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Hindutva turmoil
The Bharatiya Janata Party should understand that fissiparous and divisive tendencies are not going to last long (Cover Story, December 30). To sustain itself in national politics, the BJP should abandon its Hindutva agenda and work for the poor and underprivileged sections of society.
Brajesh Kumar
It is now clear that the BJP is no more a party with a difference. The recent sting operation, Operation Duryodhan, blackened its face more than other any other party's. With Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani on the brink of retirement, a power struggle has started within the BJP. The party has many politicians but very few leaders.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee
Uma Bharati's attention-seeking gestures show her desperation and paranoia. The party `with a difference' has become a party of power-hungry leaders. Why cannot these leaders give preference to good governance over cheap political moves? The BJP loves to harp on `lofty ideals'. Obviously, the pull of power compels them to shed these ideals.
Arvind K. Pandey
Gender issues
Anjalli Gupta had filed a case of sexual harassment case against her senior officers, which was proved to be baseless by the General Court Martial ("A woman officer's battle", December 30). Assuming that investigations were fair, it must be said that women like Anjalli Gupta try to take unfair advantage of their relatively weaker position vis-à-vis men in society. There are cases where women have deliberately accused men of crimes that they have not committed to settle some personal scores with them. These cases can only have an adverse effect on the genuine cases of exploitation of women.
Mahesh Kumar
Farmers' plight
The Shiv Sena MLA Gulabrao Gavande's attempt to commit suicide in the Maharashtra Assembly is not acceptable ("Gavande's wake-up call", December 30). But it reflects the agony of the farmers not only in Vidarbha but also around the country.
A. Jacob Sahayam
Freedom of expression
The right of individuals to express their thoughts and ideas is the measure of a society's worth ("Menace to free speech", December 30). Free flow of opinion is the foundation of democracy. It is unfortunate that the government, which is expected to safeguard the rights of citizens to freedoms of speech and expression, restrains its employees from expressing their views. For instance, Rule 9 of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 imposes a blanket ban on government employees' criticising government policies.
C. Ramesh
Disaster
Tamil Nadu has been battered once again by unprecedented rains and floods ("Deluge and after", December 30). Tens of thousands of people have been marooned and the economy of the State is facing a setback because of the disaster. The State government cannot deny its responsibility for the losses incurred in the unexpected floods.
Diganta Biswas
Defence
The lack of accountability and competition inside the country has brought the aerospace industry to the verge of failure ("No takeoff in sight", December 30). It is time the government asks itself why small countries could go far ahead technologically in terms of weapons manufacturing while India is unable to meet its own targets.
Sriram Bajrang Bulusu
Paperless world
Jayati Ghosh brought out the nostalgic feelings of writing on paper and what we miss out in the present era of e-communications ("Memory and the paperless world", December 30).
Phani Babu
Jyoti Basu
The exclusive interview with the former West Bengal Chief Minister was impressive (December 16). Jyoti Basu is a statesman in the real sense of the term and a living legend in the field of politics. Under his deserving leadership, West Bengal has emerged as a distinguished State devoid of communalism, casteism, parochialism, regionalism, chauvinism and gender inequality.
Buddhadev Nandi
Education
The shortcomings of the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme in Tamil Nadu have been dealt with in detail by Vasantha Surya ("Bitter lessons", December 30).
Education has ever been a governmental initiative and was never taken up as a people's programme since Independence.
The National Literacy Mission, which was supposed to be a people's initiative, also turned out to be a bureaucratic programme.
It was successful in small pockets where committed social activists involved the community at large in the programme, went a little beyond providing just literacy and encompassed people's issues in the learning module.
The Right to Education Bill, 2005 is a half-hearted measure of the government and is a manifestation of the lack of political will to achieve the constitutional directive of equality and equity. The virtual neglect of the common school system, much hyped by the Kothari Commission and reiterated in the National Policies of Education, ratified by Parliament, will only lead to the continuation of the gross inequalities prevailing in schooling and education.
The fruits of education in the form of well-paid jobs will go only to a narrow section of the community and will never be within the reach of the poor and the deprived sections. Funds alone will not bring about a change.
Dr. S.S. Rajagopalan
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