PM must lead

Apropos of the series 8216;Corroding the system8217; by H.D. Shourie IE, November 9-11, I liked the candid coverage of the...

Apropos of the series 8216;Corroding the system8217; by H.D. Shourie IE, November 9-11, I liked the candid coverage of the deep-rooted corruption prevalent in India. It is sad that despite an increase in our literacy rate and an effective media, criminals are elected as MPs and MLAs. Corrupt officials no longer have a guilty conscience. Honest officers are sidelined. So, where does the buck stop? We can8217;t have a more upright PM than Manmohan Singh. He will have done a great service to the nation if he can make the eradication of corruption a thrust area.

8212; Madhu Singh Ambala Cantt

People above law

8226; This refers to your editorial 8216;Pontiff and the law8217; IE, November 15. Nobody can deny the right of law to take its own course but those enforcing the law have no right to treat the Shankaracharya the way they have done 8212; by sending a police team with armed commandos to raid him and take him into custody at midnight on the auspicious Hindu festival of Diwali and then parking him amongst ordinary criminals in the jail. The arguments that nobody is above the law and all are equal in the eyes of law don8217;t hold here. Politicians charged in criminal cases are allowed to surrender to the courts at their convenience with great pomp and show and are then placed in cosy rest houses converted for them into temporary jails.

8212; M.C. Joshi On e-mail

Parties, speak up

8226; The arrest of the Kanchi seer is shocking. Though I appreciate the fact that the law and democracy is about treating every person equally I am appalled by the political parties8217;s silence. I wonder what the reaction would be if a spiritual leader of a minority community was to be arrested.

8212; Divya Mumbai

India8217;s burden

8226; What Henry Kissinger says about India pursuing its national interest is quite right in 8216;India wants to prevent rise of another power between Singapore8230;8217; IE, November 16. Namely, in any crisis situation affecting national security, be it Kashmir, Bangladesh or Goa, India has always acted out of its best national interests and also made a rather successful case on the global stage. That was what you may call enlightened self interest and this is well understood in chancelleries of the world. How one wishes that some of our critics at home or abroad would recognise that India cannot escape its responsibilities if it wants to play an influential role in the region, which it will certainly have to do if it were to become a permanent member of the Security Council, for instance. That goes for the Middle East too.

8212; Jaskaran Teja Geneva

New Kissinger

8226; Kissinger seems to have changed. When he was advising President Nixon, before the 1971 war, they made Mrs Gandhi wait for over an hour to see Nixon. The US even sent an aircraft carrier to the Bay of Bengal, to push India to finish the war in 2 weeks. General Maneckshaw did it in 12 days. The US is now mainly interested in India now for its inexpensive software and English speaking workforce. India is also viewed as a counterweight to China in nuclear deterrence. Also India is viewed as a 1 billion consumer base for US products. Kissinger keeps these in mind when he talks now.

8212; P. Jayachandran Worcester