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This is an archive article published on February 2, 2011
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Opinion Letters to the editor

In ‘A fresh breeze in Cairo’ C. Raja Mohan has rightly pointed out that silence of our political class towards Egypt will serve no purpose.

indianexpress

Express News Service

February 2, 2011 06:19 AM IST First published on: Feb 2, 2011 at 06:19 AM IST

Hollow silence
In ‘A fresh breeze in Cairo’ (IE,February 1),C. Raja Mohan has rightly pointed out that silence of our political class towards Egypt will serve no purpose. Our political class has mastered the art of playing it safe. No matter how fragile or imperative a certain issue is from India’s point of view,politicians maintain a look of disinterestedness. We had a glimpse of this earlier when our government failed take a stern stand on the junta’s misdeeds in Burma. This policy could get accolades from certain quarters,but will never get you friends.

— S. Shamael Jafri,Lakhimpur Kheri

Egyptian kin
One doesn’t need to be a Solomon to know why our political parties are not reacting to the political unrest in Egypt (‘A fresh breeze in Cairo’). Our politicians are afraid to say their piece because unconsciously they consider themselves “Indian cousins” of the discredited Hosni Mubarak. They are just happy being busy in squabbling over scams and unseemly controversies raging in India,and do not bother about what is happening in the world. It is not always wise to be wise only after the event.

— Satwant Kaur,Mahilpur

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Unsatisfactory
I fail to understand how a peaceful rally carrying the national flag on Republic Day can be harmful to the state (‘Nationalism badly spelt’,IE,January 29). Peace loving citizens,having faith in Indian democracy,have no objection to it; it is only the separatists who are opposed to this. The separatists are already gloating over the fact that they have stopped the hoisting of the Indian flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar. This year it was Kashmir,next year similar demands may arise from the separatists elsewhere. Will we bow down to them under the pretext of maintaining law and order?

— Mohit Sharma,Delhi

Reformist agenda
It is good that Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has “come around to the right way of thinking” by announcing the new policy for telecom spectrum (‘Road forward’,IE,January 31). He successfully brought in much-needed reforms in the country’s education system. A similar approach in reforming the telecom sector is most welcome. Though Sibal has tried to play down the corruption in the 2G spectrum allocation scam,he has started working in the right direction now to see that nothing of the sort is repeated.

— R.K. Kapoor Chandigarh

Core issue
This refers to ‘Staines verdict: SC drops para on conversion and intent’ and the article ‘Freedom,faith,fear’ (IE,January 20). The apex court has simply dropped some specific phrases. Even after the amendment,the purpose of its observations remains the same as before: “There is no justification for interfering in someone’s religious belief by any means”. “By any means” implies coercion,provocation,incitement,etc.

— G.C. Sharma Mohali