Ancient mariner

Zakaria8217;s views

8226; That was an insightful interview of Fareed Zakaria by Shekhar Gupta IE, January 20. This kind of rigour and perspective is becoming rarer in contemporary journalism. Though one would agree that Zakaria has reflected at length on a variety of issues, he does not seem well-informed on the crises facing Indian Muslims. He thus ends up seeing modernity as a panacea for them from a panoptical view of New York. Factory-based modernisation has deprived thousands of Muslims from their traditional occupations. This one dimensional modernism is being increasingly question- ed in the post-modern era. There have been traditions in India which have innate progressive elements within them and are inclusive in their ethos.

8212; Deependra Baghel Bhopal

8226; Apropos of Fareed Zakaria8217;s interview, I cannot recall having met a Muslim who does not want to learn English or computers because he thinks he will lose his identity.

8212; Shoukat A Turabi On e-mail

8226; Fareed Zakaria is a celebrated journalist of high calibre. He perceives the problems of Indian Muslims from the right angle. I feel that the Muslim middle class needs leadership and guidance from the Azmis, Akhtars, Kalams, Shahrukh Khans, Zakarias8230;to name a few. It is not enough that they show the ills in society. I hope they contribute to curing those ills too.

8212; Kirit Desai On e-mail

He8217;s not shining

8226; In 8216;Is India Shining?8217; IE, January 20, Mani Shankar Aiyar suffers from the problem of selective blindness. Much as he seeks to trivialise the 8.3 per cent growth in GDP by going with long-term averages, perhaps he would put Manmohan Singh8217;s achievements in perspective over half a century of stagnant Congress rule. Maybe he would also care to explain why he still quotes statistics from the old Indian economy which was driven by agriculture and not services 8212; not letting droughts jeopardise our economy is precisely the goal we should strive for in the long run. And, lastly, we would all be well served by learning how a trillion dollars in foreign reserves will help anyone unless the money is reinvested? The Golden Quadrilateral is an example of government money well spent, which will help boost infrastructure and bring in the very same foreign investment Aiyar talks about.

8212; Uday Ayyagari On e-mail

8226; Aiyar has put it very well: 8220;the alliance is to bring together all those who oppose the parties whose ideological orientation and nationhood goals are indistinguishable from those who conspired to murder the Mahatma8221;. That is what truly what the next election is all about. To get rid of people who are trying to re-write history, as we know it, and who are trying to re-establish 8220;Sanadhana adharma8221;.

8212; Jagannathan Kanniah On e-mail