FREQUENT reshuffles result in ministerial inefficiency and further scrambling for ministerial berths. Unprincipled exits and entries from cabinets in a controversial and irresponsible manner should be avoided. This week’s expansion of the Union cabinet, with the re-inclusion of Mamata Banerjee and Gingee Ramchandran, was totally uncalled for. A prime minister should have unrestricted right to choose his/her ministerial team by himself/herself — without any political considerations, the only curb being that the strength of the council of ministers not exceed 10 per cent of the total strength of the legislature. Only then can political blackmailing be avoided. — S.C. Agrawal, Delhi Musical chairs IT is amply clear from the Uttar Pradesh political scene that it is extremely lucrative to be a minister (‘Read their lips’, IE, September 9). That explains the desperate rush to leave no stone unturned for the majority of politicians to be on the ruling side all the time. This kind of shameless power mongering gives democracy a bad name. — Uma Anand, On e-mail Sharon’s bio I BEGAN to read ‘Hail Mogambo’ (IE, September 8) with a degree of amused anticipation. The sub-heading, “Why do we just love to hate Ariel Sharon? He’s India natural ally”, seemed to promise the prospect of ironic, satirical humour. How wrong could I be! What followed was a twisted melange where even derogatory remarks regarding Hindus were presented as inspiration from India. Not only this. There was not one reference to Sharon’s personal history of ethnic cleansing. Not one reference to an obscene record of personal involvement in the slaughter of innocents which dates back over half a century. — Leonard Abraham, On e-mail How can you compare Israel with India? It is a fact that Israel is an occupier. — Abraham, On e-mail IT seems that only the communists and erstwhile “socialists” seem to oppose Ariel Sharon’s visit to India which is actually path-breaking as we have the same problem as Israel: terrorism. If Egypt and Jordan can engage with Israel, why not us? — Niranjan Sridhar, On e-mail Case histories THE residents of Daman should file charges of criminal negligence amounting to homicide. Many experts have already given the opinion that disasters like that bridge collapse are going to occur more frequently. Citizens who are affected should sue the government/civic administration for criminal negligence. Once such liability claims are in court, the government will become more responsive and will move faster to indict those responsible. — Rajeev Kaul, On e-mail Future’s elsewhere SAM PITRODA’S report does not seem to have had any effect, as the Grand Old Party’s recent pronouncements in Parliament show (‘You need to play it again, Sam’, IE, September 7). The Congress’s blind opposition to privatisation, confusion on UP affairs, soft Hindutva, etc, indicate that it is still to get a grip on the challenges ahead. — K.S.C. Nair, On e-mail
