Opinion A real fear
One may be willing to concede that “secularism” will not die completely because of democratic systems, the Constitution and a strong higher judiciary.
* Apropos of the article ‘Secularism is dead!’, by Shekhar Gupta (IE, April 19), while the title attracts attention, the piece itself only skims the surface of arguments put forward by staunch believers of secularism who express their fears about a possible BJP government dominated by Narendra Modi and under the influence of the RSS. One may be willing to concede that “secularism” will not die completely because of democratic systems, the Constitution and a strong higher judiciary. But the very fact that such systems were subverted during the Emergency, which lasted for nearly two years, is worrying. A similar or even stronger bid for power cannot be ruled out. But this very anxiety may be a safeguard against any such attempt by an autocratic leader. At the same time, given the RSS and Sangh Parivar’s goal of a “Hindu Rashtra”, there is a very real risk of the state turning away from the ethos of secularism and moving towards more aggressive forms of Hindutva. The fears of minorities and of a large section of secular Hindus are therefore very real.
— Shahabuddin Nadeem
Bangalore
Audit for all
* This refers to ‘Of, by, for auditors’ by Pratap Bhanu Mehta (IE, April 23). The Supreme Court order that the accounts of private telecom companies can be audited by the CAG must be welcomed by all. Telecom companies are allowed to use spectrum, a scarce national resource, in return for sharing their revenues with the government. Their accounts must be regularly audited so that there is no loss to the exchequer due to connivance between government officials and company staff. The government is the custodian of the natural wealth of the nation and it must ensure that these resources are not misappropriated, and that ordinary citizens can access them.
— S.C. Vaid
Noida
Board games
* This refers to the editorial ‘Can’t do spirit’ (IE, April 23). The Mudgal committee is now in charge of investigating allegations against the mysterious 13. Going by recent developments, the board should be brought under the RTI act immediately.
— S.K.Gupta
Panchkula
Ore point
* Iron ore mining suffered because of vague laws governing them and shortsighted governments (‘Iron it out’, IE, April 23). The nexus between ministers, bureaucrats and local strongmen hit Karnataka badly, as evidenced by the case involving the Reddy brothers. The importance of conserving the environment is cleverly sidetracked, and sometimes even used as a ploy to divert attention from the main issue. In Goa, the state government must take the blame for allowing things to come to such a pass that a mining ban had to be imposed in 2012.
— Ganapathi Bhat,
Akola
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