Apropos BJP vs BJP (September 2), if there is one thing the BJP’s present travails prove, it is that honesty is a myth in India. And this is true of all sections of society. Proof of this can be found in the public reaction to the scams that have broken out in recent times—we frankly couldn’t care less and don’t see ourselves as being able to do anything much about it either. As long as we don’t practice the honesty we expect of our leaders, there will be corruption because our leaders aren’t a separate species, they come from among us.
P. Ravikumar, Bangalore
It is depressing to read your cover story. It’s a big let-down for the vast majority of Indians who voted the BJP to power, not in the hope that they will build a Ram mandir in Ayodhya but in the hope that they would be less corrupt. First, Gujarat, and now the spate of scams have belied all that. I was one of the many middle-class citizens who reposed their faith in them. I don’t think I’ll ever make the mistake again.
Surajit Hazarika, Kochi
Kudos to your fertile imagination which can see a battle where there’s none.
Satish Gundawar, Sunnyvale, California
At a lecture I attended recently, the learned speaker used the word "sophistry". A member of the audience asked him what the word meant. The speaker replied: "Listen carefully to Arun Jaitley and you’ll understand." Reading your story, I know exactly what he meant.
Aminuddin Khan, Hyderabad
Apropos Very Much His Own Man, while excellent work is being done by the divestment ministry under Arun Shourie, it is prudent to consider the reservations with respect to strategic interests. National resources like minerals, oil, etc, should not be given or leased away to private corporations, or worse, foreign companies. We shouldn’t forget that American Airlines and United Airlines have been bailed out by the US government when they were approaching bankruptcy. We too should learn from their mistakes and not be overenthusiastic in selling all our publicly-owned companies.
Giridhar Thandu, Dubai
Apropos Unhappy Atal Thinks of Quitting, if he was really a sincere man, he would have reined in his brethren. But he could not because, like it or leave it, the Sangh is his soul.
R.A. Ravishankar, Illinois, US
It’s time Vajpayee showed he’s a man of principles. It’s under his stewardship that there’s been clear mismanagement and blatant opportunism in Gujarat. And now the vilification and politicisation of one of the last remaining pillars of our Constitution—the EC. He should either take strong measures to rectify the situation or else quit and show his disapproval.
Nitin Verma, Sunnyvale, California
It’s his lack of ability to change the communal and corrupt mindset of his party members that has landed Vajpayee in this mess.
Kaunain Shahidi, Saudi Arabia
Dear prime minister, the lotus grows only in murky waters. You are perhaps the only hope for the BJP. And while I am no big supporter of the party, I can’t think of anyone else to take your place. Please do not make any rash decisions in haste. The country needs you.
Suresh Chandrsekharan, Singapore
With the BJP falling from grace over the years, like many others I too have come to believe that he is a right man in the wrong party. He is like Bhishma Pitamaha in the Mahabharata who has to decide whether to follow his coalition dharma or to listen to the voice of his conscience.
S. Balakrishnan, Jamshedpur
Vajpayee just seems to be a puppet in the hands of the Pump Parivar and L.K. Advani. It will make no difference whether he stays or quits as our country’s decisions are not made by him anyway.
Josh, Boston, US
If Vajpayee quits now, it will be seen not as an act of indignation or self-righteousness but because he was thought incapable of containing the wrongdoers in his party.
Asadha Arul, Mugaiyur, Tamil Nadu
Although the scenario painted by Prem Shankar Jha (of the SC ruling on the EC, A Conscience Vote, September 2) seems so horrific as to be far-fetched, the BJP has shown itself to be capable of the very worst forms of realpolitik. The party has so systematically destroyed any notion of community being larger than a religious grouping that Gujarat saw appalling instances of otherwise civilised middle class families riding around in their Santros looting Muslim shops quite in the same spirit as they would go to a sale. To say that a favourable ruling in Gujarat will encourage the Machiavellian swayamsevak to replicate Modi’s success is to take a realistic, not alarmist, position. The honourable justices would do well, as advised by Jha, to look at the macro-political situation rather than indulge in Jaitleyesque semantic quibbling.
Gautam Babbar, Vienna
The BJP has signed its political obituary by doing what it has in Gujarat. It could have won over the entire nation, the Christians and, to some extent Kashmir, by not calling for these elections, but it chose not to. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will judge things better.
R. Chhugani, Dubai
What is depressing in this entire episode is the role of Arun Jaitley. The suave face of the BJP reveals himself as nothing more than a smooth talker. Lending glib support to the more brazen positioning of an Advani or Modi, he only confirms the belief that the BJP is duplicitous down the ranks.
