Opinion Slumming out
Though I have absolutely no faith in scriptures,I condemn US pastor Terry Jones decision to torch the Koran on 9/11.
This refers to the editorial 93 million of us (IE,September 6). The burgeoning slums in our cities represent a stark mismatch between aspiration and opportunity. You rightly point out that the people living in these slums are a vast reservoir of energy. This energy,if tapped and used the right way,can add fuel to the economic engine; but if allowed to fester in the mire of neglect and apathy,it can prove very dangerous. We have seen from time to time,how easily excitable passions of slum dwellers have been used for nefarious designs. Our problems today are unique in proportion,and need unique solutions. Traditionally,our institutions lack the imagination to think big. However,its heartening to see that the Rajiv Awas Yojana has set ambitious goals for itself. Now what remains to
be seen is if we can adequately handle that other big problem implementation.
Gurpreet S. Goraya
Mohali
Tried and tested
This refers to the editorial Its the people (IE,September 10). I do not agree with your point of view that stalwarts like Nitish Kumar,Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan need to stand for election to prove their worth. We all know what Nitish did in the last five years and his predecessors in earlier years. So it is again up to Bihars voters to choose what is right and progressive. It is not about them individually,but having their candidates win in as many of the states 243 seats as possible.
Bal Govind
Noida
Is nothing sacred?
Though I have absolutely no faith in scriptures,I condemn US pastor Terry Jones decision to torch the Koran on 9/11. If 9/11 was an unpardonable act by Muslim fanatics,this will be an equally condemnable offence. Every great civilisation or historical epoch,at some point in its decline,witnesses the burning of its books and an erasure of or irreversible damage to the intellectual life and character of its survivors. Heinrich Heine,with the poets simplification of things forbiddingly complex,has rightly said,where books burn,people burn. The burning of books signified the fall of Granada and the end of Moorish Spain. The Nazis made bonfires of Thomas Mann,Sigmund Freud,etc. But desecrating a holy book by burning it is even more reprehensible,especially when the act is instigated by a pastor.
Sumit S. Paul
The costs of free
The planned mass burning of copies of the Koran to mark the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attack is an act of sheer madness. It has rightly evoked wide condemnation,including from the Vatican. American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said it does not in any way represent American citizens or the government,religious or political leadership. But what is surprising is that there is no US law for preventive arrest,stretching the concept of freedom to extreme limits.
H.R.B. Satyanarayana
Mysore
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