Letters To The Editor

Underprivileged?• THANK you for publishing the poignant piece by Mukul Kaura (‘Let’s welcome them with open arms’, IE, M...

Underprivileged?

• THANK you for publishing the poignant piece by Mukul Kaura (‘Let’s welcome them with open arms’, IE, May 29). It was an adolescent’s voice of anxiety over his future in a nation where everything, right from childhood, is becoming an intense struggle. It is a pity that students like him, hardworking, who is probably from an average middle class home, where the family’s future hinges on children’s ability to land a salaried job, are assumed by Yogendra Yadav as privileged. The privileged in our society are the scions of politicians, film stars, industrialists, who inherit success and riches without having to work for them. Not students from AIIMS, IITs, IIMs, where the entrance exams are among the most competitive and demanding in the world; to think otherwise reflects Yadav’s utter insensitivity and ignorance.

— Urvashi Dalal, Rohtak

Caste count

• ON the quota issue the Supreme Court has posed the most pertinent and searing question: why 27 per cent for OBCs? What is the rationale? Here is another. Would the votaries of pro-reservation, the male chauvinists among them, be prepared to concede 50 per cent of their quota to women of their community? Here is a true story from a census exercise. Enumerators carried a list of castes and voters were required to indicate their caste. This was my aunt’s experience in Nagpur. When she replied, “Brahmin,” the enumerator, not finding it in the list he carried, replied,”It is not listed so I will mark you OBC!” If a caste based census were to be conducted in India, what is the guarantee that the result will be a reliable and honest one?

— Mukund B. Kunte, New Delhi

Quota cascade

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• NOW that the Supreme Court is examining OBC quotas, the other interlinked issue of quotas in private sector should also be examined with reference to the legislation proposed by Mira Kumar. Quotas in private sector will blunt the competitive edge enjoyed by Indian IT industry majors like Wipro, Infosys and Satyam. Quotas in private sector will unintentionally benefit China and South Korea.

— M.S. Rajagopalan, Ahmedabad

Hurriyat? Huh

• DESPITE repeated attempts of the militants to mar the Second Roundtable Conference in Srinagar they could not lower the spirit of the people who are trying to find a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem. Though the terrorists raked the Sher-e-Kashmir park on Sunday with bullets, they could not prevent Manmohan Singh from attending the conference. But the militants succeeded in their ploy partly since the Hurriyat moderates did not attend the conference. By boycotting this Conference they outshone nothing but narrow politics filled with cowardice. If the Hurriyat can have meetings with Pakistan, then why not the Indian authorities? Perhaps they feared the rage of the militants. It remains to be seen how long India will keep the windows open for the Hurriyat if it is found wanting in courage to counter insurgency.

— Joyeeta Dey, Kolkata

India denies entry to top SOAS Hindi scholar — who is Francesca Orsini?

India55 min ago

Francesca Orsini, a prominent Hindi scholar and professor, was denied entry into India and sent back to London from the New Delhi airport. Orsini is renowned for her groundbreaking work on Hindi literature and has mentored scholars and given lectures on literary history and world literature.

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