned him to a 'fallen' person suffering from  incurable diseases like Kidney failures/Cancer…" by that outrageous line of reasoning the gods must have allowed Gandhi to be shot down because he was a cursed man who fell from grace. What a horrible and uneducated way of speaking—people must get a good kick out of reading this forum, either that or some serious blood pressure. God is a god of love and at this time I'd like to say that our heartfelt thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to V.P. Singh's family, friends, and colleagues in grieving.

 

I salute V.P. Singh for what he has done for India and the message his legacy sends to future generations—be a voice for the voiceless, take a strong stand for human rights, and always vouch for equal rights and protection under the constitution for ALL Indian citizens irrespective of caste or religion.

 

Truly but sadly,

Raju Charles