THE ball of democracy has been set rolling in Egypt and has already brought about change, hopefully for the better (Cover Story, February 25). Also it is causing ripples in Jordan and other Arab countries.
Both Hosni Mubarak and the King of Jordan were playing the U.S.' tune when it came to Israel, ignoring the plight of the Palestinians. Changes are anticipated in Lebanon too.
It remains to be seen whether all these changes will help Palestinians reach a peaceful settlement. Will global terrorism, which has its roots in the region, end for good?
S.R. Devaprakash Tumkur, KarnatakaA PEOPLE'S revolution becomes necessary when a nation is plagued by unemployment, rise in the prices of essential commodities, and so on, and the root cause of it all is corruption. Egypt will now fill the pages of history not just for being the land of pharaohs and pyramids but also for being the centre of one of the biggest revolutions for democracy in the Arab world.
Egypt's revolution should serve as a wake-up call to countries such as India that are plagued by rising inflation and unemployment and corruption in politics, the bureaucracy and the judiciary.
S. Balakrishnan Jamshedpur JharkhandTHE protests by millions, drawn from all segments of society, on Cairo's streets showed that the time had come for change. With the Army refusing to use force on the protesters, it was clear that Mubarak had no option but to step down to avoid further bloodshed.
One hopes the Egyptians' fight for democracy ushers in a new government that can take the country towards a new era of growth and development besides fulfilling people's aspirations for real democracy.
K.R. Srinivasan SecunderabadTHE Egyptian people's struggle for democracy seems to be bearing fruit. Mubarak has stepped down. But the manoeuvrings of the U.S. to install a military regime for its own strategic interests are a grave injustice to the Egyptian people.
It again shows the American tendency to indulge in doublespeak as far as democracy is concerned. Such moves jeopardise people's interests and fundamental rights, are absolutely undemocratic, and must be criticised.
Neeraj Kumar Jha Madhubani, BiharIT is unfortunate that while the U.S. vigorously hawks freedom and democracy across the world, it has kept West Asian states away from democracy just because it did not want to disturb its allies in the hydrocarbon-rich region.
K.P. Rajan MumbaiWEST ASIA is at a crossroads. The popular movements in the region have come as shock to the U.S., which installs dictators to support its crony capitalist policies. The happenings in Arab countries over the past one month and a half are a logical culmination of the repression faced over decades by democracy-starved people.
S. Murali Vellore, Tamil NaduJudiciaryTHE article Talking judges (February 25) rightly pointed out that courts in India have impeded reform. Unfortunately, judicial activism is missing when it comes to the task of cleaning the Augean stables of the judiciary itself.
Information on judges' appointments and uncle judges should be put up on courts' websites. They should also give the reasons judges recuse themselves from cases and disclose details of the assets owned by judges.
The judiciary should follow the example of Pakistan's Supreme Court, which decided to initiate contempt of court proceedings against nine judges for endorsing the illegal emergency declared in that country in 2007 by its former military dictator, Pervez Musharraf.
Recently, a Division Bench of the Supreme Court said that the order of the Emergency declared by the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was wrong.
Deendayal M. Lulla MumbaiInflationTHERE is no doubt that UPA-II, the party of economists, has failed to control food prices (Price of neoliberalism, February 11). But this does not mean that the government should follow the old policies of the licence raj era. In the next budget, the government should think about investing more money in agriculture and public welfare works rather than in promoting the market.
Sushil Kumar Aurangabad, BiharSpectrum scamTHE photograph of Kapil Sibal in the article Offence as defence (February 11) reminded me of what a lawyer of national repute once said to me: If a lawyer has irrefutable facts and robust logic, let him cogently argue in court. If he has no facts but only logic to rely on, let him shout, and if he has neither facts nor logic, let him thump the table in front of him!
Hopefully, Sibal had a table in front of him at the press meet, the worthy lawyer that he is.
John Mammen ThiruvananthapuramAnnouncementLetters, whether by surface mail or e-mail, must carry the full postal address and the full name, or the name with initials.
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