Opinion Group indecision
In House of Hubris,Shekhar Gupta has appropriately summarised the events to which most citizens were glued over the last fortnight of 2011
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Group indecision
* In House of Hubris ( IE,December 31),Shekhar Gupta has appropriately summarised the events to which most citizens were glued over the last fortnight of 2011. No effort was made to arrive at a consensus on the Lokpal. Earlier,the flop show of civil society at Mumbais MMRDA grounds showed there are no permanent takers of their carefully crafted saintly image. When the issue was on the floor of the House and the ruling party didnt have a majority,and when it was clear the bill wouldnt have an easy passage,the proposed fast should have been postponed. Corruption is a big problem for our country but not the only problem. The bigger problem is the wastage of money and time. Let MPs vote against party lines. Collective thinking along party lines has only resulted in defective decision-making.
S.R. Singh,Ahmedabad
Courage alone
* I differ with Shekhar Gupta when he calls the Congress arrogant,as one cannot be so without confidence and authority,and the Congress has both. Anybody who watched Rajya Sabha proceedings last week will agree that the Congresss Abhishek Manu Singhvi outwitted the BJPs Arun Jaitley. The BJPs cynicism about the bill was evident by its doublespeak. BJP members reportedly agreed on constitutional status for the Lokpal at the all-party meeting,but went against it Lok Sabha. The Congress took the bill to Rajya Sabha,even though they didnt have the numbers,showing courage and not arrogance.
K.L. Khandekar,Vadodara
Being honest
* Shekhar Gupta has rightly blamed the Congress for its arrogance for the midnight fiasco in Rajya Sabha. He legitimately argued that the ruling party could have avoided this needless humiliation by honestly and humbly accepting their lack of numbers in the Upper House and appealing for deferment of the bill till the budget session. At any rate,the party was never convinced about the Lokpal bill,hence,it should have handled it with greater finesse and less cynicism.
M. Ratan,New Delhi
Equal times
* I do not agree with Firoz Bakht Ahmed that reservations will be rife with imperfections as Muslims are divided into many castes and sub-castes (Competition,not quotas,IE,December 29). Dalits,SCs,STs too,are divided into different linguistic and regional groups. If their condition could be improved through reservation,why can it not work for Muslims? Opening more schools for Muslims and identifying deserving sections of them is a duty of government. Its also the responsibility of educated Muslim individuals and organisations to identify deprived Muslims and let the benefits reach them. Let everybody reach the level of opportunity the Constitution envisaged before the country is freed of reservations.
Manzar Imam,New Delhi
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