Opinion Elective course
It is true that including civil society members in the drafting committee of the Lokpal bill and sending questionnaires to political parties before tabling the bill in Parliament.
Elective course
* It is true that including civil society members in the drafting committee of the Lokpal bill and sending questionnaires to political parties before tabling the bill in Parliament amount to questioning the privileges of our sovereign law-making body. But it is also true that the issue of corruption has not been seriously debated in Parliament recently.
Anil S. Sutar,Mumbai
A chance lost
* This refers to Always a modernist (IE,June 10). I feel ashamed that Indias world-renowned artist,M.F. Husain,had to die outside his country. His art was a journey from painting cinema hoardings to exhibits valued at astronomically high prices. He was fearless and painted what his mind dictated. Due to his depictions of Hindu goddesses,he fell prey to fundamentalists and had to leave India to live in self-imposed exile. It is regrettable that the government of India did not even once try to bring him back.
R.K. Kapoor,Chandigarh
Talent and failings
* The talent in M.F. Husain was God-given (MF Husain,The Great Indian Artist,dies in exile,IE,June 10). Humanity has every reason to mourn the departure of such a person. Wherever his brush landed,it automatically turned into a rare piece of artwork. However,every person,big or small,also has shortcomings. Husain could have respected religious sentiments by imposing a self-check and not painting Hindu goddesses in the nude.
Madhu Agrawal,Delhi
Foolish moves
* The lack of reasoned discourse and the vacuum in political leadership and governance has opened up the field to populist and charismatic demagogues,who prescribe unrealistic solutions to problems (Babas troopers,IE,June 10). The current situation demands an understanding of political realities and assessing the propriety of the Central governments stance on the Lokpal bill,black money and corruption. It was wrong for Digvijaya Singh to antagonise Baba Ramdev when the situation demanded that he be left alone. It was also an overplay by four ministers to accord a red carpet welcome to him at the Delhi airport. The Congress should have reached out instead to the opposition instead of surrendering to civil society activists.
C. Koshy John,Pune
Dictating terms
* The article Second time as farce (IE,June 7) summarises the dysfunctional nature of the Congress. The Congress is so used to power that it has forgotten all norms of governance. Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev were so moved by its poor governance that they gave a voice to the voiceless and got an unprecedented response from the people. They were pilloried to start with,but later listened to half-heartedly. One is fobbed off with a diluted version of the Lokpal and the other was sought to be punished like a criminal. We are a democratic republic and every citizen has a right to protest peacefully.
M.D. Kini,Mumbai
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