Sacrifice centenary•The birth centenary celebration of Bhagat Singh, symbol of Indian courage and patriotism, has been reduced to a government-sponsored tamasha hijacked by the very people, politicians and bureaucrats who propagate and practise the colonial legacy of exploitation and repression. I strongly believe that if Bhagat Singh had been alive he would have fought against the very people who are today celebrating his birth centenary.Certainly, glorifying the legacy of Bhagat Singh and spreading the values he stood for — especially among the youth — should be a national priority. But how can those who only want to grab power and exercise it with selfish and petty motives pretend to uphold the sacrifice and ideals of Bhagat Singh? I strongly feel that all nationalist Indians must take up this task and not allow politicians to hijack this agenda. The media has an important role to play in this — by publishing the ideas of a great and courageous revolutionary who is an inspiration forevery Indian. — Vitull K. Gupta BhatindaBabus’ bosses•The best part of M. Rajivlochan’s ‘Bringing up babus’ is his reference to N.C. Saxena’s observation about how the young IAS officer’s idealism is sapped by “political interference. meaningless transfers and corruption below and above”. If any one category of people is to be reformed, it is our politicians. If our politicos are committed to transparency, many of our anti-poverty and development programmes and projects will bear fruit. But that is a tall order. Add to this, the legendary delays when matters are brought to the notice of the judiciary.— Prasad MalladiBasivireddypeta (AP)Expanding HRD •You have in your timely and lively editorial, ‘Arjun vs autonomy’ hit the nail on the head. It’s really unfortunate that HRD Minister Arjun Singh is bent upon enforcing his “whims and choices” on the IIMs in the country. He is now trying the legislative route to settle his scores with these autonomous B-schools and to totally crush their extant autonomous status. It is tragic that politicians like him are allowed to destroy the world-class reputation of these B-schools. He should be rightly re-designated as the minister for human resource destruction!— S.K. GuptaDelhiWar appellation•The report in your newspaper, “150 yrs on, no place for 1857 British ‘heroes’” has left me confused. The reference to the “1857 British-India war” — which the nation remembers as the First War of Independence — is totally out of sync with the times. The reporter seems to have been influenced by the stories spun by British tourist bureaus. While tourists should indeed be our honoured guests (‘atithi devo bhava’), any attempt to honour the enemies of our nationalist forefathers cannot be condoned. The pastor of a local church was quite correct in refusing to permit a memorial plaque to be installed in it. — Akhil Kumar Das KuwaitWhat’s in the name?•What a remarkable coincidence that on the first International Day of Non-violence, India should be represented in the UN General Assembly by a Gandhi. In fact two of them, Sonia and Rahul. They derive their lineage from Indira Gandhi, who could well have married a Parsi by another name — say, a Sethna, Bhabha or Dadabhoy!— Mukund B. KunteNew Delhi
