Individuals in focus

Shekhar Gupta8217;s emphasis on the personality factor was accurate 'Single personality disorder'.

8226;Shekhar Gupta8217;s emphasis on the personality factor was accurate 8216;Single personality disorder8217;. The Left seems to be governed by the intransigence of one individual, Prakash Karat. The BJP cannot strengthen the PM8217;s hands because the 8220;wrong person8221; is negotiating the deal. But L.K. Advani, another individual, lacks Vajpayee8217;s vision about long-term national interests that should transcend short-term party interests.

Manmohan Singh8217;s only fault is that he is an apolitical person who rose to power thanks to his political bosses. His only initiative was on the nuclear deal, which he discharged professionally. The draft leaves little to be desired and there was no forum more appropriate than the G8 summit for publicising the IAEA submission. This determined action from the single individual, Singh, is the biggest triumph. It will show that he was, after all, not a weak PM.

8212; A.N. Mitra

Delhi

8226;Shekhar Gupta8217;s article was thought-provoking. However, it has to be acknowledged that Manmohan Singh was always perceived to be a de jure, and not the de facto, PM. This tempted his colleagues, UPA constituents, the Left and the BJP to attack him. Singh deserves credit for holding on and discharging his duties fairly well. Likewise, he has handled the nuclear deal wisely. Singh8217;s critics couldn8217;t stomach this fact. When these people could not target the deal any longer, they resorted to criticising the person behind the deal. If the deal wins, history will judge the PM rightly.

8212; H.S. Gur Hisar

Population engineering?

8226;This refers to 8216;Fertility rate in India still very high: experts8217;. Family planning in India was voluntarily adopted by the educated middle class. There are few middle-class families with more than two children. But the poor and illiterate didn8217;t or couldn8217;t do so. Therefore, their families continued to expand and they have failed to secure their children education and other necessities. Educated and healthy people are a nation8217;s assets. Clearly, India8217;s population explosion is parallelled by a proportionate drop in talent. In place of population control, the government should extend its mission from family planning to population planning by providing health and education services to the poor and illiterate, where such benefits are linked to their family size.

8212; Hara Lal Chakraborty

Kolkata

Entrenched minorities

8226;Pratap Bhanu Mehta has rightly observed that 8220;The concept of secular citizenship is almost dead in India8221; 8216;Partitions of the mind8217;, . In a secular democracy, the concepts of majority and minority relate to the numbers subscribing to a particular policy or ideology. But in India, we have entrenched majorities and minorities based on caste and community, which can never alter. Thus, instead of a nation of citizens, we8217;ve become a conglomeration of castes and communities. The caste and communal consciousness has replaced the sense of national unity.

8212; P.R. Dubhashi

Pune