Letters to the editor

Freedom fight8226; THERE has been a great deal of outrage over a video on Mahatma Gandhi 8216;Internet freedom and the Gandhi video8217;...

Freedom fight

8226; THERE has been a great deal of outrage over a video on Mahatma Gandhi 8216;Internet freedom and the Gandhi video8217;, IE, January 18 and other famous Indian personalities. When Muslims all over the world had voiced their criticism regarding the derogatory cartoons about their beloved Prophet Muhammad, the various instruments of the media united under one umbrella and defended their right under the garb of 8216;freedom of expression8217;. Do the Indian media feel that only they have the right to this freedom. If not, then why do they find fault with these videos? The same 8216;freedom of expression8217; should also be granted to all these free video sites like youtube.com and google video to publish any videos in any form even if they are derogatory to a very famous personality of any nation, religion, caste or creed. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right and should be strongly defended.

8212; Sandeep Ghiya, Mumbai

A whit different

8226; SO the Indian media found Jade Goody to be racist? What a joke. Go back a few years and see what the media in India wrote. We were informed that K.R. Narayanan was the first SC president. That General J.J. Singh was the first Sikh army chief. That Manmohan Singh was the first Sikh PM sworn in by a Muslim president. That K. Balakrishnan is the first dalit CJI. Go back even further 8212; Air Chief Marshal I.H. Latif was the first Muslim chief of the Armed Forces, Zakir Hussain was the first Muslim president, Zail Singh was the first Sikh president. And Mufti Mohammed was the first Muslim home minister, H.D. Deve Gowda was the first South Indian PM. Now, if this is not being racist, what is? The only difference is that our racism is not white-skinned, it is wheat-complexioned.

8212; T.R. Ramaswami, Mumbai

RTI unlimited

8226; THE RTI was enacted with a view to ensuring better transparency and accountability to the general public. Every aspect of the government must be subjected to public scrutiny. As such, the question of giving immunity to anybody, including the judiciary, does not arise at all. This will definitely enhance the image of the government, including the judiciary in the eyes of the common people. I would also argue that all private and public limited companies too must be brought under the purview of the RTI.

8212; C.R. Ramakrishnan, New Delhi

Netaji to Ganguly

8226; IT is difficult to understand what is being made out in the piece, 8216;Ganguly 8212; a Bengali?8217; IE, January 22. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was not Bengali, he was an Indian. Why should Tamilians have risen at his call if he was just a Bengali? Ganguly may have done well on his comeback, but it is just too early to raise a toast to him. Let him play more matches and let us see how he performs in away matches. This could be a flash in the pan. Earlier, Ganguly did not do well and he was shown the door. It was not an issue of discrimination. After all, only 11 are selected for Team India, and that is it.

8212; Hariharan, Bangalore

A face to faceless

8226; BY giving wide coverage on the front page to the life story of each of the 187 victims of the Bombay serial train blasts IE, January 23, you have again demonstrated why you are unique among the Indian newspapers. Your tenacious and almost charitable mission deserves unstinted admiration. In the midst of big news concerning celebrities, you still remembered the faceless men and women who were suddenly killed for no fault of their own.

8212; N.K. Das Gupta, Kolkata