This refers to C. Raja Mohan’s Chinese Takeaway column (IE, March 26). It seems that the writer has joined the A.K. Antony-bashing league, which seems to be in fashion in media circles. The Chinese utilisation of its military forces for the MH370 search is surely an indication of their operational readiness. But to compare this with the Indian response is absolutely ludicrous. After all, there were 152 Chinese passengers onboard MH370. This fact required the Chinese government to make serious efforts to find the plane. The Chinese establishment would have been pilloried at home for being insensitive had they not made such effort.
— Narendra Chauhan
Mumbai
Last laugh
Campaigning for the 2014 elections is peaking. But the actions of some contestants are truly unfortunate. It is tragic that important subjects of public interest like price rise and corruption are taking a backseat. Personal attacks are too common for comfort. Such attacks seem to comprise the main agenda of some parties. The levels to which a few politicians have sunk is appalling. The photograph of Madhusudan Mistry “rising to protest” (Mistry rises to protest, IE, April 4) was amusing and showed the height of his desperation. To see a senior Congress leader attempt to paste his publicity poster on top of one of his rival’s by climbing the shoulders of his supporters was sad.
—B.N. Anand
Mohali
Golwalkar’s legatee
This refers to ‘What Hindutva seeks’ by Ram Madhav (IE, March 29). It is absolutely clear that those campaigning for Narendra Modi are prepared to do anything to get him elected. I do not agree with Madhav’s assessment that “Savarkar and for that matter Golwalkar believed in and worked for Hindu-Muslim unity.” In my opinion, nothing could be further from the truth. In 1935, when Mahatma Gandhi declared that there cannot be Swaraj without Hindu-Muslim unity, Golwalkar likened what Gandhi had said to treason. Golwalkar felt that the independence movement was not just to overthrow the British but also to fight against the Muslims. Ample historians have testified to this. Narendra Modi and Ram Madhav are the legatees of Golwalkar and Savarkar. This election is not about governance or development. Modi and the RSS want to create a Hindu Rashtra where minorities will be made to live as second-class citizens.
— Daljit Singh
Noida
Power grab
This refers to ‘Week to go for vote, candidate dumps Cong’ (IE, April 4). The accompanying photograph of the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, Narendra Modi, hugging ex-Congressman Ramesh Chand Tomar must have been quite a jolt for the Congress party. How embarrassing that just a few days before the election, Tomar, the Congress’s Gautam Buddha Nagar candidate, switched over to the BJP. It is clear that the BJP is quite likely to win this election but does the party really want to accept all sorts of turncoats into its fold. Does the BJP want to rebrand itself as a party populated by backstabbers? Our parliamentary democracy is doomed if the only ideology that motivated our politicians is to grab power.
— Bidyut K. Chatterjee
Faridabad
