• Apropos of the editorial, ‘Hold Advani to his word’ (IE, March 17), it will definitely be in the nation’s interest if the Government and Opposition are on the same wave length. L.K. Advani spoke well with Shekhar Gupta in ‘Walk The Talk’ but we cannot rely on his words. He is not even listening to his own party MPs and MLAs in Gujarat, how we can expect him to co-operate with opponents? Also, his party’s attitude is undemocratic in Parliament. — Divyesh Raythatha Dover Name mania • Is AP really short of distinguished people? To name two, there was Tanguturi Prakasam, the first Andhra CM. Then there was P.V. Narasimha Rao, the first man from the state to become PM. The new airport could be named after either of them. Why must everything be named after members of the Nehru family? — M. Chandrasekhar Ghaziabad • The Andhra people do not forget it was Rajiv Gandhi who insulted the Dalit Congress leader and chief minister, Anjaiah. — G.N. Setty Sydney More on Shakti • The sting operation on Shakti Kapoor has revealed many shameful truths. Yet, it is really astonishing that it should come into the limelight in this manner (‘Stinging Shakti Kapoor for news’, IE, March 15). — Monika Rawal New Delhi • It’s shameful how this writer, being a woman, condones such a sleazy act. Such exploitation will never stop unless it is exposed in this way. — Archana Los Angeles • For some journalists, blackmailing is a workable proposition that is easily cashable. The media should investigate the personal lives of its own people. — Atar K. Kaul Ahmedabad • The reaction of the BJP over the Shakti Kapoor episode smacks of desperation. The politicisation of the ‘sting’ episode appears a frantic bid for survival of both India TV and the BJP. — Huma Hasan Aligarh Who’s democratic? • I strongly protest against Mukesh Meshran’s letter (IE, March 16) against the RSS. It was none other than the Congress that allowed partition, created innumerable communal riots and declared Emergency. Now comes its undemocratic politics in Jharkhand and Goa. Meshran must know it was the NDA government that has better protected the Constitution. There were less than five amendments during its rule. Congress rule saw some 90 amendments. — Harish Awasthi New Delhi • In Mangalore, Akhil Bharatiya Patinidhi Sabha ideologues objected to “reservation on the basis of religion”, saying that they should not be extended to people from religions other than Hinduism. This is a calculated distortion. First, reservations for Scheduled Castes never had anything to do with religion: they try to counteract centuries of oppression. Every religion has its Dalits. The RSS’s stand is an admission that the religion it claims to represent has created and maintained the most foul and noxious discrimination in human history. — Mukul Dube Delhi
