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Letter of the Week
An electoral slap
HIS refers to the editorial, ‘Art of losing’ (IE, September 17). It is immensely satisfying that the people who voted in the recent bypolls, particularly in riot-torn Uttar Pradesh, have delivered the electoral equivalent of a stinging slap across the BJP’s face. The BJP would do well to learn that it won the Lok Sabha polls thanks to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise of bringing about amity and development across the board, not because of the poisonous spewings of people like BJP MP Adityanath. This is indeed a lesson for all political parties — on the right, left and centre of the ideological spectrum — that they cannot hope to attain or retain power by cynically playing both sides of the field, that religious kooks might be able to terrorise people in the short term but cannot deter voters from trashing their political masters at the earliest opportunity.
— R.P. Subramanian
Delhi
Still united
PREVENTING the partition of a 307-year-old union, Scottish voters have decided that Scotland will stay part of the United Kingdom. They rejected “independence” in the historic referendum, which shook the country to its core. Democracy is a beautiful thing. Three hundred years after the Acts of Union, 1707, the calls for separation were put to the test and a referendum was called for. And irrespective of whether one is pleased with the verdict, one can’t help but marvel at democracy and self-determination at work. There are still some things we could learn from the UK.
— J.S. Acharya
Hyderabad
On slippery ground
THIS refers to ‘Slippery ground of the secularism debate’ by Sanjay Nirupam (IE, September 15). The writer has rightly pointed out the double talk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s agenda. But his tone was that of a partisan opponent, not a statesman. While he blamed the BJP for the tensions in Moradabad and Saharanpur, he forgot about the Muzaffarnagar riots, which took place when the UPA was at the Centre. At that time, people blamed the Samajwadi Party government in UP for them, not the Manmohan Singh administration or the Congress party. But now, the Central government and the BJP are being blamed for localised riots in certain UP towns and villages.
— Rahul Bansal
Varanasi
Best of Express Premium
Tasteless remark
THIS refers to ‘The outsiders’ (IE, September 19). It is disappointing and heartbreaking that Indians are referred to as migrants in their own country. We need to stop discriminating against people based on language, state of origin, cultural traditions, religion or caste. Hema Malini, a trained classical dancer, a talented actor, a well-known face of the ruling party, should not have made such tasteless remarks. To target people as vulnerable and helpless as the widows of Vrindavan is low. It reminds one of the environment that was created by the Shiv Sena in Mumbai, where, incidentally, Hema Malini is a “migrant”. At the time, people from other states were threatened and terrorised. How can national unity be built with people like Hema Malini around? At any rate, it is our constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to roam about freely in the territory of India.
— Abhishek Jha
Mohali
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