Seldom do you find an issue as alarming as our endangered wildlife (Animal Rites, Mar 28) making it to the cover of a recognised magazine. That’s an ominous index in itself. But how can we stop it? The hunting of these animals, either for gain or for pleasure, will continue because the people responsible for it are not cognisant of the seriousness of this issue nor are they strictly dealt with by the lackadaisical authorities.
Priyak Purkayastha, Calcutta
Reading your cover story on India’s disappearing wild heritage made me seethe with rage. This inexorable destruction of wildlife and its habitat is not very surprising, given two realities in India: an exploding human population and self-serving, unscrupulous politicians. A lethal combination indeed for the forests and wild animals who have the misfortune of being found in this land and one that will ensure Sariskas and Pannas keep getting depleted.
Vikram Singh Chauhan, Jabalpur
Sariska’s missing tigers are just the warning tip of the proverbial iceberg. Tigers elsewhere are in danger and are condemned—if steps are not taken—to join a lengthening list of the world’s extinct species. Rather than seeing local forest inhabitants, mainly tribals, as deserving of government largesse, they could be drawn into a more meaningful role as forest protectors.
Meghana A.A., Hyderabad
We should not be too surprised, the tiger is bound to disappear soon. Look around us at society, at the centres of power today, at our modern-day maharajas, the kings of the urban jungles. We should not be under any misconceptions—the days of the tiger are over. It is now the time of the jackal and of the vulture—one will hunt only in packs (Delhi post Indira Gandhi, Gujarat post Godhra), and the other will appear to pick up and devour what’s left of you (our netas, once in five years).
Bharatram Gaba, Bombay
Way back in 1972 Indira Gandhi launched ‘Project Tiger’ when the official count was only 4,000 tigers in the wild in our country. That project, with a large number of officials, vehicles and equipment, has been functioning all along. But its output is there for all of us to see. Truth is, it is a crime to rely on bureaucrats of any department in this country and expect positive results. If Manmohan Singh genuinely wants to save the remaining tigers, he should keep all government officials out of this task force and empower only those genuinely interested in preserving the flora and fauna.
H. Rajagopal, Mysore
Shocking that even the so-called safe havens for wildlife are no longer safe. The Rajasthan government has much explaining to do on why no tigers can be found in Sariska and Ranthambore despite rigorous search. There is a nexus between the park ‘guardians’ and the poachers. It’s time we put all our national parks under the central government so that funds, technology and committed forces could be inducted to save the remaining wildlife. The objections by the state governments to such takeover should not stand in the way of central intervention given the fact that they have by and large failed miserably to protect wildlife. Most of the national parks in the US are maintained by the federal government.
D.B.N. Murthy, Bangalore
It was Charles Darwin who coined the theory of the survival of the fittest. But I doubt he had taken into consideration the massive artificial interference mankind would indulge in in the environment around.
Amitabh Thakur, Lucknow
These animals have fallen prey to man’s faulty vision, which ignores interests that do not serve a clear purpose. There’s clear evidence that the depletion of our forests is the fallout of our mindless exertions for commercial gain. The crisis demands a redefinition of our relation with nature, especially with animals who cannot articulate their anguish. No point in adhering to ideas whose execution means the end of flora and fauna.
Arvind K. Pandey, Allahabad
The disappearance of a large number of tigers from the Sariska sanctuary shows the kind of apathy with which we treat our national heritage, indeed nature itself, to which we too belong. Even a tsunami-like disaster wasn’t enough to open our eyes.
Siddhartha Raj Guha, Jabalpur
Your story just shows how inhuman human beings are. We have to save not just the tiger habitat, but other animals too. The government of course has to wake up from its slumber and protect our wildlife. At the same time it’s also the responsibility of us individuals to do what we can. Shun animal products, to begin with.
Rajesh Karanth, Bangalore
Makes me wonder who the real beasts in this world are, man himself or these hapless animals.
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi
The denial of a visa to Narendra Modi is an insult to the nation (All-American Grand Slam, Apr 4). What he did was our internal business and the US has no right to act as a judge. Especially since it is so tolerant of Pakistan, a theocratic dictatorship that supports terrorism and indulges in trade of nuclear technology.
