Planning, our way

My hero

8226; A few wretched Congress party leaders want to settle political scores 8216;Holding out for a hero8217;, IE, Sept 16. At the same time, the same breed is relentlessly promoting the candidature of a lady of foreign origin to occupy the PM8217;s chair and perpetuate dynastic rule in India. Veer Savarkar is and will continue to be my hero. My parents were the victims of partition and the suffering they went through was terrible. The old man called the father of the nation did nothing for millions like them.

8212; N.K. Malik Mumbai

8226; There should be no doubt in anybody8217;s mind that Savarkar was a great patriot and an intellectual of the highest calibre. Ashok Malik has done the right job in clearing the muck which Mani Shankar Aiyar threw at Savarkar.

8212; B.G. Thattey Mumbai

8226; The article, 8216;Holding Out for a Hero8217;, has brought out a dirty little secret in Indian academia. I8217;m an Indian intellectual based abroad for the past seven years, and thus can disinterestedly comprehend the manner in which Left intellectuals are coming out of the 8220;woodwork8221; after this 8220;half-won8221; election. I do not condone the Hindutva forces8217; rendition of history, but I condemn the leftists who want to 8220;correct8221; our history books. History is no ideological plaything.

8212; Vasabjit Banerjee Oxford

8226; It was not partition, because it was an economic struggle not a political one 8216;Holding out for a hero. Basically, Gandhi was responsible for giving political power to the common man. He was killed because, his approach threatened the privileges enjoyed by the elite. This struggle is still on.

8212; Sanket Deshpande Pune

A sporting chance

8226; The fact that an Arjuna did not go to Bobby Aloysius for so many years only underlines the sorry state of Indian sport 8216;Arjuna award is not meant to support athletes8230;8217;, IE, Sept 16. Deserving sportspersons can never reach international levels because politicians treat the various sports bodies as personal fiefdoms. In Athens, we all prayed for medals and all we got was a silver. As they say, it8217;s not a silver we won but a gold we lost. I don8217;t mean to belittle Rathore8217;s achievement, but one just has to consider China8217;s effort to see things in perspective.

8212; Anand Prakash New Delhi

8226; The Arjuna award to former Indian Coach Rajinder Singh is a good gesture. India has won quite a few medals last year under him. Overall, he has been a successful coach. The argument raised in the report, 8216;Arjuna off target again8217; Sept 16 against him, simply because he was sacked by IHF, is illogical. The IHF has shown itself to be the most unprofessional of organisations by sacking the coach at the last minute before the Olympics.

8212; Ravi Kumar San Diego