Opinion Letters to the editor: Letter of the Week

The meeting between US Ambassador and Gujarat Chief Minister has been hyped both by the media and political parties.

February 15, 2014 12:56 AM IST First published on: Feb 15, 2014 at 12:56 AM IST

Tuning in
It was interesting to learn from Jawhar Sircar’s article, ‘Riding the waves, a shared history’ (IE, February 13), that Rabindranath Tagore christened All India Radio “Akashvani” way back in 1938. True, Radio Ceylon gave tough competition to AIR, but many recall that even prior to Radio Ceylon, the commercial station from Goa (then under Portuguese rule) had captured Indian listeners with broadcasts of Hindustani film-recordings. Finally, a correction. The great playback singer Shamshad Begum was an Indian artiste, and not Pakistani. But of course, culture, especially music, recognises no geographical boundaries, particularly between India and Pakistan.
— Sukumar Shidore
Pune

New low
THIS refers to ‘Parliament is shamed’ (IE, February 14). Unparliamentary behaviour is nothing new in India, but MPs have sunk to an unprecedented low. By using pepper spray in Parliament,
L. Rajagopal endangered the lives of his fellow MPs. Glasses were smashed and computers hurled amid the din on the most shameful day in Parliament’s history. The call for frisking parliamentarians before they
enter the House has grown shriller. Considering Thursday’s events, this seems appropriate.
— C.V. Aravind
Bangalore

Mighty fall
This refers to the editorial ‘For my aam aadmi’ (IE, February 14). Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to reward the defaulters who did not pay their “inflated” bills when he launched a so-called civil disobedience protest puts the AAP ahead of every other party that has channelled state resources to exclusively favour its narrow support base. The AAP has so far done the same things that they criticised the “established” political parties for. They are an example of how power corrupts. The Congress and BJP are frequently accused of taking a soft line against their party men. But is the AAP any different? The Manish Sisodia episode and the decision to reward people who do not pay their dues show the AAP in very poor light. The AAP has no moral standing left. They cannot lecture anyone else on matters of propriety anymore.
— Ashok Goswami
Mumbai

US frenemies
The meeting between US Ambassador Nancy Powell and Gujarat Chief Minister and BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad (‘US ambassador meets Modi, signals end of boycott, but no word on visa’, IE, February 14) has been hyped both by the media and political parties. Everybody knows that the US only bothers about its own national interest (we must also try and emulate this). The timing of the meeting — despite the shameful petition from Indian MPs to the US president, asking him to continue to deny Modi a visa — should not come as a surprise, for obvious reasons. The US is following in the footsteps of the European Union and Australia. There are no permanent friends or foes in politics. For instance, the US didn’t always share warm relations with Nelson Mandela. As late as 2008, Nelson Mandela continued to be on the US terror watch list. Yet, not only was he honoured with a US congressional gold medal in 1998, but US President Barack Obama also spoke movingly at his funeral.
— B.N. Anand
Mohali