Divide,destroy
This refers to Why the Ramlila surge worries minorities and those on margins,(IE,August 25). It seems incoherent,biased and out of context. To say that minorities,especially Muslims,are shunning Anna Hazare is untrue. The common Muslims apprehensions of Anna Hazare cannot be judged by quoting some Muslim intellectuals and articles from the Urdu press. The allegedly contemptuous indictment of Parliament by team Anna,claimed to be seen as a worrying aspect by minorities and the marginalised,is too complex for popular understanding. Marginalising constituents of the populace from movements such as Hazares on flimsy grounds points to similar attempts during the freedom movement,which not only alienated minorities from the movement,but led to serious divisions in the mindsets of different communities.
Ravindra Agnihotri
Kanpur
Different strokes
ATTEMPTS are being made by sections of the intelligentsia to discredit and dismiss the Anna-led movement as being representative only of the middle classes,or by branding it a farce. These are uncalled for,and smack of arrogance and ignorance. Those who say that this movement is a middle-class phenomenon have probably not visited the Ramlila Maidan,because if they had,they would have seen the representative nature of this movement. The middle classes are more visible in this movement because they,unlike the poor,can afford to leave work and protest.It would be unwise to ignore public sentiment and call the movement a farce just because comparisons were being made with the freedom movement and the JP movement. Every movement has its own character,and comparing it to others will only do injustice to all.
Manas Upmanyu,
One in all
IN This time as farce, (IE,August 25),Aditya Mukherjees critical analysis of the current chaos in a global and national historical context went beyond the views of those who have been talking only of Parliament,and of the undermining of the Constitution. The risk of political hijacking has been substantiated well enough with examples from the past for those blind supporters who are being conditioned to think in black and white. Inflation hits real hard but it is time for us to step back and ask if this is a democratic,Gandhian solution to what concerns us all.
Snigdha Hasan
Wake-up call
The Anna movement has brought to light the fact that Indias political class has lost touch with the citizenry and didnt see it coming. They didnt realise the masses were so dissatisfied with the current level of corruption that the tipping point was close. If not Annas actions,something else would have lit the fuse. The government and opposition came up with a public declaration of their stance only on the 11th day of Annas fast when both should have been proactive.
Siddhartha Mukherji
