For once, your economy special (April 3) seemed to portray a balance between the euphoria of a resurgent India and the reality of a sleeping, crawling, bleeding giant that our country is. One or two financial years of 8 per cent growth cannot and should not overshadow the harsh truth of unemployment, poverty, farmer suicides and growing lawlessness in the nation. Bimal Jalan in his lead article, Cloud on Silver, offers some real good suggestions for keeping up this surprise growth rate. But who will bell the cat, so to speak, of administrative complacency? Can we Indians expect these kind of reforms from a government that prefers to close the Parliament session sine die to avoid embarrassment?
Ameet Bhuvan, Bhubaneshwar
A couple of years ago, when our economy touched 8 per cent for the first time, our Sensex reached 7k, and there was plenty all around, the nda government ran an ad campaign that proclaimed India Shining. Everybody, Outlook too, ridiculed it and showcased farmer suicides, hunger deaths and human rights violations. Cut to 2006: we’re chasing 10 per cent growth, the sensex is reaching a new high. Farmers are still hanging themselves, a part of Orissa’s still eating mango kernels. There’s one difference. The government’s changed. So have Mr Mehta’s colours. Now he’s basking in the sunshine of robust capital markets and the gdp. The dark spots? What, where, how?
S. Subramaniam, on e-mail
All this talk of sensex at 11k, double-digit gdp growth, fdi etc is nothing but hoodwinking laymen like me who in Feb ’04 took a home loan at 7.25 per cent during the nda regime, which in two years of upa has gone up to 9.5 per cent. State of the nation? 65 per cent farming households in prosperous Punjab stand indebted, 370 farmers of Maharashtra have killed themselves in less than two years. How can India smile or shine, when 81 per cent of its people still live below US $2 a day, and corruption is king, be it Bofors beneficiaries going free, Volckergate come and gone or Scorpene muddying political waters?
Raj Bharadwaj, Mumbai
Telecom man Sunil Mittal makes a compelling case for a second green revolution in his piece Time For Kisan Jam. But isn’t it sad that he wants this for making mangoes cheaper for folks in the US than to the Indians in India who grow them. As a man who’s built up his own business on the basis of our mind-bending population total and density, it’s a profound indicator of the prevailing business ethics of the day that he hasn’t even cared to mention his hungry brethren in his column.
Shankar Barua, on e-mail
Sunil Mittal pioneered the telecom revolution with astounding results for the economy. We’re grateful to him for that. Agriculture needs a thorough overhaul but do see what Tesco’s done in its own homeland. It’s charged with ruinous monopolistic practices and destroying local communities. As in telecom, we should aim at a competitive market with space for all.
Smita Purushottam, London
Is it intended to be ironic, showing an African elephant on your contents page under the slogan India Marching? You have India Smiling on the cover, but for all the concern you show for them, the Indian poor might as well be in Africa.
Vijay Nambisan, Lonavla
What’s there to get so excited about Sonia Gandhi’s apparent ‘second sacrifice’ (Queen’s Side Castle, Apr 3)? Firstly, she is the leader of the single-largest party in the government. Her writ already runs large in the corridors of power. She doesn’t really need the post of an MP or of the chairperson of the National Advisory Committee to get things done her way. Secondly, she is the leader of the Congress(I). This guarantees her renomination whenever elections to Rae Bareli are held, which might not be the case with the other MPs caught in this controversy. Agreed, it was a masterstroke, but was it done with a clear conscience? Sorry to shatter your glass palace, Mr Mehta. It wasn’t.
Meenakshisankar M., Chennai
Sonia-bashing has become an obsession with the bjp and allies. While her resignation may not be a supreme sacrifice, it required tremendous moral courage and conviction to do what she did. Let’s give her credit for that. To dismiss her act as hollow, easy theatrics is plain cynicism. How come the ‘holier-than-thou’ politicians of the Opposition who are holding offices of profit haven’t shown the same gumption and resigned?
