Opinion Citizen watch
The people are clearly disillusioned with the poor state of public services
Citizen watch
The people are clearly disillusioned with the poor state of public services. While widespread reforms are necessary,the system needs basic,continuous monitoring. This can be done by a select group of citizens with the aid of new technology,like mobile phones. People can monitor and report,for instance,whether garbage sites are being cleared regularly,or ration is disbursed from PDS shops,or mid-day meals are being served in schools as promised. The government should institutionalise such technology-driven,citizen-based monitoring of public services.
Aaditeshwar Seth
New Delhi
Calumny campaign
Sudheendra Kulkarani has accused the Congress of insolence and authoritarianism (Insolent Congress,IE,June 12). Since one-sided invective cannot be the language of discourse,it is imperative the alternative narrative be articulated. Over the past 10 months,the forces of right reaction,namely the RSS,have been waging a proxy war against the government,aided by elements of left anarchism (overground sympathisers of the Maoists),to subvert this government,thereby endangering Indias stability. Their favoured instruments this time are a self-professed non-believer of Indian democratic processes and a medieval obscurantist who over the years has acquired delusions of grandeur. The reasons for this latest assault are not difficult to discern. There is growing nervousness in the RSS with regard to the Samjhauta Express investigation,especially after the arrest of Swami Aseemanand. The paranoia of the Gujarat CM is exacerbating with mounting evidence of his allegedly direct culpability in the 2002 riots. The arrest of Amit Shah compounds the alarm. Coupled with this is the impatience of a PM-in-waiting. Within all these imperatives lurk the overground forerunners of the left-wing anarchists waiting to seize an opportunity to undermine participatory democracy. The tactics of the RSS have repeatedly been utilised over the past three decades. A campaign of calumny spiced with a liberal dose of communalism makes for a perfect concoction to perpetuate chaos.
Manish Tewari
Congress spokesperson
New Delhi
No exceptions
The editorial Our nanny,our state (IE,June 17) has rightly focused on the legal justifiability or otherwise of the demand that attack on journalists be made a non-bailable offence. If that is granted,then nothing will prevent any of our billion people from demanding that any offence against him/ her too be declared non-bailable. Such selective exemptions go against the criminal procedure code and violate the rights to equality and liberty enshrined in our Constitution.
A.R. Sathyan
Nero redux
Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi seems to be a modern-day version of Nero. If the Roman emperor was found fiddling when Rome was burning,Gaddafi is seen calmly planning his next move on the chessboard when his country is in the throes of civil war.
Arun Malankar
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