Opinion Sorry isn’t enough
I beg to differ with the writer that the courage to admit culpability helps in getting closure for tragedies.
* This refers to ‘1984 won’t end’ by Shekhar Gupta (IE, February 1). I beg to differ with the writer that the courage to admit culpability helps in getting closure for tragedies. A mere apology is not sufficient. Only genuine action against the culprits could ease the pain of the affected families and community. Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had expressed regret several years after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. But Rahul Gandhi’s slippery response to questions about 1984 in a recent TV interview revived the terrible memories. Also, Sonia Gandhi’s admission of her party’s wrongdoing during the Emergency cannot wash away mother-in-law Indira Gandhi’s sins of tyranny. Gupta is equally wrong if he thinks that Indian Muslims would forgive Narendra Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots if he apologised.
— M. Ratan
New Delhi
* I agree with Shekhar Gupta that building a memorial for the 3,000 Sikhs who died in the Congress-led mob fury following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in Delhi in 1984 will help us, as a country, come to terms with the horrible past. This is certainly an appropriate way to say sorry, seek forgiveness and teach our children never to repeat our crimes. The German example of preserving Nazi concentration camps as public museums to remind future generations of the crimes committed by their ancestors must be followed in our country also.
— R.K. Kapoor
Chandigarh
National shame
* This refers to the editorial ‘Delhi’s shame’ (IE, February 3). The altercation that led to Nido Taniam’s alleged murder is not a one-off incident but a reflection of the near total socio-cultural ignorance about the Northeast in Delhi. All too often, people from the Northeast are considered foreign because of their appearance. The harassment of women from the region is also common. But often, victims choose to suffer in silence because of police apathy and antipathy, and because they need to earn a living in cities like Delhi. The appalling treatment of people from the Northeast in the rest of the county is a cause of great concern. Their cultural traditions are virtually unknown in the rest of the country. This is not the India that the Constitution’s framers envisaged.
— Ganapathi Bhat
Akola
The undoing
* The revised GDP figures for 2012-13 peg growth at 4.5 per cent instead of 5 per cent. The economy has performed worse than previously estimated. In this context, the power subsidies and opposition to retail FDI announced by some state governments are worrisome. As the elections approach, the likelihood of other states and the Centre implementing “populist” policies is high.
— C. Koshy John
Pune
Share
