Rajnath and RSS

8226; Neerja Chowdhury's article, 8216;That man from UP8217; IE, January 3, brings into focus...

8226; Neerja Chowdhury8217;s article, 8216;That man from UP8217; IE, January 3, brings into focus the absence of internal democracy in the majority of our political parties. Rajnath Singh is, after all, an imposition from the RSS. He is president of the BJP, not by election but by selection, and there was no unanimity about his ascent within his own party. Those who lost against him can work to wreck his case and the party8217;s cause will be jeopardised in the process. Further, he has to genuflect not just before the RSS, but look over his shoulder because his rivals are not to be easily ignored as they had some experience at being ministers and chief ministers. The RSS has done neither the BJP nor the country proud by its interference in party affairs.

8212; M.K.D. Prasadarao Ghaziabad

Easy game?

8226; Congratulations to the Indian Express, for raising issues regarding women in India 8212; publishing news about the rapes taking place in our country and highlighting the status of women vis-a-vis religious traditions 8216;How did Gudiya die?8217;, IE, January 4. The National Commission for Women should step in to demand stern action from the government on the violence Indian women face. At another level, an absolute imperative is to integrate compulsory awareness programmes for changing prevailing negative attitudes towards women in our schools and colleges. These negative attitudes are the root cause of violence to women, with young men continuing to see women as easy game for molestation and rape and as objects of possession.

8212; Virginia Saldanha Delhi

Sad legacy

8226; Is there anything to celebrate about the BJP completing 25 years? It has a history of hatred, conflict and bloodshed. It not only attacked secularism after pledging to be secular, it went all out to preach hatred against minorities in general, and Muslims in particular. It was after its acceptance of 8216;secularism8217; that it launched, most aggressively, the Ram Janambhoomi movement and ultimately demolished the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. This was a great blot on secular India and, ironically, a matter of 8216;pride8217; for the BJP. The party which always claimed the high moral ground turned out to be so fragile morally in just one term in office. What would have been India8217;s fate if it had been in office for a longer period like the Congress?

8212; Farzana Nigar Nagpur

Tragic footnote

8226; This is with reference to your Page 1 story, 8216;Days before death, pilot wrote about blanking out8217; IE, January 4. It is surprising that the navy pilot, Lt Commander Harpawan Pannu, had warned of the dangers of disorientation while flying a fighter in an in-house flight safety journal, before the crash. The article8217;s footnote says, 8220;A person who learns from his mistakes is smart. A person who learns from other people8217;s mistakes is smarter.8221; The footnote seems to indicate that he had the ability to see the future.

8212; M. Mudassir Alam Delhi

Courts, saviours

8226; The nexus between politicians, corrupt officials and builders, which has seen the regularisation of unauthorised structures in Mumbai, Delhi and other cities, is a sure formula for a dreadful urban scenario. Builders have been trying to take advantage of the loopholes and twist the laws in their favour. Slum lords are being rewarded by regularising them from time to time. Governments are issuing ordinances and laws are being amended to regularise the illegality of the land grabs. The high courts and apex court should take note of all this and ensure that the violators of laws do not succeed in their immoral, criminal and destructive endeavours.

8212; S. Narayan New Delhi