Letters to the editor

Mush no baddie• I AM a journalist from Peshawar in Pakistan, currently visiting India. I find lot of material appearing in the Indian p...

Mush no baddie

• I AM a journalist from Peshawar in Pakistan, currently visiting India. I find lot of material appearing in the Indian press on the ongoing agitation in Pakistan by a section of the lawyers in support of the dysfunctional chief justice, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry. Some points need clarification. It is not the popularity of the chief justice or the lawyers community’s concern to uphold the supremacy of law that is leading to street demonstrations. It is opportunist opposition parties, who seize any excuse, right or wrong, to let down the Pervez Musharraf government, in their bid to come to power. Under the regime of Nawaz Sharif, the then chief justice, Sayed Sajjad Ali Shah, was physically attacked by the ruling party’s workers. Not a single lawyer protested.

As for the curbs on TV coverage, the private channels had asked for it. It is only in the Musharraf era that the press came to enjoy the maximum freedom, including personal criticism of the president. Unfortunately, TV channels misused this freedom by projecting only those incidents that projected the government in a bad light. Musharraf is courageous. After 9/11, he went all out against the Al-Qaida and the Taliban. In the bargain he survived two attempts on his life mounted by radical elements. Again, Pervez is following a foreign policy that ensures peaceful and friendly relations with India. On Kashmir he has adopted a flexible stance. In the absence of Musharraf, Pakistan can slip into the hands of hardliners and this could pose a great threat to peace in South Asia.

— Sayed G.B. Shah Bokhari, New Delhi

Summer siesta

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• THE committee on climate change formed by the PM has over 12 members including ministers and bureaucrats. Such an unwieldy committee raises doubts whether its many members will even attend meetings! It is not clear whether this is indeed to be the same committee mentioned by the finance minister in his budget speech. There is in evidence an evasive attitude rather than a result-oriented approach. While the world is waking up to global warming, we remain in deep slumber.

— C.R. Bhattacharjee, Kolkata

Patil’s credentials

• I HAVE nothing personal against Shivraj Patil. First he got inducted into the cabinet and then was made home minister. Despite failures in office — for instance, regular terrorist attacks all over the county — he continued in office. Now, when no one is supporting his candidature, he is being recommended for the post of president. It is indeed shocking that the so-called intelligentsia, political parties across the board, and the media, are stunningly and deafeningly silent on the issue. What type of democracy is this?

— Kedarnath R. Aiyar, Mumbai

‘Double bonanza for poor, middle class’: PM’s swadeshi pitch ahead of new GST roll out

India6 hr ago

PM Modi announced the rollout of new GST rates, calling it a "GST bachat utsav" and promising cheaper prices for medicines, insurance, and daily essentials. He emphasized that these reforms would ease doing business, attract investment, and benefit the poor, middle class, MSMEs, farmers, women, traders, and youth. He urged citizens to promote swadeshi goods.

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