Letters To The Editor

Reality unplugged8226; THIS has reference to 8216;Khairlanji to Kanpur8217; by Pamela Philipose IE, December 2. The violence in Maharas...

Reality unplugged

8226; THIS has reference to 8216;Khairlanji to Kanpur8217; by Pamela Philipose IE, December 2. The violence in Maharashtra on November 30 is condemnable. But we must analyse why a statue broken in Kanpur should ignite so much violence so far away. The matter cannot be treated as a simple law and order matter. Had the Khairlanji incident occurred in a BJP-ruled state, we8217;d have a Sonia yatra. As for the Shiv Sena and the BJP, they treat Afzal8217;s hanging as a far more important issue. Where are the the Human Rights Commission, the Scheduled Caste Commission, civil liberty champions and the media? If Jessica and Priyadarshini can disturb our conscience, why doesn8217;t the fate of Priyanka Bhotmange do so?

8212; Sankaranarayanan, Bhubaneswar

8226; THIS refers to 8216;Khairlanji to Kanpur8217;. The episode exposes the ugly but harsh reality of the country8217;s administration. Giani Zail Singh, when he was home minister, once told the Lok Sabha that the police will register cases on politicians8217; orders. This is an issue that neither the media nor the public is concerned about. Otherwise, more prompt action would have been taken. Maharashtra was regarded as one of the best administered states. Now its CM, Vilasrao Deshmukh, seems to believe his is the best government because it governs the least.

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

Re-taxed seniors

8226; THE article by Gautam Chikermane, 8216;A Bill noble and flaccid8217; IE, December 2, ignores disturbing trends. Taking advantage of Dr Vijay Kelkar8217;s task force report, Finance Minister Chidambaram has ended all sops to senior citizens in Section 16i, 80L, 88B, 88C. During the budget debate, Chidambaram confirmed that his earlier proposal to stop all pensions for those reaching the age of 75 has been shelved. Instead, he is toying with his latest obsession, EET, for taxing at 36 per cent of all maturity value of GPF/PPF/CPF and pension funds, even though these balances have already invited income tax. Now that he is entitled to a pension for life as an MP, he can8217;t care less about unequally placed senior citizens.

8212; M.S. Rajagopalan, Ahmedabad

Road to festival

8226; GOA should seriously deliberate upon whether to continue hosting film festivals. An international film festival is a serious affair. What we saw was mismanaged fanfare at the taxpayer8217;s expense. It was a carnival with magical performances, which had little to do with films. The charade of 20-odd floats to mark the inauguration of the festival lacked punch and had no film context. That money could have been better spent in hotmixing Panaji8217;s internal roads, which are in a pathetic condition. Goa cannot continue to be for ever hospitable. It has to assess whether the state really gains by hosting such events.

8212; Aires Rodrigues; Ribandar, Goa

Rail wreck

8226; RAILWAY accidents seem to be of no serious concern for the railway ministry 8216;33 killed, 16 injured8217;, Sunday Express, December 3. The destruction wrought by the overbridge when it fell on a train and killed 33 people was unique. Instead of engaging with the issue seriously, the railway authorities are trying to wash their hands of the incident by blaming two engineers in charge of dismantling the bridge. Before the ministry inaugurates new trains with prominent ads, it should ensure that rail journeys do not result in shortening people8217;s lives.

8212; Bidyut K. Chatterjee, Faridabad