Your article L’Affaire Celibacy (October 16) reflects the real dilemma the Church finds itself in regarding the marital status of its clergy. As a Muslim, I would like to point out that apart from celibacy there are other problems for which the Church has no solution. The reason being the Church straying from the real teachings of Christ. Today’s Church follows mostly what Paul has substituted in place of the teachings of Jesus. But Jesus says "He that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). For example, in Paul’s view salvation can be achieved by a mere belief in Christ, whereas Jesus says very clearly that salvation can be achieved only by following the Mosaic Law (Matthew 5:17-20, 19:16-19). He further says "Think not that I’ve come to destroy the Law of the Prophets, I have not come to destroy but to fulfill it". Therefore without an unequivocal commandment from Christ, nothing, leave alone celibacy, can be imposed on unsuspecting followers by the Church. Thus unless the Church breaks itself free from the shackles of Paul’s interpretation of Christianity, it can’t achieve salvation for its followers.
A. Faizur Rahman, Chennai
Outlook has descended to such low depths that it had to put a Chanakya and the great Indian National Congress flag into a dustbin on its cover. Even my grandchildren were terribly upset with your cover. Rao has been regarded as a clean leader in his five decades of political life. The 1989 St Kitts case and Rao, who was then minister for foreign affairs, decided to retire from public life in 1990 and refrained from even contesting elections in 1991. But fate intervened and he became the Prime Minister when he was not even a member of Parliament.
He headed a minority government which later attained majority and lasted the full term. He initiated several progressive measures and saved the nation from several crises. He hasn’t touched any of the scams and his hands are clean. PV and the INC both are great. The charges against him are biased.
P.S.K. Rao, Secunderabad
Apropos Please Save the Party (October 9), I was shocked to read the opinion of Vinod Mehta for whom I have the highest regard since he was editor of the Indian Post in Bombay and lost his job because of his transparent views published against the Congress government then in power. Now the Congress has destroyed itself through corruption and alleged embezzlement of funds with a number of its prominent leaders facing or likely to face charges in the Indian courts.
R.N. Vaswani, Mumbai
Your cover story Can Kesri Pull the Party Out of the Rut? (October 9) should be read along with Vinod Mehta’s opinion piece. Sitaram Kesri is an octogenarian and asking him to revive the party is nothing short of conducting a fertility campaign. Sukh Ram’s statement alleging that the money found in his house by the CBI was handed over to him by Kesri will tarnish the party’s image. Vinod Mehta is sincere when he says that the Congress should not die, but who can be its saviour? Karunakaran, Rajesh Pilot and Sharad Pawar are capable only of raising vacuous slogans. Antony is unpredictable, and he arouses curiosity in people because he is too honest—a disqualification in politics. Robert Browning loved human beings but hated humanity. There are people who hate Rao but love the Congress. The World Bank recently threatened not to give loans to corrupt nations. Congress, once synonymous with the Independence struggle is a stinking gutter today. Let not future historians write an epitaph saying that the Congress was born to die with disgrace. A rejuvenated Congress is the need of the hour.
U.S. Iyer, Bangalore
This refers to Mark Tully’s No Fullstops for Hindi...Yet (October 9) decrying the prestige of English in India at the cost of regional languages, and Hindi.
A shameful dimension of this craze for English, even half-a-century after Englishmen left, is the tendency of the country’s children to address their parents and relatives in English—Dad/Daddy, Mom/Mummy, uncle, aunty. I can’t think of anything more colossally shameful to our national sense of self-respect. Where is the music of addressing one’s mother as ma or amma (and its equally mellifluous equivalents in other regional languages), in English?
A second dimension is, of course, the creation of generations of Indians who are language eunuchs without the adequate felicity either in their mother tongue or in English. This is a great cultural tragedy for India.
Norma Louis, Mumbai
Apropos Indian Heat in Toronto (October 2), the themes of Fire and Kamasutra were very thought-provoking. The heat may have been on in Toronto, but its warmth was felt here as well. The accolades that filled the media signified that we as a society have come of age. As for the ladies (Mehta and Nair), who made these films, they have demonstrated that they are no longer "tender Indian flowers" but confident, bold and thinking Indians.
Puneet Chhabra, Noida (UP)
Apropos Indian Heat in Toronto (October 2), the themes of Fire and Kamasutra were very thought-provoking. The heat may have been on in Toronto, but its warmth was felt here as well. The accolades that filled the media signified that we as a society have come of age. As for the ladies (Mehta and Nair), who made these films, they have demonstrated that they are no longer "tender Indian flowers" but confident, bold and thinking Indians.
Puneet Chhabra, Noida (UP)
What’s Your Answer?
Judging by the number of headlines hobbled by question marks (8) in the October 9 issue of Outlook, you seem to be groping for answers like us mere mortals.
M.P. Yashwant Kumar, Bangalore
Your article Petroleum Piracy (September 25), overlooked one vital aspect: if P.K. Roy of HPCL says that coded seals are put on products at outlet points where they can’t be tampered with undetected, how do transporters gain access to products inside and adulterate them, when they are delivered with seals in perfect shape?
We feel there’s a nexus between the transporter and some person inside the loading point who helps fix seals so they can be removed enroute and replaced later.
Again, Roy’s statement that the responsibility for quality and quantity of petroproducts rests with the customer is not true in case of petrol and diesel, both products which are priced at the delivery location rate, and for which responsibility for correct quantity and quality lies with the supplying corporation.
A.S. Dikshit, (President, Federation of All Maharashtra Petrol Dealers’ Association), Pune
