Letters To The Editor

The article, 8216;Renouncer8217;s mystique8217;, by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, seems an exercise in obfuscation.

Misplaced mystique

8226; The article, 8216;Renouncer8217;s mystique8217;, by Pratap Bhanu Mehta, seems an exercise in obfuscation. He says Sonia Gandhi set 8220;new standards in imaginative politics and leadership8221; and then argues 8220;whoever devised the Congress strategy to deal with the office of profit issue, should be held accountable. Someone was being strategically incompetent8221;. Does this criticism of the Congress strategy not imply that Sonia Gandhi became a victim of this incompetence? Doesn8217;t it also imply that resignation was the best option to escape the humiliation of a possible adverse verdict of the EC? If she is the embodiment of 8220;imaginative politics and leadership8221;, as Mehta thinks, why did this virtue fail her when her party was working to oust Jaya Bachchan from her RS seat?

8212; M. Ratan New Delhi

8226; The column, 8216;Those terming Sonia8217;s resignation a drama should take resignations from their own partymen8217; IE, March 28, is true to the core. Somehow Sonia Gandhi, the so-called 8220;Indian politician of Italian origin8221;, has always scored over the 8220;Indian politicians of Indian origin8221;. She decides and acts. Her resignation from the NAC and Parliament has thrown the whole political fraternity into a tizzy. A clear definition of an 8220;office of profit8221; must be settled, once and for all.

8212; F.S.K. Barar Jodhpur

Grim reality

8226; The editorial, 8216;Damned if you do8217; IE, March 28 was disappointing, even saddening. Misinformation and baseless righteousness seem to be the order of the day. Recently, I had an opportunity to observe the Holi celebrations in Jhalsindi and Bhadal, two villages affected by the SSP. I saw that villages have been submerged but the people have not been rehabilitated. Having no other choice, they have just moved higher up the inhospitable hills. With the increase in the height of the dam, these people will have nowhere left to run. From what I have seen and the project affected people I have spoken to, I am convinced that there is a huge gap between rehabilitation on paper and rehabilitation on the ground.

8212; Lakshmi Ganesh Kuala Lumpur

8226; What conviction drives you to argue for such insensitive steps that would drown 35,000 families? On what basis do you say the settlement goals have been achieved? Have you bothered to inquire into the reality of these settlements? It is utterly disappointing to read the views that fail to side with those who are not 8216;exceedingly photogenic8217; but are struggling to retain their identity, life and all that exists or does not between them. Protests result when a promise is betrayed, not when the photogenic whim fancies shutterbugs at India Gate.

8212; Atul Mishra New Delhi

Visa power

8226; The unnecessarily hostile visa regime between India and Pakistan is idiotic. I have just completed my maiden visit to Pakistan to remember the martyrs of our joint independence movement. I could only get a visa because I knew someone who could help me get it. It is clear that the experience of ordinary people at the high commissions of both nations is horrific. The harassment that follows at the immigration and customs offices of both nations is unspeakable. The corruption is open, rampant and nauseating. I urge both national governments to have a liberal regime. There is so much each country has to share with the other.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva New Delhi