Remember Nehru

It is an annual ritual around Independence Day for our media to debate anew the relevance of Nehru and Gandhi. To place contem...

It is an annual ritual around Independence Day for our media to debate anew the relevance of Nehru and Gandhi. To place contemporary history on the heads of a few individuals and heap blame and criticism is entirely out of context. Anyway, since Nehru-bashing seems to be the order of the day let me say how unfair it is to someone who was not just a politician but also a historian and an intellectual. His words are more relevant today than ever before — ‘‘Can we combine the progress of science and technology with the progress of the mind and spirit also?… Science is the basic fact of life today… Let us then pursue our path to industrial progress with all our strength and vigour and at the same time, remember that material riches without tolerance and compassion and wisdom may well turn to dust and ashes.’’

— Mukund B. Kunte New Delhi

White elephant

• The HRD ministry has reportedly appointed a one-man inquiry committee to probe the NCERT’s affairs and the wrongs committed in the recent past. But does the HRD ministry have the legal authority to do so? Another million dollar question is: what is the legal and constitutional position of NCERT? The NCERT appears to be an autonomous private society which is neither legally accountable to the HRD ministry, nor to Parliament. If Arjun Singh is serious about his job, he must appoint a multi-member commission of inquiry or get a parliamentary committee to probe NCERT since 1976. Let there be complete transparency. The NCERT has become an extra-constitutional white elephant and a burden on the exchequer.

— Man Mohan Gurgaon

Death is no answer

• On August 18, the Ahmedabad Session Court awarded the death sentence to Kishan Marwari. On the same day, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court commuted the sentence on Rahul from death to life imprisonment. On a Saturday this month, Dhananjoy Chatterjee was hanged. In all three cases, the crime was rape and murder. On August 3, four members of the Assam Rifles raped and murdered a young woman in Manipur. Not even an FIR has been filed. These cases underline the arbitrary nature of sentencing in death penalty. The only solution is to remove the death penalty from the statute book. The response of sections of the middle class, particularly in Bengal, and the chief minister’s role in pushing for Dhananjoy’s hanging is deeply disturbing. It is symptomatic of the class hostility, latent violence and the desire for revenge in society. The death penalty is not the answer to rape, and there is no evidence to suggest that it acts as a deterrent. 117 other countries have abolished death penalty. Aggressive sentiments cannot be the basis of an enlightened jurisprudence or a modern democracy.

— Sharmila Purkayastha Secretary, PUDR Delhi

Bad investment

• We have spent crores on the Olympics but our performance is dismal. Our bureaucrats are only interested in making money at the expense of our sportsmen. There is no sincere interest in developing sports.

— H. Parshuram Mumbai