Letters To The Editor

Wise aam aadmi 8226; The editorial, 8216;Listen to the aam aadmi8217; IE, August 14, was a great one. It is time that our rulers stopp...

Wise aam aadmi

8226; The editorial, 8216;Listen to the aam aadmi8217; IE, August 14, was a great one. It is time that our rulers stoppped fooling themselves into believing that misguided vote politics will help win elections. The people are getting realistic. For example, the BJP wanted to stay the Delhi demolitions to win votes, but the aam aadmi did not agree. People have been led up the garden path for far too long. Similarly, take reforms. Privatisation has actually improved things, in spite of its not having been done holistically. Manmohan Singh should not worry about what the Karats and Karunanidhis say. I am sure those who have eyes will see and will realise that we are the only unfortunate country that encourages stoppage of work at the drop of a hat.

8212;R. Singh, Delhi

Poor jibes

8226; Natwar Singh8217;s intemperate utterances against the PM not being Lok Sabha MP do not become an ex-diplomat and writer, which the beleaguered RS MP is. We may recall here that Indira Gandhi was a member of the Rajya Sabha when she was elected PM in 1966, immediately after Lal Bahadur Shastri8217;s death. Further, when Manmohan Singh contested the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat, there were many people who alleged that his election had been sabotaged. As for Natwar Singh8217;s jibe that Manmohan Singh has not even won a municipal election 8212; well, he did not contest one.

8212;M.K.D. Prasada Rao, Bangalore

Kerala8217;s failure

8226; I read Soma Wadhwa8217;s article on the coke ban in Kerala IE, August 12, I wish I wrote it myself. As a Keralite who left home at the age of 22 and landed in Pune with a small steel trunk and Rs 26 and a determination to support my family back home and to see the world beyond Kerala. Today, I am nostalgic about it. But after five decades, when I go back to Kerala, my heart bleeds. What a colossal waste of human energy. The place is technically literate but not educated. The standards of educational institutions are deplorable. Graduates are turned out in millions, mostly mediocre, and unable to compete with their counterparts outside the state. Everyone is conscious of what the other person should be doing but not about what he himself should be doing. In contrast I have seen with my own eyes how Maharashtra is making giant strides in every field of human endeavour. Wadhwa has made an incisive analysis of every aspect of Kerala that only a very analytical and detached mind can achieve.

8212;C.R. Sreedharan Pune

Cola gunners

8226; This refers to the two articles by Farah Baria and Soma Wadhwa IE, August 12. I cannot accept these two ladies training their guns on the Kerala government for the sake of cola giants. We ban things which we believe aren8217;t worthy of staying in our environment. So yes, we need a ban because that is only measure which will correct these companies. When they are brewing poison, how can we support them?

8212;Avijit Sharma, Delhi

Last question

8226; Now that Jaswant Singh has succeeded in boosting the sales of his book with honour, by opening a can of moles, will he kindly tell the nation what he was carrying in the red bag to Kandahar?

8212;Mukund B. Kunte, London