Opinion Back in the USSR
Russia’s annexation of Crimea reminds me of a cartoon published in a Mumbai daily when the erstwhile USSR had moved into Afghanistan in the early Eighties.
* Russia’s annexation of Crimea reminds me of a cartoon published in a Mumbai daily when the erstwhile USSR had moved into Afghanistan in the early Eighties. It depicted an Aeroflot billboard with the caption: “Visit Russia Before Russia Visits You”. The situation appears ominous for small neighbouring countries that were once part of the USSR.
— K.S. Grewal
Panchkula
* This refers to ‘Who’s afraid of Neville Maxwell?’ by Shekhar Gupta (IE, March 22). What a brilliantly moving piece. In all walks of life, frankness is greatly appreciated — especially when so well expressed. It is only a chaotic democracy like ours that can contemplate with equanimity two inconsistent laws remaining on our statute book: the Official Secrets Act, 1923, and the Right to Information Act, 2005. Official secrets may be sometimes good for the nation’s soul — and for its security, but definitely not beyond 30 years! As Gupta says, there must be a closure for “the family secrets” of 1962.
— Fali S. Nariman
New Delhi
Reality check
* This refers to ‘Modi the moderate’ by Ashutosh Varshney (IE, March 27). To say that Narendra Modi has become moderate because he has not focused on the three tenets of Hindutva that Varshney identified is naïve. Right now, Modi’s sole objective is to win the elections. He will use any strategy that he can, sell any dream to the people. For instance, Modi visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi in December 2013, where he performed Hindu rituals. But we have never seen him visiting a mosque or church. He has never agreed to wear a skullcap. This substantially confirms that he has a hidden agenda. He may be dwelling mostly on development, infrastructure and growth right now. But post-elections, he is likely to change tack. Let’s not even get started on Modi’s arrogance and poor team spirit. Varshney is light years away from reality.
— Ajeet Prasad
Pune
Seeking moderation
* This refers to ‘Modi hasn’t won yet’ by Harish Khare (IE, March 28). The former media advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wrote a piece that seems out of sync with reality. Khare contradicts all the signs that are out there, plain to see. Perhaps he needs to take a page out of his own book and practice “moderation and fairness”, which he deems indispensable for the health of our democracy. Khare also clearly singles out and accuses the BJP of trying to “buy a national election with money”. He further goes on to assert that corporate India is “helping” the BJP “purchase” this election. Based on the number of scams that have been unearthed during the UPA years, the Congress may actually have more money at its disposal than the BJP. Khare cannot seriously be unaware that as a result of his former boss Manmohan Singh’s dismal performance as prime minister, the Congress is certain to be thrashed at the polls.
— M. Ratan
New Delhi
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