Leftwards

anmohan Singh is not a great theorist but he has vast experience in the application of theory.

3 min readJan 21, 2014 03:23 AM IST First published on: Jan 21, 2014 at 03:23 AM IST

* Shekhar Gupta’s ‘Left, Right or Standstill’ (IE, January 18) rightly argues that socialism is the most persistent virus in Indian politics. Pragmatism is not opportunism. Manmohan Singh is not a great theorist but he has vast experience in the application of theory. He had put the Indian economy on a self-sustained growth path. The Congress then introduced “inclusive growth”. The economy nosedived. Singh remained a silent spectator, publicly humiliated. Now that the AAP has withdrawn FDI in retail, can it suggest an alternative remedy for an imperfect agricultural market? Meanwhile, the BJP is anchored to an organisation with medieval ideas. What we need is a think-tank for the 21st century.
— M.K. Mahapatra
Pune

AFSPA accountability
* I would like to congratulate The Indian Express for bringing to the fore arguments from all sides about AFSPA in Kashmir. The debate, and any solution, must be guided by justice. Justice is not abstract. Wajahat Habibullah (‘Rethink and redploy’, IE, January 17) has offered practical solutions. Accountability must be an underlying factor for any solution. AFSPA’s horrors and the need for its withdrawal, though known, wouldn’t have become “known” but for a committee set up by the Supreme Court. Instances like Machchil, though being addressed by a military tribunal, shouldn’t be exclusively addressed by army institutions. Justice in a democracy demands accountability to the people through checks imposed by representative institutions. A parliamentary committee would be ideal to look into complaints against the armed forces.
— Sakshi Sawhney
New Delhi