J.N. Bhartiya, on e-mail
True to form, we indulged in a lot of chest-beating and invoking of patriotism when Narendra Modi was denied a visa. It’s a shame a foreign power had to officially recognise Modi’s responsibility in inciting and approving genocide in his state. Our political class failed to do so despite irrefutable evidence in the media and findings of the government-appointed inquiry commission. Where was Gujarati pride when the rule of law disappeared for three days? The right place for Modi is a cell in a jail, not the gaddi of the CM. It’s time we realised that getting elected in the democratic process cannot put such people above the law of the land.
D.V.R. Rao, on e-mail
The US government has cancelled Modi’s visa at the behest of Christian missionaries for he’s seen as a Hindu leader. But when someone like Benny Hinn visits India, central leaders like Margaret Alva and Oscar Fernandes go down to meet him in Bangalore.
S.S. Nagaraj, Bangalore
There’s no denying that the US is a bully and needs to lay off our affairs. But I’m happy that the nri community has been able to achieve a moral victory against someone like Modi.
Damini Kapoor Chintamani, Mumbai
India should have from the beginning tried to keep the issue of Tibetan independence alive and given it full support (Way Off Middle, Mar 28). It would only have been in our interest as all our major rivers originate from Tibet—should China get to control the source itself, India could face serious problems. We Indians look at international matters without looking at what’s in our national interest. Blame it on the ignorance of our mandarins and our politicians.
J.S. Acharya, Hyderabad
Every political party worth its name in Kerala collects money from the public, officials, businessmen, contractors and liquor barons (The Marx Bros Inc, Mar 28). The difference is that while 90 per cent of the money the cpi(m) collects goes to the party coffers, the collections of other parties, including the Congress and the bjp, makes its way to individual leaders’ pockets. They have no reason to cry foul of the prosperity of the Marxists.
C.P. Nair, on e-mail
It is indeed high time that the judiciary was made accountable as Prashant Bhushan so aptly points out in his column Teflon-Coated Robes (Mar 28). If this continues, the day may not be far when our ‘honourable’ judges will be tried summarily by the people directly in their own courts on the roadsides. I have no hesitation in saying that among the three organs of the Indian state, it’s the judiciary that has failed the citizens the most. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution has also reported, "We have arrived at a situation in the judicial administration where courts are deemed to exist for judges and lawyers and not for the public seeking justice." The growth of crime is actually a result of the failure of the judiciary.
Maj (retd) P.M. Ravindran, on e-mail
Who’re you kidding with write-ups like Stoop to Conquer (Mar 28) and the bjp’s constitutional sins when the culprits are in a different camp? Since you insist on publishing the old history of dirty politics, let me remind you about this prominent Dalit MP who switched loyalty so often that the phenomenon came to be known as Aya Ram, Gaya Ram. Defections, mostly the ingenious produce of the Congress, became so rampant that governments disappeared and resurfaced overnight, all with the blessings of Indira Gandhi.
Raj Bharadwaj, Mumbai
I am 19 years old. Reading about this political circus, I seriously wonder whether the vote I am entitled to cast now is worth anything.
Akshay Kumar, Bangalore
The late J.N. Dixit was certainly the best choice to advise the PM on external affairs. And there’s hardly anyone today who can compete with him in matters relating to our relationship with Pakistan or Sri Lanka. His sudden demise is definitely a setback but to blame M.K. Narayanan is not correct (They Killed Him..., Mar 28). Both Dixit and Narayanan are the most competent professionals in their fields and respected each other’s expertise in their fields.
R.S. Subramanyam, Chennai
Your story dwelt on the lack of counter-intelligence in raw that led to the escape of Rabinder Singh and the role of the two key players, Amar Bhushan and N.K. Sharma. In fact, it was lack of leadership at the top that was, and still is, the root cause of all ills in raw. Amar Bhushan should have left raw three years ago but he refused to vacate his old posts, even as he took on new ones. At one point of time he wore three hats, by virtue of which he controlled administration, personnel, budget, and incidentally, counter-intelligence. No one in the chain of command--secretary-raw, the nsa or the pmo--had the gumption to show him the door. As for N.K. Sharma, he had ‘greatness thrust upon him’ when the joint secretary in charge of security moved on and no one was posted as his relief. But despite a new-found swagger and a larger circumference of his hat, Sharma found it difficult to cope given his lack of experience as a professional spy. raw had several competent and experienced officers who could have been assigned the job of counter-intelligence on a full-time basis. But why it was left to those who had neither the time nor the acumen needs to be probed.