Mirza Faisal, Houston, Texas
In his enthusiasm to support the EC, Jha has painted a grim picture of the future of Indian democracy should the SC overrule the EC’s diktat. His argument that the primacy of Art 324 over Art 174 is vital for the survival of Indian democracy is double-edged. Just as Modi is seeking to exploit the aftermath of the Gujarat violence to win, political parties elsewhere may engineer violence in an attempt to get elections postponed. That will be more dangerous for Indian democracy.
Vadasseri Venugopal, Kochi
Board examinations in Class 4 (Logically Challenged, September 2)? What next? Commando training for kindergarten kids? I think the guys who make all these monumental decisions should get themselves another job—something that will utilise their unfulfilled creative potential. The Marquis de Sade would have been proud of this one.
Bharatram Gaba, Mumbai
What else to expect from our "highly educated" politicians?
Vandana Singh, New Delhi
How can we call ourselves free when on Independence eve a drunk can rape a 12-year-old mentally challenged child and the public can stand by and just watch (Fear Over the City, September 2)? A similar incident took place in a private bus depot in the heart of Guwahati in Assam. Three persons—the bus driver, the night chaukidar and a handyman—gang-raped eight-year-old Barnali Deb, murdered her and dumped the body in a septic tank in the toilet block of the depot. No place is safe in this country for women.
M. Maltesh, Itanagar, Arunachal
How can you blame the public when they know any sort of action by them invites harassment, by the policemen, by politicians and gangs. The better thing to do would be to make punishment for rape more severe than just a few years of imprisonment.
Ramani Asham, Massachusetts, US
We are a society full of people who cluck in sympathy when incidents of rape happen. Evil thrives only when the good people don’t do anything to stop it. How can their wives, daughter or sisters feel safe?
Bhupender Singh, Toronto, Canada
During a visit to England, I was invited to eat at a Bangladeshi restaurant. The food was very indifferent (Rediscovery of India, September 2). Come to think of it, the Indian food in Copenhagen isn’t too great either. So India it is, for Indian food!
Lalit Bagai, Kalundborg, Denmark
Apropos your Polscape item (September 2), there is no provision on Indian Airlines aircraft for inflight screening of films. Therefore the story that Rajat Sharma is producing a weekly newsprogramme in Hindi for showing in IA flights is absolutely baseless. As for Darpan, Alliance Air’s inflight magazine, the contract for its production was awarded to cmyk Multimedia Pvt Ltd, a sister concern of The Pioneer, by Alliance Air after competitive bidding. The agreement entered by Alliance Air gives it the discretion to distribute Darpan for inflight reading through its sister/ancillary companies for promotion of its commercial interest. This agreement does not bar Alliance Air from distributing the inflight magazine, inter alia, of IA or any other magazine for the travelling public on its inflights. Media Transasia approached the Delhi High Court with a prayer to restrain the IA’s Alliance Air from placing on board its flights, in its offices and in lounges at various airports in the country, any other inflight magazine except Swagat. The high court dismissed its application.
A.K. Vasisht,General Manager (PR), Indian Airlines
It is only the media which can believe someone like Parveen Babi who already has a history of psychiatric problems. The answers she gave for 10 Questions (August 26) prove beyond doubt that the lady is still suffering from delusions and hallucinations. She needs to be referred to a psychiatrist and not to a court of law.
Dr Jacob Jayakar, Ludhiana
Apropos Madhu Trehan’s Waterloo Country (September 2), it hit me hard when an American friend travelling all around the world recently commented: "I have visited many beautiful countries. India beats them all in its beauty. I wish they could just clean up a little, and it’ll be an unbeatable destination."
Vijay Raghavan, Beijing
The box The Colour of Money in the story All Out for No Loss (August 26) shows Air Sahara as a clashing sponsor to SA Airways for the World Cup. This is inaccurate as Sahara India Commercial Corporation Ltd is the sponsor of the Indian cricket team and not Air Sahara. There is no clash with SA Airways as your report seems to suggest.
Ravi Krishnan, MD, IMG-TWI South Asia
The Shivani Bhatnagar murder which hit the headlines about three years ago has resurfaced like a visitation from outer space baying for the blood of most unlikely persons (Muck Hits the Fan, August 26). The theory doing the rounds in political circles is that the charges against the bjp minister are being levelled merely to deflect attention from the most likely suspect, Ravi Kant Sharma, sounds convincing. Now that Pramod Mahajan’s reputation seems to have been maliciously sought to be besmirched just to cover a multitude of someone else’s sins, it becomes incumbent on him to face the situation boldly, mindless of all proprieties—legal or otherwise. He should go all out to submit himself to a DNA test and after proving his innocence, proceed to haul up the blackmailers in a court of law, taking the fight to the finish. To me, only such a course of action seems befitting an honourable person to salvage his reputation, besides teaching a lesson to the blackmailers.
Tarlok Singh, New Delhi
