For elite ears

Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;The chatteranti8217; has aptly exposed and chastised the self-righteousness and selfishness of the social elite.

Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;The chatteranti8217; IE, December 6 has aptly exposed and chastised the self-righteousness and selfishness of the social elite. Their tears were nowhere visible when passengers on local trains were bombed. Lighting candles and calling for 8220;war8221; now may alleviate their guilt to some extent, but India will not forget or forgive them despite this show. The reason is partly that their hysteria and concern stem from the fact that it this glitterati has been directly hit. They now feel just as vulnerable as the rest of the citizenry. Thus have they come down from their high place. They should introspect before they put all the blame on the politicians.

8212;Tarsem Singh, New Delhi

It is amazing to see that the same social class that has always disavowed politics or the political process took to the streets only to blame politicians for everything wrong with India, and not just the Mumbai attacks. Shirkers for so long, these people do not have any moral right to decide now the course of action for the country. They have even less right to ask everybody to join their immature projects. The 8220;chatteranti8221; are people who have always eaten the cake without ever helping in the making of it. The poor and middle-class people who take the trouble to vote and have traditionally suffered because of the callousness of the state should tell the elite that the latter8217;s call for war or boycott of politicians is stupid.

8212;Rajeev Kumar, New Delhi

Mercury rising

Assuming that the poorer and the middle-classes 8220;return to the system8221; by turning up at polling booths to vote out 8220;bad8221; politicians, what good has it done till date? Kerala, for instance, where the polling percentage is comparatively high, has not had a repeat government for decades. Yet, successive governments have done little for the state. Whatever progress the state has made is in spite of the politician. True, nobody wants the military to run the country. If the elite 8212; intellectual and social 8212; the media and the professional classes are now coming out in hordes against politicians, it is only a manifestation of the frustration felt by the average Indian. The Mumbai attack only helped explode that frustration.

8212;Balakrishnan Unny, Gurgaon

In her own image

The report, 8216;Lucknow to get 6th Maya statue8217; IE, December 5, reveals Mayawati8217;s real and unfortunate priorities. It is indeed incredible that this self-proclaimed saviour of the deprived, who must have suffered that deprivation and discrimination in her younger days, is so egotistically obsessed with herself. Who can stop her going around erecting statues of herself at the cost of the public exchequer? To cover up her narcissism, Mayawati is also spending crores to build statues of other Dalit icons. She should be building primary schools, cheap houses, hospitals and roads instead.

8212;M. Ratan, Delhi