Letters to the editor

— Biranchi N. Acharya, Godda, Jharkhand

Future of students

• THE Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the 27 per cent reservation of seats in elite Central educational institutions for backward class students. This move by the court has given relief to thousands of talented students who were going to miss getting into the courses of their choice because of reservations. Politicians try to impose laws for their own electoral benefit. They never think about the future of students who, despite putting in a lot of efforts, often cannot make it. Of course we need to make every effort to raise the living standards of backward classes and give them more opportunities in educational institutions, but reservations are not the solution. They only create social tension.

— Shailesh Kumar, Bangalore

Values upheld

• I APPRECIATE the Lakhimpur Kheri court’s verdict in the S. Manjunath murder case (‘For Manjunath’s murder…’, March 27). Monu Mittal and his accomplices do not deserve mercy because Manjunath’s brutal murder is a crime against every honest citizen of India. This bold and honest verdict has proved that our judicial system is still independent and beyond the reach of corruption and nepotism, and we still have judges who are impartial, brave and believe in the truth. Persons like Manjunath and Satyendra Dubey are our real heroes — men of honesty, exceptional courage, dedication and sincerity. They should be our heroes, not the usual run of Bollywood stars and cricketers. Manjunath’s death will, hopefully, help us to vanquish the evils of corruption and nepotism that plague our society.

— Hitesh Parmar, Rajkot

Idle aspersion

• THIS refers to ‘Waiting for the diversity index’ by Abu Saleh Sharrif (IE, March 29). I wish that every Muslim shines in India. But Sharrif quotes from some letters of Pandit Nehru and Indira Gandhi which express their concern over the low representation of Muslim in services and suggest that there must be one or more Muslims on every selection board. I find it unfortunate that unnecessary aspersions are being cast on the selection process in this country, whether for civilian institutions or military ones. Even if selection board were to comprise of only Muslims, would they be able to select suitable Muslim or Hindu candidates if they don’t have the required qualifications? What is required is more facilities and initiatives to make Muslims in India more proficient in every field, so that they can compete on an equal footing with their counterparts from other backgrounds.

— Charti Lal Goel, New Delhi