IT is ridiculous that democratically elected governments, in which the masses have reposed faith, are snatching farmers' land and giving it away to big industries (The Great Land Grab, Cover Story, June 17).
For the farmers, the land is their bread and butter, and depriving them of it is the height of insensitivity on the part of the government. This attitude is typical of the colonial era when the British rulers forced sharecroppers to grow indigo and poppy on their lands and sold the produce at very high prices.
The Land Acquisition Act, which has been pending before Parliament, needs to be amended and passed quickly.
Ritvik Chaturvedi New DelhiWE need a farmer- and tribal people-friendly Land Acquisition Act. But politicians do not want such a law because they will not be able to strike secret, questionable deals with big business houses.
Gaurav Dutta Choudhary Katihar, BiharIT is most unfortunate that the Land Acquisition Act has become a threat to the livelihood of farmers and deprived tribal people of their land (For a sensitive law). Governments are forcefully acquiring lands to promote private enterprise without giving landowners their due. The present law does not guarantee proper rehabilitation and resettlement to them.
K.V. Ramana Murthy SecunderabadTHE Cover Story correctly points out that the land of poor farmers is being grabbed on the pretext of building infrastructure and special economic zones.
The government has drafted a Food Security Bill. How can there be food security if fertile land is grabbed by the corporate sector? Why cannot SEZs be set up on barren land? Big industrial houses want land near big cities.
The corporate sector has forgotten its social responsibility and is hell-bent on acquiring fertile land in the name of SEZs. Can one imagine demolishing the residential buildings of big corporate leaders for the purpose of an infrastructure project?
Deendayal M. Lulla MumbaiPuducherryTHE article Gathering storm (June 17) highlights the questionable actions of Iqbal Singh, the Lt. Governor of Puducherry. The silence of the Prime Minister and the UPA chairperson on this issue is perplexing. Are they oblivious to the protests from many quarters?
Even for appointments to menial jobs in the government sector, police verification is mandatory. The Union Home Ministry must evolve a procedure for selecting Governors.
B. Rajasekaran BangaloreKarnatakaIT is difficult to ascertain what is driving Karnataka Governor H.R. Bhardwaj to carry out a campaign singlehandedly to oust Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa (Political plots, June 17). The BJP is naturally up in arms against what is seen as partisan politics on the part of the Governor. Bhardwaj, a former Law Minister, must know that the Supreme Court has stipulated in the S.R. Bommai case that a State government cannot be dismissed without a floor test. Thanks to Bhardwaj's ill-advised moves, Yeddyurappa has been able to win public sympathy by projecting himself as being more sinned against than sinning.
K.S. Jayatheertha BangaloreElectionsTHE Cover Story on the Assembly elections (Decisive victories, June 3) provided excellent reading. In Tamil Nadu, the arrest of former Union Telecom Minister A. Raja and Member of Parliament Kanimozhi in connection with the 2G scam sounded the death knell for the DMK. The high-handed behaviour of Union Minister M.K. Azhagiri, who converted Madurai into a parallel power centre, also went against the party. The domination of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's family in the electronic and print media, cinema and other businesses badly dented the image of the party.
The DMK's humiliating defeat sends a strong message to political parties that voters cannot be taken for granted and that they will act with a vengeance when the opportunity comes.
A. Michael Dhanaraj CoimbatoreTHE rout of the Left Front in West Bengal is wrongly prophesied as the end of the road for the Left parties in India (A bastion stormed). It will be premature to write off communist politics in West Bengal or, for that matter, in the rest of the country.
Indian communists grossly underestimated the thirst of the masses for development. They believed that people would be content with agrarian reforms, talk of revolution and the promise of a utopian, egalitarian world. They failed to gauge the mood for change.
The arrogance of power and the parliamentary aspirations of some CPI(M) leaders proved to be their nemesis. But, the party has a committed cadre that can help it rise from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix.
Bichu Muttathara Khadki, PuneANNOUNCEMENTLetters, 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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