Apropos your cover story Confidence in Motion (September 1),
the no-trust vote was supposed to play up dissensions within the nda. Instead, it went on to reveal the discord within the Opposition ranks. Sonia still doesn’t have what it takes to be accepted as a coalition leader by the regional parties.
Smita Manian Kapoor, Bangalore
It’s clear the Congress under Sonia Gandhi lacks political vision, what with her own people now saying the move was a mistake. Her "nine charges" plan was also effectively countered by Sushma Swaraj. The whole thing was such a no-show since even Chandrababu Naidu had declared well in advance (the first time in five years) that he would go with the bjp—highly unlike his previous five-minutes-before-the-vote decisions. And on the question of George Fernandes, a patriot and nationalist, the Congress’ stand was curious. Its demand for tabling the cvc report in Parliament lacked rationale. Our defence-related matters are top secret and shouldn’t be made public. Remember the cabinet decision on a nuclear test by P.V. Narasimha Rao? It was leaked to the Americans the same night.
Kalavati Sonkar, Nagpur
What was the Congress trying to prove? That they’re still playing second fiddle in Parliament? If there was serious intent, there should’ve been an open debate on issues they were irked about rather than trying to force a feeble tug-of-war which they couldn’t win anyway. This was not the time to decry each other’s policies and efforts, creating a political fog that obscures the real issues. A constructive Opposition is the need of the hour. Not for the sake of the politicians, but for us, the masses!
Ramesh Menon, Thiruvananthapuram
The no-confidence motion was introduced by Sonia Gandhi to gauge the confidence she enjoyed with the Opposition in her quest to be PM. By using words that carried more of emotional meaning rather than factual assessment, she tried to rope in Opposition support. The latter, on its part, used it as a PR opportunity to increase its chances in vote-cornering rather than supporting Sonia. It’s doubtful if the true Indians in the Opposition will allow her to become PM. The voting in the LS was actually a vote of no-confidence for Sonia.
Geraldine H., Mumbai
The sorrow of it all is that apart from extolling Sonia Gandhi and her sasuraal, the Congress seems to have no purpose, political or otherwise.
Aminuddin Khan, On E-mail
Get real, Mrs Gandhi. First set your house in order and then go around toppling others.
B.P. Mohanty, Balasore, Orissa
Imagine the arrogance of the Congress and Sonia Gandhi, claiming that leaders jailed during the Emergency wrote letters to Indira Gandhi "pleading" for their release. This is an insult to all the innocent people who languished in jails during her draconian tenure.
Ritesh Ramesh, Chicago
Hats off to Bhavdeep Kang (On the Move) for crafting a well-balanced and neutral piece. It’s now time for the Congress chief to project senior leaders like Manmohan Singh for next year’s LS polls. By doing this, she can easily bury the ‘origins’ issue and book a place for herself in history.
K. Balaji, Chennai
The sole aim of the Congress motion was to project Sonia Gandhi as the next PM and Priyanka Gandhi as heir apparent—all at the expense of the Indian people. And despite some columnists projecting her as "confident", there seems to have been no other reason for such a waste of resources.
Vidudala Prasad, New York
Sonia Gandhi claims to be an Indian at heart, but she’s just exploiting her Gandhi connections to get to the throne. And those self-deceivers crowding around her are just clinging on for survival. They’ll have to ask their conscience whether they can accept a foreigner as PM.
K.S. Iyer, Mumbai
Rome has spoken, the cause is ended, it’s Sonia or bust. The howling alley, alas, saw the nine pins tumble...
A.S. Raj, On E-mail
With Jerusalem and Baghdad, now Mumbai is in the terror bracket (The Day That Shook India, Sept 8). "Anyone who doesn’t fight terror 100% of the time is a collaborator in the death of the victims...," says a writer witness to the Jerusalem blast. Isn’t it time we realised terror has the same poisonous roots? And that we need to realign with governments serious about fighting it. The Israeli PM’s visit should be a push in this direction—that country has been the target of terror more than any other. We also need to establish a clear foreign policy, as regards dealing with terrorism. But are we afraid to identify the enemy... in our bid at playing politics?
Zhya Jacobs, Mumbai
A thought on terror. What’s done by us, will be done unto us. With discord around the world, much of it in the shape of religious conflicts, it’s time we realised there is only one Almighty, just known by different names. The cosmic law of cause and effect operates constantly to give us back what we give to the world.
Dr Sarla Bhatnagar, Dubai
It’s sad to see so much praise heaped on someone who’s pushed Bihar to the very edge (No Full Stops in Lalooland, Sept 1). People there are tired of the crime, poverty and terrible living conditions. Outlook should send the writer to Bihar for awhile. A few weeks in Lalooland will set her right.
