Yes, Prez, but…

• The president is right when he says that the independence of the executive “is only in...

• The president is right when he says that the independence of the executive “is only in theory” but does not sound convincing when he laments that it cannot function independently “when each one of its actions is questioned” (‘IE, CJI, Speaker sitting, Kalam stands up for the Executive’, IE, November 10). The independence is “in theory” only because the executive is not functioning or is malfunctioning or is functioning in a partisan manner. In such a situation, the judiciary and the media are the only rays of hope. When the president himself signs the Proclamation of Emergency in Bihar at midnight, without asking for a reconsideration, only to prevent the formation of a non-UPA Government, he cannot expect the judiciary and the fourth estate to keep quiet.

— Devendra Narain Gurgaon

Riots in Paris

• Apropos of your editorial, ‘Rioting Republic’ (November 9), Paris has been burning for quite some time now. The problem is immigration. Ever since the inception of life on this earth, migration of population has been taking place. Immigrants were brought in an earlier era as slaves, today they are lured by promises of a better life. But the fact is they have not been provided a decent life. History has proved that whether immigrants had come as aggressors, as slaves, or of their own volition, there has always been a clash of sociocultural, economic and religious interests.

— Satbir Singh Bedi Delhi

Left’s standards

• Prakash Karat, the self-appointed moral ombudsman, has exposed his double standards. He advises the Congress not to be defensive. The Left should realise this stand of theirs only exposes their doublespeak (‘Oil for junk food’, IE, November 11).

— S. Sundararaman Bangalore

Morality, first

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• This is with reference to ‘The minister’s private war’ (IE, November 8). Natwar Singh should have resigned from his ministership of his own volition. He chose, instead, to challenge the UN report and caused great embarrassment to our prime minister and the ruling Congress party. Today, although he has retained his chair, Natwar Singh has lost his dignity. The writer has rightly quoted the examples of the late Sardar Sardul Singh Keveshwar, and the late prime minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri. They both proved that between morality and legality, the former has an upper hand.

— Mahindar Singh New Delhi

A nation mourns

• Of all the public figures who took a stand on the recent reversals facing this country, it was Governor S.K. Sinha who set the best example. He rightly ordered the cancellation of Diwali and Eid celebrations in J&K. It would have been better if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had ordered the cancellation of all public celebrations in the nation as a sign of mourning, but he did not choose to do so.

— Tej Bahadur Puri Kapurthala