Letters to the Editor

Hoary tree In his article 8216;A conversion in Nagpur, IE, October 13 Rakshit Sonawane has given some facts. Ambedakar opted to be a Budd...

Hoary tree

In his article 8216;A conversion in Nagpur, IE, October 13 Rakshit Sonawane has given some facts. Ambedakar opted to be a Buddhist though he was lured by Christians and Muslims to convert. He was a great statesman who loved Hinduism 8212; the way of life. To be precise, Hinduism has never been a religion. Hinduism is so liberal that it has so many cults like Vaishnavas, Shaivas, Arya Samajis and the Ramakrishna mission. Even Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs are regarded as part of the larger Hindu fold, which is like a Banyan tree and the cults and sects are the branches of that hoary tree. If we do have some problems with one cult, we are free to choose others. We see a lot of changes even in the celebrations of Hindu festivals. The colours we used to see a few years ago at Ganesh puja or Durga puja or during Dussehra, have changed today and the impact of contemporary life is evident. We cannot think of such changes in any one-prophet oriented religion. Ambedakar ought to have kept all such points in mind before embracing Buddhism if he wanted to be an Indian not only by birth but by karma and dharma too.

8212; Harish Awasthi, New Delhi

Dharavi trespass

This refers to the report 8216;Dharavi makeover: Deshmukh won8217;t wait for slumdwellers8217; OK8217; IE, October 13. This is preposterous. Here are the people who have committed trespass on someone else8217;s property, lived there for years without paying a single paise as rent. Tapped electricity illegally, and siphoned off water from the mains, causing waste and shortage for the genuine users, who pay for it. On top of it, the chief minister has to take their permission. This takes the cake. The whole scheme is a scam and will benefit only the politicians, and the slum dwellers. The taxpayer has to bear the burden of this gross dishonesty.

8212; Behram Aga, Mumbai

Barak inquiry

The CBI is still in the process of trailing the alleged Barak kickbacks but the UPA functionaries big and small are readying to tarnish the impeccable political career of George Fernandes. There is not even one political leader in the present-day Congress tall enough in any respect to match Fernandes. This is vendetta politics. The ruling coalition should wait for the enquiry to be completed. After all, the CBI is also working under the UPA government and surely it can be asked to expedite its conclusion.

8212; Inder Nath, New Delhi

Like mother8230;

It is heartening to see that Kiran Desai has made her mother Anita Desai, who was shortlisted for Booker thrice, mighty proud. It is a case of joint venture having vestibular or telescopic idea of honouring mother and daughter. At a recent award function Indira Nooyi, Global business woman, was represented by her mother resplendent in a bright red Kanjeevaram sari to indicate that Indira owed it to her mother. They have indeed repaid the debt to their mothers.

8212; M.S. Rajagopalan, Ahmedabad