• Regardless of the government in power, the judiciary has to continue to be a watchdog to ensure against injustice. Politicians do not like public interest litigation. But when those in power abuse authority, it is a PIL that can cure the ill. It is imperative that conscious citizens take a lead in filing PILs rather than depending on a few citizens and some NGOs to bear the travails of pursuing them. It would also be nice to see our courts being more proactive and taking suo motu cognisance of public woes. This would help ensure that a PIL does not end up as private interest litigation, political interest litigation, publicity interest litigation or, worse, a paisa interest litigation! — Aires Rodrigues Mumbai Not her business • There could be truth in Brinda Karat’s allegations about Ramdev’s Ayurvedic formulations. The real question, however, is her motive. Why is Ramdev, and not thousands of others, being accused of such lapses? It is nobody’s case that the contents should not be displayed on packaged eatables and medicines. But does everybody follow it? Coca-Cola and Pepsi don’t do so. No pharmaceutical company discloses the contents of the capsule cover material, the coating of tablets and the ink used in printing capsules — Suresh Chander Gurgaon • Brinda Karat has caused colossal harm to her party and the nation by her baseless outburst against Baba Ramdev and his Ayurvedic medicines. If the medicines cure the diseased and are needed by his followers there is no reason why Karat and her Left brigade should question the contents. She has no authority to decide which medicine others should take. Secondly, a national leader is expected to concentrate more on the nation’s problems, and not individual cases like this. — K.G. Acharya Mumbai BJP as Congress? • I was greatly amused at L.K. Advani’s observation at Mumbai that the Congress culture was responsible for the ills besetting his party (IE, December 29). If Advani does some introspection, he will discover that more than a dozen Congress men and women were inducted into the BJP with his blessings. To name a few prominent ones should suffice: Maneka Gandhi of 1975 Emergency fame, K.C.Pant, Sunil Shastri and Najma Heptulla. They are Congress moles. They have polluted not only the BJP but also the RSS. There are other Advani cronies such as Arun Jaitley and Pramod Mahajan, who are suave and sophisticated like any Congress man. — Satyendra Narain Das Mumbai Bad timing • Although Raj Singh Dungarpur is right (‘Sourav left to vie in a close run’, IE, January 9), it is unfortunate of him to open old wounds at the wrong time, when the Indian team gets ready for the battle of Titans. Give Ganguly a little time to prove himself worthy of his selection. Dungarpur, as a seasoned official, should have waited for Ganguly to leave the Test scene, to air his detrimental comments on the player. — Kirit Desai Philadelphia A question • The decision to quash the quota for Muslims in AMU is unjust. I don’t understand why there should be a problem with a quota that benefits the minority community. What’s wrong with Muslims being able to study? — Archana K. Sudheer New Delhi
