Letters To The Editor

Do we have an end to reservation in sight? Originally, in the Constitution, it was envisaged just for a period of 10 years, but it has dragged on to the present day. Reservation should operate within a time frame. Finally, do the citizens of India want reservation? In my view the nation should hold a referendum to find that out. Otherwise the country will be at the mercy of a bunch of people who believe they have been empowered by voters to shape the future of the nation any which way.

—Sunil D. Khanna, Delhi

Detached voice

• Sam Pitroda, the chairman of the National Knowledge Commission, has uneqivocally said that he belongs to the backward community but he is against caste based reservation. Leftists like D. Raja (‘Goodwill, greed and the righting of history’, IE, May 31) should listen to him. His piece speaks volumes for the degraded mentality of the leftist approach to all issues in India.

—Adhik Kumar, Delhi

Kind of PM

• The PM can easily be pushed around, says the BJP. It is shame, the way BJP stalwarts are finding fault with Dr Manmohan Singh, who is gentle, honest, highly capable and popular among the masses. This proves of the BJP’s political bankruptcy. Not being able to swallow their own humiliating defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections, the party is now indulging in cheap political propaganda. The BJP ought to set its own house in order before attacking others.

—P.P. Talwar, Dehra Dun

Joining issue

• Soli Sorabjee (‘Screening Intolerance’, May 25) has said that the agitation in Gujarat against Aamir Khan has put democracy under siege. This is not correct. There are definitely many more important issues which affect our democracy — for example, the issue of office of profit, the clash between the legislature and the judiciary, MPs filing false affidavits before the Election Commission. Boycotting a film is as perfectly legal as the boycott of foreign goods launched by Mahatma Gandhi was. The people of Gujarat are rightly angry with Aamir Khan for joining Medha Patkar in opposing the construction of the dams and for blaming the Gujarat government for the recent Vadodara riots.

—Lila Dev, Mumbai

Taking stock

• The editorial,‘Grain of graft’ (IE, May 28), suggested that the time has come for the government to think of dispensing with the maintaining of buffer stocks and that the agricultural sector should be driven by the futures market. The writer does not appear to be well versed in the food scenario in the country. The government maintains buffer stocks to meet any eventuality, like droughts, earthquakes, or even a tsunami. Food stocks are also needed to meet the requirements of ‘food for work’ programmes, and the PDS. If the Government of

India stops procurement and also the fixing of the MSP, it will bring the country to the brink.

— Rajinder R. Singh, New Delhi