Democracy talk

8226; Husain Haqqani's interesting column 8216;That soft, steady glow of democracy8217; IE, De...

8226; Husain Haqqani8217;s interesting column 8216;That soft, steady glow of democracy8217; IE, December 8 in defence of democracy in general and Indian democracy in particular should make every Indian hold his head high with pride. His comparison of Indian democracy with the dictatorial regimes of 8220;greater Middle East including Pakistan8221; should open the eyes of the people in those countries. However, Haqqani must remember that Indians have paid and continue to pay a very heavy price for being a democracy in the form of loss of lives of tens of thousands of innocent Indians at the hands of militants, terrorists and Naxalites whether in Punjab or in J038;K or in the vast tribal areas. It is for the surviving families of those victims to make a correct judgement of democracy and not for armchair intellectuals.

8212; G.S. Kulkarni Delhi

Narrow visions

8226; The latest move to amend the Constitution after the Supreme Court8217;s judgement shows up the narrowminded legislatures that we have. For the sake of vote bank appeasement we already have a draconian reservation policy. This continues and expands even after it has become obvious that we are losing our best talent due to such regressive policies.

8212; Kiran Pune

Bhandari report

8226; While one cannot accuse Volcker of having any motives in naming Natwar Singh and the Congress party in his report, the same is not applicable in case of, what needs to be termed as the Bhandari report on Iraq oil 8216;Natwar off its back, Congress gets an Iraq moment: targets Atal8217;, IE, December 8. In an interview to the Hindi edition of a weekly newsmagazine, without any specifics in support of his claim, Bhandari has said that he 8216;8216;learnt8217;8217; from 8216;8216;his sources8217;8217; that 8216;8216;a very close associate8217;8217; of Vajpayee had made money in oil deals through his friendships with one of the sons of the former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussain. He, however, refused to name the 8216;8216;very close associate8217;8217;. A separate inquiry should be set up for investigating the 8216;Bhandari report8217; and submitting its finding, say, within a month8217;s time. In case Bhandari8217;s allegation is proved, stringent legal action should be taken against not only the 8216;close associate8217; but also against Vajpayee and in case the allegation is false, Bhandari should bear the consequences.

8212; M.C. Joshi Mumbai

Nitish8217;s challenge

8226; Once he settles down, Nitish Kumar needs to undo the criminalisation of Bihar politics as well as weed out the corruption that has seeped into all levels of government. Nitish Kumar has to assure the people of Bihar of a new state in which future elections do not require the massive deployment of armed forces during the polls.

8212; Abdulruff Colachal New Delhi

Whither marriage?

8226; I could not understand the furore over Khushboo8217;s remarks on pre-marital sex. Particularly when the institution of marriage itself is under threat. A civilisation cannot stand still in time. It must either move forward to new pastures or backward into extinction. The changes in our global community are creating pressures to squeeze out the institution of marriage and pre-marital sex is just one of those pressures. For proof, look at Chile where a single mother of three is slated to become the next president after the
elections in December.

8212; C.J.M. Mathew Faridabad