• On Mahinda Rajapaksa registering a remarkable victory in his bid for re-election,you have rightly commented that the worry now is that this personal confrontation could polarise politics further and it is very likely that the mandate will not automatically translate into unquestioned political authority for Rajapaksa during his second term. It is eight months now since the Tigers were defeated,yet the president has taken no steps towards a political settlement. He cannot afford to drag his feet any longer as Tamil alienation from the state,evident from the low voter turnout,remains almost complete. Rajapaksa should realise that the faster Sri Lankas politics exits from post-result fractiousness,the easier he will win the confidence of the international community.
Dilbag Rai
Blog truths
• Justice Shylendra Kumar of the Karnataka high court deserves praise for taking the veil off all three pillars of the Republic,which must share the blame for the decline in standards of government functioning. Legislators break laws they make and misuse their influence with the executive; the executive lets administration go to the dogs; and the judiciary misses out on its duty to hold the executive responsible and fails to maintain the highest standards of judicial conduct. Any wonder then that they all want exemption from RTI?
R.J. Khurana
Colonial hangovers?
• When the British ruled as a colonial power they needed to keep us awestruck and fearful. So they had to show off their military might: colourful regiments,military hardware,parades. But now India is a free country,of free citizens. Why should we preserve colonial practices? It is an anachronism to display on Republic Day large contingents of our armed forces,with their weapons and hardware many sadly obsolete. What with the threat of terrorism,the public are inconvenienced: normal traffic gets paralysed. And due to air force rehearsals,air traffic too is affected. Many consider the events something to be endured every year,not celebrated. It is time we called off military parades on Republic Day and allowed people to celebrate the day their own way.
K. Venkataraman
• The Padma awards are another legacy that we appear to have inherited from Britain,where on the Queens birthday everyone eagerly waits to see whether he is getting a CBE or MBE and so on. The old joke is that a Briton feels naked without such post-nominal letters. Here,there are enough awards for science,literature and arts. Sports too has its own,as do the armed forces. So why this set?
T.R. Ramaswami
Mumbai
