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This is an archive article published on November 1, 2013
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Opinion Governance failure

Uncontrolled population growth is an impediment to economic development.

The Indian Express

November 1, 2013 11:02 PM IST First published on: Nov 1, 2013 at 11:02 PM IST

* This refers to the editorial ‘Saving Modi’ (IE,October). Any election in a democracy should be a fight between ideas. The shoddy security arrangements in Patna were extremely disappointing. Nitish Kumar must not forget that “good governance” includes providing safety to people in Bihar. The attacks in Patna ended up killing common people. Had a stampede materialised in the packed Gandhi Maidan,the casualties would have been horrific. It would have created a fear of political rallies,which would have been extremely unfortunate for our vibrant democracy.

— Ankan Ghosh

Kolkata

Greater good

* This refers to ‘2G scam: Chacko submits JPC report to Speaker’ (IE,October 30). The fact that P.C. Chacko,the chairperson of the joint parliamentary committee on the 2G scam,edited the dissent notes of 12 members,which were appended to the report,is disturbing. He may have been within his rights to do so according to the rules,but whether the greater good was served by his actions is doubtful. Chacko claims that he edited the dissent notes to weed out inaccurate and inappropriate expressions,and to maintain the “credibility” of the report. From the start,public faith in the JPC has been minimal. Chacko’s editing was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He should have countered the dissent notes in the report rather than censor them.

— N. Ramamurthy

Chennai

Mind the gap

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* This refers to ‘An agreement among unequals’ by Frederic Grare (IE,October 29). It is well known that China has not been transparent in its relations with India. The recent meeting between the prime ministers of India and China did not result in much headway either. How can we ever hope to achieve normalcy in our bilateral relations if China insists on issuing stapled visas to Indians from Arunachal Pradesh in order to emphasise its ridiculous claim that the state is actually part of south Tibet? In light of these developments,it would be extremely unwise and undiplomatic for India to refuse to participate in the forthcoming Commonwealth meet in Sri Lanka. India must try to build bridges with its more reasonable neighbours. It must not isolate itself further. China would willingly step in to fill the gap if relations between India and Sri Lanka soured.

— H.N. Ramakrishna

Bangalore

Obsessive fears

* Uncontrolled population growth is an impediment to economic development. The RSS seems to have forgotten this when it asked Hindus to have more children because of its obsessive fear of Muslims outnumbering Hindus. The population growth of any community goes down as it develops and becomes more prosperous. It doesn’t happen if it is feared and reviled.

— Shridhar P. Shukla

Thane