Bridging the divide

The editorial, 8216;Smile please8217;, rightly emphasised better relations between big political parties and argued that had the Congress...

8226; The editorial, 8216;Smile please8217;, rightly emphasised better relations between big political parties and argued that had the Congress and the BJP got along with each other, a lot could have been achieved. The fact remains that the Congress and the BJP are the only genuine national parties. And, ideology excepted, these two parties often converge on policy. Therefore, even if the Congress and the BJP are unable to form a government together, they can nevertheless work together. Grand coalitions and political consensus across deep ideological divides have existed in Europe for long. The US too indulges in bipartisanship whenever needed. It is time India became something more than just the world8217;s largest democracy, that is, a mature and pragmatic democracy.

8212; M.C. Joshi Lucknow

False friends

8226; The NAM has been irrelevant for a long time 8216;Friends like these8217;. But, for some reason we have always treated it as a holy cow. In reality, the NAM was never more than a group of weak nations perceived as 8220;anti-West8221; because its members criticised the West while they preferred to look the other way when it came to Soviet crimes.

The NAM had described the ruthless suppression of the Hungarian uprising in 1956 as an 8220;internal matter of the USSR8221; but screamed 8220;aggression8221; when the UK, France and Israel acted against Arab countries. All this had exposed the dishonesty of the NAM. Now that the NAM has openly opposed our nuclear ambitions, it is time we stopped supporting the so-called 8220;non-aligned8221; countries.

8212; Satish Dayal

New Delhi

Leading light

8226; Uninterrupted rule has gone to the heads of CPM leaders 8216;Lights out in Raj Bhavan, Left targets Governor8217;, IE, May 8. Gopalkrishna Gandhi8217;s action vis-agrave;-vis the power crisis is too much for the CPM to stomach. The CPM seems to have forgotten that Gopalkrishna Gandhi8217;s grandfather was the Mahatma himself. Gandhi can be simple, but can the Marxists take it? They should recall how their stalwarts P. Sundarayya and EMS lived 8212; and both were from rich families. Either West Bengal doesn8217;t deserve the Marxists as its rulers or a gentleman like the present governor is in the wrong place.

8212; M.K.D. Prasada Rao

Ghaziabad

Red bullies

8226; This refers to the report 8216;We followed Maoist diktat, and resigned8217;. The murderous nature of the Maoists is now evident and they are arm-twisting politicians, including those of Bihar8217;s ruling parties. The report also shows the failure of the Bihar intelligence agencies in nabbing the Maoists. This was indeed the time for politicians across party lines to show some solidarity and defy the Maoist diktat. After the Maoist victory in Nepal, the Indian Maoists have been emboldened. This is a challenge to Nitish Kumar and he needs to be supported by all democratically minded parties.

8212; S.C. Panda

Bhubaneswar