Maj Gen V.K. Singh, Gurgaon
A cracker of a story.
Y.P. Trivedi, New Delhi
Dixit may have asked Narayanan how many Malayalees he wanted in the pmo, but since Dixit, son of the late Malayalam litterateur Munshi Paramu Pillai and his equally Malayali wife, was the seniormost Malayali officer in the pmo. In this sense, it wasn’t the repartee many think it was.
Hari Gopalakrishnan, Mumbai
It’s an insult to a senior diplomat like Dixit that the pressures mounting from power play killed him. There are thousands of people in politics and business who have to live with such situations. They just have to learn how to manage it.
Anitha Tharian, Zurich
The story was a big letdown. It hardly had any substance in it and seemed a plant by interested people in raw and IB.
Nutan Thakur, Lucknow
Top Her Up With Jatropha (Mar 28). Exactly what the country needs. At a time when the demand for petroleum-based fuels is going up every day, the Indian government should seriously think about introducing biofuels on a massive scale on the lines of ethanol-blended fuel in Brazil.
M. Madhavan, Mumbai
Your report Now a Cure That Kills (Mar 21), where you say epf and lic have been asked to repay Dabhol foreign debt, is factually incorrect. No proposal from any company dealing with Dabhol Power Corporation or spv was ever received by lic.
Executive Director (PR&CC), LIC, Mumbai
Our correspondent replies: The SBI, on behalf of the Gas and Power Investment Company (gapic) set up to repay Dabhol’s foreign debts, wrote on Feb 24, 2005, to the epfo, "The major promoters of gapic wish to offer this investment opportunity to bulk investors like epfo, lic, etc". The sbi has not contested the existence of this letter signed by its deputy general manager.
I was surprised to read your Bangalore Diary (Mar 28) carping on Infy and Wipro being granted government land, given the other dubious reasons governments in India ‘donate’ land for. At least Infy and Wipro put their cash to good use, whether in business or in charity. How many other corporates getting free land in Karnataka can say that?
Ila Bhat, on e-mail
You rightly highlight the undue importance our IT industry enjoys. If these ceos grumble about Bangalore infrastructure, the media gets excited for days together, forgetting problems in other cities. Their demand for two lakh sq ft of subsidised land reminds me of the amusing statement made recently by the ceo of a top branded hospital chain to build one in each of nearly 600 districts while people just cry for higher investment on better sanitation and clean drinking water. The craze for IT is so deep that the much-publicised ‘knowledge economy’ is often a euphemism for advancing IT interests to the neglect of other industries.
S. Subramanyan, Mumbai
Well, well, well.... I think Indians are not dumb. Most of us know about the bjp doublespeak—isn’t that what you expect from any political party these days? However, it does not make them any worse than their main adversary, the Congress (Stoop to Conquer, Mar 28). The Congress has been the most corrupt, feudal and opportunist party which has given India nothing but dynastic rule while it has been in power. The bjp may have old-fashioned, right-wing ideas but at least they give voters a choice other than the Congress. Simply stating that the bjp whips up Hindu sentiments does not help. Is caste or language-based politics any better than religion-based politics? We Indians should demand more transparency (whatever happened to the Lokpal bill?) and performance from our elected governments. Political parties will be corrupt, opportunistic, self-serving, attention-seeking and short-sighted. It’s the society which needs to build checks and balances.
V.G. Prakash, Sydney, Australia
Your article The Ink Is Still Wet (Apr 4) quotes me as saying, "(U.R. Ananthamurthy) said Indian writers in English were like prostitutes since they wrote with an eye on the money and global reach it offers." The comparison of Indians writing in English with prostitutes was made not by Shri Ananthamurthy, but by another vernacular writer in Neemrana. The rest of the statement, however, is correct. My involvement in the rehearsal of the play while I was talking to your correspondent may have led to the mix-up.
Girish Karnad, Bangalore
