Us and them

8226; This refers to your report, 8216;As Maharashtra reels under power cuts, it...

8226; This refers to your report, 8216;As Maharashtra reels under power cuts, its energy minister switches on 10 ACs at home8217; IE, May 17. If these ministers faced the same hardship as the common man; they would find there are a million ways to solve the problem and there would be an effort to solve it.

8212; Shailesh Mumbai

Pots and kettles

8226; Your editorial 8216;End this witch-hunt8217; and Shekhar Gupta8217;s 8216;And the pot told the kettle8217;8217;IE, May 14 highlight a stark truth: instead of governance we only have an endless cycle of vendetta politics. Yet this cycle continues because as a nation we have become too cynical, too apathetic to care. The legislature and executive are swamped by corruption and crime; the judiciary is utterly moribund. In such a scenario the Fourth Estate8217;s role is all the more important 8212; as a presenter of truth, as a mirror of public opinion, as a stick with which to caution and when necessary, wallop our leaders when they get out of hand. Alas, the leaders too recognise the power of the media and use it to destroy one another. Indeed, the conduct of the UPA-led government in recent days leaves one with a feeling of profound disgust. How little there is to distinguish it from the NDA government!

8212; R.P. Subramanian Delhi

No trust

8226; Apropos of Pratap Bhanu Mehta8217;s 8216;The general8217;s brain8217; IE, May 16, how can an ordinary Indian believe that General Musharraf can have a change of heart? Please do not forget that he is first a general, then a president, and then a Pakistani. His loyalty therefore first lies to the Pakistani Army, then to Pakistan the nation, and then to the world. Indians should not be fooled by his statements. But at the same time we should allow the process of dialogue to go forward because in the absence of any dialogue, the guns will start booming again.

8212;Govind Krishna Dixit Washington D.C.

No hope?

8226; Arun Shourie8217;s latest series on Musharraf8217;s Pakistan was very alarming. His description of the rise and consolidation of fundamentalist forces in Pakistan, if true, definitely means that friendship between India and Pakistan has serious stumbling blocks on the way. Cricket and films would help, but the
problems are grave. Doesn8217;t he see any alternative constructive forces emerging between the people of the two countries to counter the obstacles?

8212; Anil Patel On e-mail

Good investment

8226; I couldn8217;t agree more with your editorial 8216;Learn it from India8217; IE, May 17. However chaotic has been our past, whatever wrong choices we might have made, one thing is clear: our investment in building a democracy in the true sense is something the world can learn from us.

8212; Aditya Jain On e-mail

Stagflation!

8226; The US economy is likely to face an economic whirlwind in 2005-2006, many are even talking of stagflation, like in the 1970s. We in India must immediately get our priorities right. Let us focus on protecting the poor from the fallout, as everybody cannot be helped.

8212; N.R. Mukherjee Siliguri