*This refers to Anger erupts over Telangana,others knock on Delhi door (IE,August 1). It is interesting that after dilly-dallying for a long time,the Congress ultimately bit the bullet and announced the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh to create a new state Telangana. One suspects that this is a strategy to cope with the impending elections in a post Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy polity. The creation of Telangana has led to a lot of confusion and shriller demands for new states. The demand for Gorkhaland is becoming more assertive. Mayawati has also proposed that UP be divided into four states. The time is ripe to set up a second States Reorganisation Commission,which should specify objective criteria for statehood.
P.R. Achuthan Nair
New Delhi
First step
* This refers to Silence of the middle class by Sandhya Venkateswaran (IE,August 1). The article was truly eye opening. Being from the middle class myself,I was disturbed to read about how we tend to only care about issues that directly affect us. Sometimes,when someone holds a mirror up to us,we dont like what we see. Things cant change overnight,but we can always try. My writing this letter is my first step. The midday meal tragedy has not resulted in mass protests on the street,but I hope to see the editorial pages of newspapers turn into spaces where the concerns of people less privileged than us can be effectively conveyed to the government.
Dharmesh Patira
Diverted attention
*Some people in our country like to make flippant statements that are designed to spark controversy and outrage. They appear to revel in the attention they receive from the media,even if it is critical. Shobha De and Raj Babbar are examples of people who exploit their prominent status to make frivolous remarks and then bask in the resultant hullabaloo (De cut Mumbai from Maha tweet sparks row,IE,August 1). Such attention-seeking unnecessarily diverts focus from other serious issues. This has to stop. The media should not pay attention to such absurd people and their utterances.
Harsh Shukla
Ulhasnagar
Quick sands
*The decision to suspend Durga Shakti Nagpal for standing up to the sand mafia shows how shortsighted the political executive is. This is only another notch in the belt for people who are bent on destroying the institutions we have left. How can a bureaucrat discharge her duty with any confidence if she is constantly worried that something like this will happen? The urgent need of the hour is to implement the second Administrative Reform Commission recommendations.
Amit Verma
Pune
