One question

8226; Former President K.R. Narayanan8217;s interview to a Malayalam magazine, which has been re...

8226; Former President K.R. Narayanan8217;s interview to a Malayalam magazine, which has been reported in your newspaper 8212; apart from revealing the unbecoming wailing of K.R. Narayanan over missing a chance to stay on in Rashtrapati Bhavan for another five years, also deals with the extremely serious matter of Gujarat pogrom of 8217;02. Had he been competent enough to discharge his responsibilities of protecting the Constitution then, he would have, instead of feeling helpless, exercised his powers under Article 356 1 and 86 1, 2 of the Constitution. Article 3561 of the Constitution allows the satisfaction of the president not only on the report of the governor but also in case of the failure of the constitutional machinery in the state.

8212; Hem Raj Jain New Delhi

8226; Apropos of the report, 8216;Vajpayee didn8217;t do anything8217; IE, March 3, as a citizen I would like to ask Narayanan: Why did he not resign from the post of president when he knew that the 8217;02 communal programme in Gujarat was backed by a conspiracy involving BJP governments in the state and at the Centre?

8212; Devendra Narain Gurgaon

Sonia, power centre

8226; Why blame the 8220;coterie8221;, Saeed Naqvi IE, March 4? It is, after all, 8220;she8221; who is the centre of power and is resolutely trying to capture absolute power to expand her empire. All decisions are left to her. Even the democratically elected people cannot choose their leader independently see what is happening in Haryana for the last four days.

8212; M.L. Sharma On e-mail

8226; Why is everybody surprised at the developments in Jharkhand? We are constantly treated to glowing accounts of how Sonia Gandhi has consciously modeled herself on her mother-in-law, studying videotapes of her public meetings, etc. Do you really think that the only things she would have picked up was how to drape her sari, or gesticulate at public rallies?

8212; Megha Iyengar On e-mail

Another view

8226; I do not agree with your assessment that the events in Jharkand, Goa, etc, highlight the murder of democracy. Don8217;t think public memory is short. Remember how the BJP appointed governors in Bihar, Goa, and Meghalaya? In fact at a press conference a correspondent asked L.K. Advani whether the BJP- appointed governor had not similarly appointed Nitish Kumar as chief minister although BJP-JDU tally was far below that of the RJD. Advani8217;s reported answer was that that was 2000, this is 2005. Congress is only following the rich traditions of the BJP/NDA government. If the BJP and NDA think that by disrupting Parliament while drawing their allowances they are going to win back people8217;s support they are in for a rude shock.

8212; Harish H.V. Bangalore

Central principle

8226; I find that quite a few Indians are immature. They must realise that upholding the lofty ideals of secularism is the primary duty of every Indian. Sometimes it can create situations where norms held in high esteem by civilised democracies need to be mocked at, or even butchered! It is our great fortune that we have Congress leaders from the minorities who do not compromise on this primary duty 8212; uphold secularism at all costs, even when these humble Congressmen are made governors!

8212; Rajan Shete On e-mail