State prerogative?

The phone tapping incident detected by the UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, involving the ruling Congress party, is noth...

The phone tapping incident detected by the UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, involving the ruling Congress party, is nothing unusual or new. All ruling parties in India have done this, although they do not have the constitutional mandate to do so. When one party replaces another, it just does exactly what it has all along accused the previous government of doing. A government with a thumping majority can do anything in India. Not only are phones tapped, the privacy of individuals is constantly violated, and physical torture has become routine all in the name of the state.

— Abdulruff Colachal New Delhi

Listen to them!

• The hypocrisy is unbelievable, the pathos staggering. If it were not for the fact that the main player in this Orwellian drama is one of the parties that holds a vice-like grip over Indian polity, we could have just laughed it away. Here is what the CPM general secretary had to say about the forthcoming visit of the US president to India: “The protest is being launched against US foreign affairs policy which is simply aimed at suppressing countries like Iraq for its economic and political interests.” Now, we all know that King Abdullah — from Saudi Arabia, not known to be the paragon of democratic practice — will be the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day parade and we’ve not heard a pip-squeak of protest from these guys! But wait, haven’t we seen the same level of hypocrisy from the communists before? After all, these are the guys who could not stop singing paeans of Stalin and Mao!

— Vikas Chowdhry Madison

Caste it out

• The Supreme Court must be commended on its landmark ruling on the quota issue (‘SC orders status quo on Andhra reservations’, IE, January 5). This is what is called pure justice. The vote bank politics being played by the government on the issue of reservations should be defeated totally. The image of the judiciary in the eyes of common people has been elevated to great heights by this ruling. Can the government explain why the quota system is still required in India today? In a democratic country, caste and creed should not have a role to play in public affairs.

— C.R. Ramakrishnan New Delhi

Just shocking

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• Industrialisation is good for the economy, but it should not be at the expense of tribals. Adequate provision for rehabilitation is an urgent necessity for those tribals whose plots are to be taken over for the setting up of steel plants in Orissa’s Jajpur district. The death of 12 people in connection with protests against the establishment of an industrial unit on tribal land, is shocking. This incident should come as an eye-opener for the administration on the dangers of using force to acquire land.

— Arjun Chaudhuri Kolkata

The Sania song

• This refers to the media hype and headlines devoted to Sania Mirza’s victory in the doubles match in Hong Kong. This hype is completely unwarranted as the match was just a exhibition match and such events are seldom taken seriously. And why so much fuss over a one-set match, anyway? Moreover it was Kim Clijsters who is mainly responsible for the victory. Instead of praising her, the media kept praising Sania. This hype will destroy Sania’s career.

— Amjad K. Maruf Delhi