Letters To The Editor

High pedestal8226; Shiv Sainiks went on their trademark rampage in Mumbai to protest against the alleged desecration of the statue of the l...

High pedestal

8226; Shiv Sainiks went on their trademark rampage in Mumbai to protest against the alleged desecration of the statue of the late wife of Bal Thackeray. The sainiks were angry with the state government of Maharashtra for failing to protect the statue and also for failing to nab the perpetrators of the mischief. With due respect to the departed soul, I fail to understand why the government should be held responsible for the protection of a statue of an ordinary citizen? What has been Mrs Thackeray8217;s extraordinary contribution to the state or society? If the Sena installed the statue it should look after it too.

8212; Ishtyaque Ansari, Bharuch

Caste-less dream

8226; The recent opinion of the Supreme Court to promote inter-caste marriages to overcome the caste system in India is too much optimism. Those who enjoy certain benefits because of their caste will not like to give up the benefits of reservations in the college admissions and jobs available to them. On the contrary these beneficiaries now proudly say they belong to the SC/ST, OBC categories. So why dream of a caste-less society as long as reservations based on one8217;s caste exist?

8212; Sudhir K. Bhave, Chandigarh

NBA displaced

8226; Apropos of 8216;No stopping dam8230;8217; IE, July 11, the Shunglu committee report has exposed the Narmada Bachao Andolan activists Medha Patkar, Arundhati Roy, and their celebrity supporters like Aamir Khan. The aim of the NBA has been primarily to stall the very construction of Sardar Sarovar dam. Had it been rehabilitation, we8217;d have had Visthapit Basao Andolan. After losing her case even in the Supreme Court, Patkar adopted pressure tactics, including hunger strike, to get the work stopped, making a big issue of rehabilitation. The Shunglu committee report, which says there was no major deviation in the relief and rehabilitation work by the MP government, has also put in the dock the three-member fact-finding ministerial team and its politically motivated report. Now it is hoped that good sense will prevail on Patkar and company.

8212; M.C. Joshi, Lucknow

Mid-field death

8226; The way Zinedine Zidane head-butted Italian defender Meterazzi was most shocking.

I just couldn8217;t believe that a sportsperson like him could behave in so boorish a fashion. No doubt this man has made great contributions to football and France and we all felt bad about his disgraceful departure from the finals. But whatever the provocation, a sportsperson like Zidane should have exercised restraint. He has let down millions of fans across the world. This 2006 World Cup will be remembered not so much for Italy8217;s fourth time

victory, but for the dishonorable exit of the most loved footballer of recent times.

8212; H.G. Mukhopadhyay, Kolkata

India wrote

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8226; In Raja Rao8217;s death the nation has lost a pioneer of Indian writing in English. He, together with Mulk Raj Anand and R.K. Narayan, formed a formidable novelist trio. His novel Kanthapura 8212; a trail blazer 8212; clarified the use of a foreign language as a language of intellect. His Sahitya Akademi Award-winning novel, The Serpent and the Rope, juxtaposed the ethos, culture and rich tradition of

India with those of the West.

It was with him that modern Indian writing in English came of age.

8212; Gaurav Kanthwal, Chandigarh