For Parsees, support

• It was so heartening to find that the Indian Express has a place for such an...

• It was so heartening to find that the Indian Express has a place for such an article of great human value (‘Awaiting a second flowering’, IE, Dec 6). Indeed the cause of Parsees must be taken up by the Indian government and, more so, by Indians so that the “Khada Parsee” of my childhood remains alive and well to add immeasurable value to the rich cultural melting pot of the world called India. My heartfelt thanks to the writer and to this newspaper but he certainly missed out in not mentioning Polly Umrigar!

—Arun K. Potdar On e-mail

The right approach

• Apropos of ‘Pontiff in Looking Glass’ by T.V.R. Shenoy (IE, Dec 2), one cannot but admire the writer’s journalistic skills. Going through the media these days, it seemed that commentators are either for or against the Sankaracharya. Either they were terming his arrest as blasphemous, a political conspiracy, etc., or hailing it as a bold and necessary step. Shenoy has urged devotees to wait for the judicial process and very rightly invoked the precedent of Devi Sita. Anyway, Caesar’s wife has to be above suspicion. Significantly, Shenoy has also tried to clearly demarcate the difference between Jayendra Saraswati and ‘His Holiness The Sankaracharya of Kanchi’. The present incumbent is the 69th pontiff of the mutt. This means that 68 individuals before him have and many more after him will occupy this seat. Hence the significance of ‘The Sankaracharya’ nowhere gets diminished. Institutions are far greater than individuals as they live on for centuries unlike mortal beings.

— A. Jain New Delhi

Just accountability

• Bravo! The CBI has finally moved on the Tehelka case (‘Tehelka: CBI books Bangaru Jaya Jaitly’, IE, Dec 7). I suppose, after a few years, the case will be relegated to the backburner and lost to public consciousness. Isn’t that what happens most of the time with cases involving politicians? What has happened to the fodder scam case involving Laloo Prasad Yadav, the cases against L.K. Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case, and so many others? Apparently these cases only get resurrected occasionally to send a message to the public that the government is serious about accountability. If this is the state of accountability in our country, then it is little wonder that so many politicians get away with blue murder, amassing wealth far beyond their means, behaving like petty landlords or gangsters, bestowing favours as if they were royalty, while neglecting genuine issues of human rights and development.

—Suren Abreu Mumbai

Terror remains

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• This development once again proves that the withdrawal of forces from the border is a risky proposition and could invite a repeat of Kargil (‘Hizbul attack leaves Major, 8 jawans dead’, IE, Dec 6). Our neighbours only seem to create trouble in J&K and are not interested in any peace initiatives being taken by our government. They have to be replied to in the same language.

—Kishore Betrabet Pune

General agreement?

• General Musharraf’s plan to identify and divide Indian Kashmir into various zones is tantamount to dividing Pakistan into Baluchistan, Pakhtoonistan, Sindh, Punjabi Pak, Rabwa (for Ahmediyas), etc. Is this acceptable to President Sahib?

— S.C. Dutt Noida

EXCLUSIVE: EC brings in feature to check misuse of identity to seek voter list deletions

Political Pulse1 hr ago

The Election Commission has launched a new 'e-sign' feature on its portal and app to prevent fraud. This comes after allegations of misuse of online voter deletion forms in Karnataka. The feature requires voters to verify their identity using their Aadhaar-linked phone numbers, reducing the possibility of fraud.

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