Ramani Easwaran, Bangalore
Why do we glorify political masterstrokes? Unlike in cricket, these don’t do any good to the country. What Sonia did was for her own good.
Aseem S. Johri, Toronto
The Great Resignation Tamasha isn’t anything new. History repeats itself. Only, one didn’t expect it to do so, so soon. Hark back just 37 years, to 1969—the famous split in the Congress, the resignations and the nomination of a presidential candidate, V.V. Giri, against the party’s official nominee, Sanjeeva Reddy. The seeds of the Emergency were sown during these events. Why did Sonia resign? It’s a new twist to that old soap tale: Kyunki bahu bhi ab saas ban gayi.
T.R. Ramaswami, Mumbai
The events of the past week, when Sonia Gandhi fell victim to her own disgusting attempts at humiliating a former friend of her family, did no one any good. But there had to be someone to do a drum roll a la D.K. Barooah, and now that Indira’s no more, it had to be a comparison between her and her daughter-in-law followed by a quote from Shakespeare in Sonia’s praise. After Barooah, there was a Giani Zail Singh who offered to sweep the streets of Delhi on Indira’s command and got the presidentship of India for his effort. It’s your turn now, Mr Mehta. Let’s see where this takes you.
Mehul Kamdar, Appleton, US
Vinod Mehta’s assertions make me laugh. Does he really think his readers are fools? It’s clear that Sonia was hoist with her own petard. She tried to hurt Jaya Bachchan, but victimising the small fry boomeranged on her.
Ravindra Kalia, Lucknow
Whether it was the great renunciation edition a year or two back, or Edition II now, which wasn’t as sensational as the preceding one, Sonia Gandhi has proved that there is no politician of her stature in this nation. Her resignation could not have been better-timed. She has mastered the craft of pulling the Congress out of trouble from nowhere and bolstering it even further. She herself emerges demi-goddess, martyr and the party benefits by translating the sympathy into votes.
Sameer A. Hashmi, Bangalore
It is unbelievable how Prem Shankar Jha is still not willing to take any middle ground in Kashmir (By Force of Dead Habit, Apr 3). But after 60 long years of gloom and bloodshed, Kashmir too has come a long way. Though the issue has so far been an Indo-Pak affair, the newer Kashmiri generation questions the very claim of both the countries. It’s quite difficult to predict the future at this stage, but it seems unlikely that an Indo-Pak resolution, however magnanimous it may be, will eventually be acceptable to the real people of Kashmir. For six decades, the Indian establishment has been apathetic towards Kashmir, but it might as well be too late.
Gul Nawaz Qanungo, Srinagar
‘Retired? I’m not interested in the question’ says Sachin (Apr 3). It’s sad how one bad performance makes us forget the many glorious knocks he has played. Why do we raise him to the skies one day and get ready to bury him the very next? Statistics never tell the whole story. They don’t show the unfortunate runouts, the dubious decisions. Sachin still has a lot of cricket left in him. Just let him be.
P.P.S. Chawla, Indore
Agreed that Sachin is a good batsman. But the question of retirement should be addressed to selectors, not him.
Dhanya Menon, Mumbai
Way to Go, says Vinod Mehta in his editorial (April 3). But the sole thing Sonia Gandhi’s ‘transition’ from Profiteer to Propheteer shows is the lack of character on the part of the Congress. The party has traditionally been adept at converting vices into virtues, but the move could just boomerang on Madam just as the one to disqualify MPs holding dual positions in the government. Current gloating notwithstanding.
Pramod K. Kureel, New Delhi
The best the Gandhi family could do for this country, Mr Mehta, is to get out of politics completely.
Inder Bir Singh, New Delhi
The item Spilt Milk All Over the Floor (Newsbag, Apr 3) on Dr Verghese Kurien’s exit from Amul says that the finance ministry ordered a probe into nddb functioning following Dr Kurien’s allegations. The nddb has enclosed letters from both the ministry and the PMO saying no such probe has been ordered. We regret the error.
