Opinion Letters to the editor: Must-have accessory

A leader is not considered powerful or important unless he has a gunman in tow.

October 20, 2014 12:48 AM IST First published on: Oct 20, 2014 at 12:48 AM IST

This refers to the editorial, ‘So insecure’ (IE, October 17). The way in which governments use VIP status to settle personal scores not only undermines the very nature of the security provided to so-called VIPs, but also raises legitimate questions about the basis on which security cover is granted. There is no doubt that Punjab has been through a terrible phase of terrorism and that many leaders were killed by extremists in the past. But that was two decades ago. Normalcy has been restored in the state in every way. As in other parts of the country, security guards are now used to signal clout and importance. A leader is not considered powerful or important unless he has a gunman in tow.

— Ashok Goswami (Mumbai)

Bad precedent

By offering to freeze eggs for their female employees, Apple and Facebook have set a bad example (‘Having it all’, IE, October 17). Their action implies that, in order to be successful, working women should put their career ahead of motherhood. It implies that postponing childbirth is necessary for ambitious women. But what of the women who want both? Other MNCs must not follow suit.

— Praveer Parmar (Rajkot)

The aristocrats

This refers to the editorial, ‘Follow it through’ (IE, October 17). Perhaps for the first time, the Central government has implicitly conceded that economic reforms have not led to adequate employment generation. But this is a belated admission. The challenge now is to initiate and implement labour reform to put the economy on a high-growth trajectory, encourage employment generation. Labour unions fight on behalf of privileged insiders, the labour aristocracy, if you will. So long as governments remain politically dependent on labour unions, reforms won’t be meaningful enough. Also, such reforms must be given a “human face”. They are, after all, in the best interests of the vast number of unemployed people.

— Romesh Marwaha (Delhi)

An outlier

Madhu Kishwar’s ‘A real threat, a phobic fantasy’ (IE, October 17) stands out in an otherwise inane series of romantic stories patterned on Mills and Boon’s novels. The writer rightly points out that in uniquely close-knit Indian families, parents and siblings do care for the women of the house. Their concern about their marital affairs springs from love. In no way can this be termed as intrusion. Neither Part I nor Part II of the series addressed the issue of deception — of Muslim men allegedly suppressing their religious identity to marry Hindu women and later forcing them to convert to Islam. Instead, they demonised Hindu groups for opposing this.

— Ajay Tyagi (Mumbai)