Letters to the editor

Where8217;s the vision?8226; THE founding fathers of our Constitution could not have visualised that those destined to implement it in let...

Where8217;s the vision?

8226; THE founding fathers of our Constitution could not have visualised that those destined to implement it in letter and spirit would prove to be so unequal to the task. In fact, the political space would soon be occupied by the 8216;chipkus8217; 8212; not the tribe that Sunderlal Bahuguna belonged to, who tried to protect trees, but those who hang on to positions of power. Immediately after Independence, India was fortunate to have stalwarts like Patel, Kripalani, Rajagopalachari, Pant, Kidwai, and many others, who could rein in their leaders and keep them on the right track. Alas, in today8217;s India, the Grand Old Party, in particular, cannot locate even one conscientious member of the party who would sacrifice position and power for principles. Otherwise, how come we have a candidate like Pratibha Patil for the presidency?

8212; Inder Nath, Delhi

Moral maths

8226; THIS is with reference to Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;Pratibha Patil, The Precedent8217; IE, June 30. While analysing the prospects of the presidential candidates put up by the UPA and NDA respectively, Gupta rightly observes: 8220;Ultimately in politics, the logic of number prevails.8221; I, however, feel that if we have to nurture the idea of democracy, then moral values in public life rather than mere arithmetic should be given due importance.

8212; Onkar Chopra, New Delhi

Political mea culpa

8226; WITH reference to your editorial, 8216;Worth of a president8217; IE, July 4, what is intriguing about L.K. Advani8217;s argument that presidential and vice-presidential candidates should 8220;declare their assets8221;, is that he is careful about not asking for a list of criminal charges made against them. Otherwise many in his party would not make it to the top constitutional office, being implicated in cases like the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

8212; Pradip Biswas, Kolkata

Verma is a loss

8226; BJP has lost one more of its 8220;middle of the road8221;, sensible leaders. Sahib Singh Verma8217;s death in a car accident follows that of Pramod Mahajan in Mumbai last May. The party should start looking for sensible, 8216;centrist8217; leaders as replacements for these leaders, otherwise it will be left only with those who embrace a hard Hindutva under compulsions from its ideological masters in the RSS. Such a prospect would be truly unfortunate for the country and its politics.

8212; Shahabuddin Nadeem, Bangalore