Opinion Shadow play

— R.C. Desai

Vallabh Vidya Nagar

Round two

BABA Ramdev opened his second innings in the anti-corruption drive along with Anna Hazare at Jantar Mantar on Sunday. Ramdev’s first protest at the Ramlila Grounds last year ended abruptly. It is high time their call to address corruption was heeded. Efficient measures should be taken to tackle corruption. There should be fast-track courts to try those who face charges of corruption. Their ill-gotten wealth should be confiscated.

— Parminder Singh

Ludhiana

THE day-long protest organised by Baba Ramdev could not attract crowds like last time. It also exposed differences between Ramdev and Anna Hazare (‘Ramdev denies rift with Team Anna’,IE,June 4). Arvind Kejriwal’s remark that the Lokpal bill would not be passed as long as certain “tainted” MPs remained in Parliament did not go down well with Ramdev. In a snub to Kejriwal,he said that naming such politicians would divert attention from the main issue. Kejriwal’s abrupt exit from Jantar Mantar soon afterwards points to the growing tensions between Ramdev and Team Anna. Ramdev has not changed his anti-corruption agenda,but he seems to have adopted a more cautious approach to it ever since his fast at Ramlila grounds was unceremoniously interrupted by the police last year.

— Yash P. Verma

Pune

Do the math

APROPOS ‘Why maths papers Indians publish have so little impact’ (IE,June 4),the current system borrows heavily from a British system of education,ignoring local factors. Students seem to have forgotten to question the how and why of things. The nation desperately needs teachers who can encourage critical analysis and questioning.

— Aditya Radhakrishnan

Pune

Double standards?

THIS refers to ‘The political economy of petroleum prices’ (IE,June 4). The author used the term “cash abyss” for the current condition of oil marketing companies (OMCs). The government too uses this term or under recovery for the status quo of OMCs. Why don’t they simply use the term “losses”? Why doesn’t the government tell the people clearly that OMCs are a huge source of revenue for them? It persists in providing subsidies to these companies. It cannot argue that oil is subsidised for the benefit of the common man. This argument fails because the wealthy get oil at the same prices as the poor.

— Amit Jacques Soofi

Lucknow