This refers to the editor’s opinon piece (Grave Danger Ahead, may 22), which is quite depresing. The Editor seems to have ed Lord Beaverbrooks’ message to spread ‘optimism daily’ after his first paragraph. It is easy to enumerate the pits and disasters following the 'short-life’ of a coalition Government, but the positive factors indicators must be noted . How else can we get rid of those who have mismanaged this country since Independence by using different garbs and fronts? Centralisation of policy planning has finally been diluted. The coalition partners all regional powers who will haps prefer to support a weak centre to stay in power in ions and work hard for their constituencies. Delhi can finally come secondary to the Nation’s progress.
Surely any short-term chaos coalition experience will be worth the chance to start again m the point where a party needs atleast 33 per cent of electoral support on a national basis be in the reckoning. We need outlook to give us a dose of 'daily optimism’. Only an opinion page can perhaps give us s—because so far the reality the news is rather bleak.
Bunty Pasricha, New Delhi
The cover story Waiting for the call(May 22), gives a list of compromises which the BJP government might have to if in power. One of them includes going slow on the abolition of Article 370. In my pinion the BJP should drop the of abolishing Article 370, the simple reason that it has not focused on Articles 371A and 371G which also give special status to Nagaland and Mizoram. Why this selective approach?
The Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh allowed the Indian Parliament to make laws for the state of Jammu and Kashmir in three matters—defence, foreign affairs and communications. This clearly shows that the Indian Government had accepted as early as in 1947 itself that a special status be conferred on Kashmir. If the BJP is really serious about the removal of Article 370, then Articles 371A and 371G must also be abolished.
A. Shafiquer Rahman, Madras
This refers to More Heat than Light (May 15). When things can be seen boldly by naked eye, what is the need for a microscope? Our country has become the international home of scandals. Today, patriotism is considered awful. After all, in the Indian-based power plants, many feed Vitamin B (bribes) in terms of lakhs. Transnational companies will feed the vitamin in crores (Enron or Cogentrix).
R.G. Taranath, Davangere
You admit in the opening sentence of the article, More Heat than Light, that the mat-ter is currently under the consideration of the Bombay High Court. Under the circumstances, printing the petition of one of the parties is grossly disrespectful to the Court. Greater restraint and concern for issues and objectivity is expected of a leading publication. We trust you will give the same coverage to the Court’s judgement when it is delivered to put issues in the correct perspective.
Over a dozen cases of public interest litigation against the Dabhol power project have been dismissed by the Bombay High Court in the past. Justice P. B. Saraf and Justice Savant of the division bench of the Bombay High Court noted: "In our opinion, it is repetitive litigation on the very same issues coming up before the courts again and again in the garb of public interest litigation.it is high time to put an end to the same." A special leave petition against this judgement was referred to the Supreme Court. This was summarily dismissed by the apex court on merit.
The Dabhol project in its over four years has followed all regulations and procedures. We are confident that the outcome of the present issue will substantiate our assertions and will be in it’s favour.
Vrinda Walavalkar, Dabhol Power Company, Bombay
With reference to your article (Australia: Sex, Lies and Diplomats, May 29), people should be aware that western sex tourism is no longer confined to South-east Asia.
As a tourist in India, I was offered sexual favours by two fifteen-year-old boys within hours of arriving at Kovalam Beach (Kerala). And this only two metres from the life-guard!
On another occasion a tout, after rattling off the usual litany of drugs, offered me, ‘something special’. When I asked what this was, he replied: ‘young boy.’ For such incidents to be going on so openly suggests that the trade is already rampant and that the local authorities are turning a blind eye.
Like the children of Thailand and the Philippines, are India’s children also to be sacrificed to the filthiest of foreign exchange?
William Humphreys, NSW, Australia
Apropos What are his Options? (Cover Story, May 15), Article 86(2) of the Constitution states that the President can ask the Lok Sabha to elect its leader. In this context I want to add that this Article seems provisional i.e. there is such a provision in our constitution, though not directly. It is a convention.
