• Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee must be commended for taking a position for the promotion of transparency within the armed forces through the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005. If not complete transparency, the armed forces should welcome some scrutiny on selective issues of public interest. The only relaxation that can permitted to the army is by drawing a line beyond which the RTI Act can’t be used by citizens. This limit can be defined in consultation with the defence ministry and the lawmakers. — Richa Vij New Delhi No exceptions • The prime minister has decided to make public substantive file notings on plans, schemes, programmes and projects relating to development and social issues (‘PM adds teeth to your right to know’, IE, December 2). But notings relating to identifiable individuals, groups of individuals, organisations, appointments, matters relating to inquiries and departmental proceedings, shall not be disclosed. This defeats the purpose of demanding information about any action or decision of the government, which is to know who took the decision, how the decision was arrived at and what role others played in the decision making. It is anomalous that the provisions of the Act apply to the three armed services but organisations like the BSF, the Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing, the Defence Research and Development Organisation and the Border Roads Development Board have been kept out of its purview. Any law should be uniform and clearly defined. — M.C. Joshi Lucknow Just like Dubey • It is indeed shocking that 27-year-old IIM graduate Manjunath Shanmugham was killed by the oil mafia for doing his duty. His tragically terminated life story parallels that of Satyendra Dubey, the IIT engineer and NHAI official who was killed in Gaya after he complained of corruption on the highway project. This incident affirms that the path to truth is laden with hardships. Now the IOC should take harsh action against all petrol pump dealers who deal in adulterated products. — Probir Kumar Bose On e-mail Fake messiah • The emergence of Bal Thackeray as a messiah for lower middle class Maharashtrians in Bombay was probably a response to an anxious moment in time. But though he became a leader of the sons of the soil movement, he failed to fulfil the promises he made to his followers. At the same time he poisoned their minds with hatred, violence and discriminatory attitudes towards non-Maharashtrians. Thackeray has nothing to say to his constituency in these changed times. The ongoing petty turbulence in the Sena under his nose makes a mockery of all that he once claimed to stand for. — A.K. Sujata Mumbai Subtle Reds • You have rightly commented that the Communists are more refined in manipulating the electoral process than were Laloo and Co in Bihar for the last 15 years (‘Land of Buddha’, IE, December 3). —G.S. Kulkarni Delhi
