It seems from your article The Cross and the Trident (February 21) that the natives of Surguja and Raigarh districts, the Pahadi was, are the same ‘Korwas’ or ‘Pardhis’ of Raigarh district categorised as Scheduled Tribes (STs) by the Government of India. [Page 387-Brochure on reservation for Scheduled castes (SCs) and Scheduled describes—Government of India—seventh Edition]. It is pertinent note that STs do not fall with-the purview of Hinduism. They are not Hindus but have their own tribal religions which vary from tribe to tribe. The yardstick to identify people classified as SCs is "social backwardness arising out of the practice untouchability". But, the STs identified on the basis of their (1) tribal origin, (2) primitive way of life, (3) living in mote areas (geographical isolation) and (4) general backwardness. These tribes had never en subjected to Hindu practices. Else, they would have sufered the ill-effects of untouchablity and been classified as SCs
So, there is no question of converting’ them to Hinduism. Hinduism is as alien them as Christianity. Anyway, so long as the Hindu clergy perpetrates the age-old l of social apartheid by appropriating the priesthood d the posts of shankaracharyas, they cannot convince -Brahmins that their propaganda against Christianity and am has honest intentions.
S. Gandhimati, Madras
Apropos your article Officers Under Siege (February 14). The bureaucracy inherited by independent India consisted of brilliant, self-respecting people, who, while working with leaders like Nehru, Patel, Pant and Azad gained in stature. The same cannot be said of bureaucrats today who are self-seekers, ever ready to be their masters’ voice. The results can be seen in the ignominy they are suffering at the hands of their political masters The bureaucracy in Maharashtra should not be so upset about the transfer of the chief secretary. Such transfers are routine with change in the hue of the political masters. The fate of the bureaucracy in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar or Tamil Nadu is no better.
Where were the Srinivasans and the Deshmukhs when an extra-constitutional authority was dictating orders to the bureaucracy in the early ’70s? Bureaucrats then were only mute spectators and those who sided with the then extra- constitutional authorities were suitably rewarded with promotions. Some even became state governors. The system has become so rotten that it is tolerating such extra-constitutional authorities with impunity.
S.S. Saxena, New Delhi
To some extent I endorse what Kuldip Nayar enunciates in his opinion piece:
Should Manmohan be PM? (February 28). The chances of the Congress(I) staging a comeback in the next general elections are remote. It is puerile to parachute the expectation that the tarnished image of the party will be white-washed once Manmohan Singh is put at the helm. Singh is a technocrat par excellence, but he lacks political gumption. Whether a simpleton like him will be able to govern a political system gone kaput, is doubtful.
Since the hawala bombshell has outraged the entire nation, scant politicians have escaped the litany of charges of corruption. And one of them is West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. I do not intend to panegyrise maverick Basu. But there are certain qualities in him which few leaders in our country possess. His administrative ingenuity is superb. No matter how much the situation exacerbates, he has the knack of restoring it to normal. The way his government protected the Sikhs in 1984 from the sanguinary congress shenanigans, is still fresh in our minds. Again in 1992-93, with much perspicacity, his government monitored the predicament.
Sensing disenchantment growing in the minds of people, he did an ideological somersault: went on signing MOUs and seeking foreign investment. He issued a clear-cut directive to all unions, exhorting them to change according to the situation. Rumblings of dissidence were audible, but soon the critics fell silent. Nobody had the temerity to question him about his modus operandi.
Such is his savoir-faire and his political clout. Doesn’t this dimunitive, charismatic octogenarian deserve to be the premier? I think he does.
Devraj Singh Kalsi, Calcutta
At last you did what every reader expects from his regular magazine. You published nude photographs from Women by Prabuddha Das Gupta (February 21). And to justify it, you even eulogised his work as art. What does one expect from the former-editor of Debonair?
Vicky Bhatia, Agra
I don’t know how well Prabuddha Das Gupta is at handling the camera, or if his work on nudity deserves to be called a piece of art or not. But he has managed to persuadesome of India’s most famous women (Madhu Sapre, Mehr Jesia, Shyamolie Verma, Nikki Bedi) to shed their clothes before the camera. How I wish I could be in his shoes.
Gurpreet Singh Bhatia, Agra
Apropos Vinod Mehta’s Delhi Diary item Mr Rao’s Spectacular Transformation (February 21). It was unbecoming and cheap of the editor to have described Narasimha Rao as ‘the wily South Indian Brahmin (experts in these matters say, this is a particularly crafty species)’. It smacks of casteism and regionalism. What right do we have to ridicule a particular section of Indians? Who are the great experts is he referring to? The Prime Minister is the elected leader of democratic and secular India. To allude to or ridicule his caste, region or religion is downright malicious, mischievous and divisive. He owes an apology to the readers.
Saroja Raman, New Delhi
I apologise. It was an unfortunate choice of words.
—Editor
Vinod Mehta in his Delhi Diary has rightly eulogised Prime Minister Rao for his ‘master stroke’. Rao has clearly eliminated the corruption issue from the election scenario. He has placed every political party on an even keel by ‘nationalising’ corruption. In the cartoon, Rao is depicted with a long hanging tuft. He may as well knot his tuft, like Chanakya, after sidelining all leading political parties in the forthcoming general elections. He seems determined to open his second innings—courtesy the Jain diary.
V.N. Gopal, Madras
Yubaraj Ghimire’s article Through the Mirror Darkly (February 21) was enlightening. Corruption in higher places comes to light only when cases such as the hawala scandal come up.
Today, the country resembles a big fruit cake, ready to be carved in sections by insensitive politicians through corrupt means. Corruption is omnipresent, and is created by people who are corrupt.
Under no circumstances should these corrupt forces be set free. With elections approaching, it is imperative that the Election Commission not allow any political leader with a past record of corruption to contest the polls. That could probably be a beginning in routing corruption.
Cajetan Peter D’Souza, Bombay