Article 86(2) states: ‘The President may send messages to either house of Parliament, whether with respect to a bill pending in Parliament or otherwise which in turn has to dispatch/consider any matter required by the message to be taken into consideration.’
Were some important lines deleted while editing the piece?
Arif Nisar, New Delhi
It was an editorial mistake. We regret the error.
Apropos The Great Divide (May 22), it deserves a re-reading for the fads it contains. Though it appears insignificant, the North-South divide is real and serious. The list of points of rancour puts in a nutshell why the South views the North suspiciously. It is a well-documented fact that during the permit Raj the south Indian states were discriminated against. So were the North-eastern states. If at all any region has industrially progressed despite the Northern hegemony they are Madras and Bangalore. Arjun Singh’s bogey of Rao being a south Indian premier and destroying the Congress in north India and Hindi audiences’ refusal to accept south Indian cine heroes encapsulates the north Indian political and cultural hegemony.
Bichu Muttathara, Pune
It is painful to learn that India is still looking at British History because the British caused the so called ‘Great Divide’. The only solution to this problem is to rewrite Indian history and examine who the so-called Aryans and Dravidians were. If we can learn English/French, what is the harm in learning Sanskrit/Hindi. After all most south Indian languages have originated from Sanskrit. It was also disheartening to read the callous statements of cartoonist Abu Abraham.
S. Ganesh, Bangalore
A well-written article, it clearly brings out the issues in a proper perspective. However, in this North-South struggle where do the West and East stand? As usual, the media has ignored the issue facing states like Maharashtra and Gujarat. Are these states not part of this country. It is unfortunate that your magazine also has chosen to ignore Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Assam and all of the North-east.
Saurabh Rajadhyax, Bombay
I disagree with the writer. He should know that some states in the North are the rich nest in India (Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh). In the South, the people don’t want to learn Hindi. There are a lot of people from the South who work in the North and live there for most of their lives. Comparitively, there are fewer North Indians in the South. It is not the arrogance of the North to blame—it is the attitude of the South. They should not create rifts on the basis of language and culture. They should think of themselves as Indians first. This difference can be felt in overseas countries too.
Anurag Nayak, Brisbane, Australia
When you write about erotic equality I am reminded of Shri Baburao Patel of Mother India (formerly Film India). A reader once asked him why the southern beauties have bigger bosoms than their northern counterparts. Patel quipped that the former ate idlis while the latter only chappatis!
K.S.S. Raghavan, Bangalore
The article seems to be highly exaggerated. To view Hindi or Tamil as the only contenders amongst the many languages and dialects that are spoken seems to me overdramatised. Also quotes from cops at railway stations are stupidly sensationalistic at best. Aren’t we enraged at the behaviour of English-speaking taxi/auto drivers at Madras airport and railway station? It is an imaginary fear which our so-called democracy and our politicians have been exploiting.
Rajmohan, Bangalore
As mentioned in your publication, only 39 per cent voters cast their ballot till 4 pm on Tuesday. The rest may have spent their holiday either lazing around at home or picnicking away.
The poor turnout of voters for the second phase of election in Maharashtra is a clear indication of the people’s lack of faith in the democratic setup of the country. India is the world’s largest democracy, this makes the situation even more alarming and disturbing. Democracy by all means should be participatory in which all the citizens exercise their franchise without any fear of influence. Only then can we steer our country free from the clutches of corrupt politicians who fill up their pockets with moolah and are oblivious to the plight of the state, and the people who vote them to power starve. Is this the kind of democracy our freedom fighters fought for? People who do not cast their ballot should made to forfeit a day’s salary unless for medical reasons.
Nivedita Jayaram, Thane
It was a great scene to watch on May 15 when Doordarshan showed Atal Behari Vajpayee blinking constantly in disbelief shortly after being asked by President Shankar Dayal Sharma to get ready to be formally appointed as the prime minister and to form the new Government of India. What was the prime minister designate, shy or unsure about that he blinked his eyes many more times than the number of words he spoke to the reporters in answer to their questions on that day? Was it in anticipation of the BJP’s failure to muster a majority?
A. Jaisinghani, Pune