Nishant, Cincinnati, US
In a nation bereft of effective leaders, it is people like Laloo who shine. Even our two major mainline parties stand nowhere near their ideals, their allegations and counter-allegations just covering all of them in shame.
Vamsi Krishna, Hyderabad
You make Laloo sound like the answer to all of India’s ills. What has the man done? Robbed fodder meant for cows and installed an illiterate CM? The article would have been better in your ‘Surviving India’ issue.
B.P. Ray, On E-mail
Apropos Small Sips of Karma Cola (Sept 1). Five years ago, vhp activists had destroyed a few crates of Coke protesting US sanctions after Pokhran-II. Our one-Book(er) wonder and reigning diva of deprecation, Arundhati Roy, instantly took umbrage. She denounced the vhp activists in her End of Imagination piece. To perceive colas as representative of western interests, she thundered, is Hindu fundamentalism. Now she’s busy swallowing her own words since the protest has gone ‘secular’. Roy’s now urging us brain-dead folks to boycott the colas forthwith.
Raghu Reddy, Bangalore
Fascinating to find "India’s fashion diva" walking the corridors of power, and the pages of Outlook (Mantriji, Do You Watch ftv?, Sept 1), seeking government support for Indian designers on the plea that one-thousandth of the Rs 18,000 crore invested in an industry employing 93 million people "would enable one designer to soar". We assume that ‘one’ is her, for a "positive, multiplier effect on economic life". But if it’s public money, then we must have reservation, not to mention kickbacks!
Shankar Barua, On E-mail
The fashion industry’s great impact on the economy? All the money goes to a few ‘top designers’. Forget those absurd price tags, workers who create the ensembles are paid a pittance. And they talk of reviving Indian craftsmanship. Check this against the fairs of Bangalore’s Chitra Kala Parishad, where revenue accruing from garments sale goes directly to the rural craftspeople.
Mridula Udupa, Bangalore
So Beri isn’t the brainless nitwit type seen mouthing off on TV in tight T-shirts. Just one thing: the IT guys didn’t get a single paisa from the government, the latter just helped by not interfering in IT business.
Vishwanath Rao, Bangalore
In her letter (Force of Habit, Aug 25), Lubna Marium asserts that in Bangladesh "religious tolerance is more the norm than anywhere else in South Asia". If that’s true, then how come the percentage of Hindus there has come down to 9%, while it was 21% in ’71 (Amnesty International figures)?
Girish V. Wagh, Bangalore
While the thrust of the article on hudco (When Cottage Cheese Turns Sour, Aug 25) is on its 2002-03 operations, copies of documents reproduced pertain to communications between the urban development ministry and hudco on certain broad principles for funding state government agencies and support to housing for the weaker sections in Jan-Feb ’02 —which has no bearing on the article. Since the referred letters were addressed to me when I was cmd and were appropriately dealt with keeping in view hudco/government policies, their inclusion here gives an entirely different and mischievous slant. More so when I had retired in June ’02.
V. Suresh, Bangalore
Apropos Boozers are Choosers in Krishna Prasad’s Bangalore diary (Sept 1), he attributes the phrase "...reaches parts other... cannot reach" to the Absolut ads. It’s actually from the Heineken ones. Cheers.
Sunil Gupta, On E-mail
Apropos Zia’s Secret Star of David, Aug 11, Congressman Charlie Wilson calling India hypocritical and a volunteer satellite of the Soviets is like the kettle calling a pot black. The US foreign policy, like that of India, was then governed by the geostrategic compulsions of Cold War. How else did the greatest democracy, which swears by the ‘values’ of Woodrow Wilson et al, support the likes of Marcos in Philippines, Shah of Iran and military regimes in Pakistan? Instead of facilitating Sheikh Mujibur Rehman’s democratic claims in the undivided Pakistan, the US government forced India deeper into the hands of the Soviets by sending their 7th Fleet into the Bay of Bengal as a gesture in support of the Pakistani regime. For India to remain close to the Soviets was a geo-political and geo-strategic compulsion. For once Wilson is correct, that India changed very quickly once the ussr collapsed. For that matter, a lot more in our world changed thereafter.
S.K. Makhija, Bhopal
Diversifying Punjab’s crop patterns to pulses and oilseeds is most timely (Sowing Pains, Aug 25). It’ll restore fertility and reduce imports—pulses, oilseeds being in short supply.
Dr Vidya Sagar, New Delhi
