IT is only just that a tribute to Pramoedya Ananta Toer has appeared in your June 16 issue ("Child of all nations", June 16). The media in general proved sublimely impervious to the death of that genuine literary titan, beloved `Pram' to Indonesians.It is a lesson of history and vindication of his struggle that Pram outlived the people's tormentors and passed away in a less repressive society than he was born into. What makes him incomparably greater in comparison to the `darling dissidents' seeking refuge in fashionable Western climes was his steadfast belief in his fellow Indonesians and their ultimate political victory. Truly Toer has earned his rest. But his work and life will continue to ignite resistance to injustice and oppression.
D. SUDHIR KOZHIKODE, KERALAMarket mayhemTHIS has reference to your Cover Story ("Market mayhem", June 16). A bearish share market has given rise to the demand for a probe to find out the real reasons for the steep drop in the Sensex. However, why was such a demand not raised while the Sensex was soaring to extraordinary heights? The share market is mostly manipulated by vested interests and the public suffer.
Mahesh Kumar New DelhiTHE Bombay Stock Exchange would like to forget forever May 18, when the market witnessed unprecedented fall in points. Stock analysts attribute this disaster to foreign institutional investors as they withdrew more than Rs.8,000 crores from the market.
The United Progressive Alliance government's policies are undermining the country's economic framework. Speculation regarding the burden falling on public sector banks after the Sensex fall cannot be ignored. FIIs apprehended double taxation, but their fear was baseless as the government had assured them they were not being treated as traders but as investors. Too much of liberalisation is posing a threat to the country's financial security.
Brij Bhushan Vyas LucknowTHE Cover Story unveiled the story of a handful of FIIs ruling the roost, rendering low-end investors vulnerable. Finance Minister P. Chidambaram's assurance to the FIIs that they are not the target of the Income Tax Department's newly proposed guidelines indicates the extent of appeasement of big investors. Successive governments, led by the National Democratic Alliance and the UPA, have succumbed to the FII lobby's pressure to open up crucial sectors such as insurance and telecom.
The FII lobby proved its iniquitous mettle way back in May 2004, by orchestrating a heavy sensex crash and holding the newly formed UPA government to ransom. The chaos witnessed in the stock market recently is yet another grim reminder of the hazards of the capitalist economic system.
Syed Sultan Mohiddin Kadapa, Andhra PradeshTHE feature raises a very important issue: the greed of investors. Almost all experts who appeared on TV channels presented a very rosy picture. The market correction attempt was feeble. The market will achieve stability only when our mutual funds grow to a point where they can match the awesome power of FIIs. Some portion of pension and PF funds must be invested in the stock market to give better yield and expand activity of the capital market. The role of SEBI in the recent crash was commendable and in spite of high volatility there were no payment crisis or defaults.
M.M. Gurbaxani Bangalore* * *THE role of FDI and FII in the Indian stock market offers important lessons for other developing countries. Foreign investors should not be allowed in the secondary market (for purchasing existing shares) as this merely adds to the capital gains of existing shareholders without increasing the production capacity of the country.
They should be allowed only in the primary market (as fresh capital) so that the production capacity increases. This will make it impossible for foreign capital to flee on the basis of speculation.
Hem Raj Jain BangaloreReservationTHE reservation system that obtains in the U.S. is usually cited to buttress arguments in favour of reservation in India ("Affirmative action and caste dilemmas", June 16). But merit has never been compromised in the U.S. It is not as if a deserving person with a very high score is ignored or discriminated against in favour of someone with a far lower score, as is happening in India. Affirmative action is for Dalits and Other Backward Classes so that they can achieve equality with their friends in the upper castes. However, there is no justification for reservation for the creamy layer among these sections.
J.S. Acharya Hyderabad* * *ONLY the poorest of the poor need affirmative action. There is no justification for reserving seats for the middle castes who have money and land. They faced very little discrimination. If they are educationally backward, it is not because of denial of opportunity.
J. Akshay Secunderabad* * *THE policy of reservation has failed to uplift socially disadvantaged people even after six decades.
The entire controversy would have been irrelevant had we created an efficient government school system with good infrastructure, scholarships, coaching facilities and so on. This would have given equal educational opportunities to all children at the primary and secondary levels so that they could face healthy competition and achieve academic excellence.
Dr. Vitull K. Gupta Bhatinda, Punjab* * *THE issue is not one of merit or reservation. It is equality. Those forwarding the merit argument, mostly the haves, have equality in mind and those on the side of affirmative action, mostly the have-nots, have equal opportunity in mind.
The two are not mutually exclusive. The answer lies in putting the have-nots on an equal footing with the haves, irrespective of caste. This can be done by ensuring education of high standard for the needy from the primary level. The state should fund such education by levying taxes on those who can pay.
This would enable the meritorious among the have-nots to compete fairly with the rest. There is no need for reservation, which would only scuttle private enterprise.
E. Raveendra Bangalore* * *PRAFUL Bidwai makes a valid point when he says that "merit" cannot be determined only by one's achievements in tests. However, he does not offer any useful alternative. He ignores the fact that institutions across the world accept (including the institutions he refers to, namely Harvard, Yale, and so on) academic grades and/or SAT, GRE, GMAT or MCAT scores as criteria for admissions.
People who have graduated from the IITs and IIMs are highly successful in their careers not only in India but also in the U.S., where they face competitions from Harvard and MIT graduates. I also find it repugnant that the writer seems to imply that IIT and IIM graduates are selfish and self-serving. On the contrary, I have found many of them extremely sensitive to the needs of representation of the underprivileged.
Vijay Raghavan New YorkDa Vinci CodeTHIS has reference to the article "Dithering over Da Vinci Code" (June 16). The cartoon controversy has taught us that creative freedom does not give one the licence to hurt religious sentiments. At the same time, governments have no right to control the ideas and perceptions of creative people.
Arvind K. Pandey AllahabadAchuthanandanALTHOUGH I am against aged politicians holding responsible positions, I make an exception in the case of the 83-year-old Communist leader V.S. Achuthanandan who has taken the reins of Kerala ("Clear choice", June 2). His active life, indomitable spirit, sincerity and clean image make it clear that he deserved to be in the Chief Minister's chair much earlier.
K. P. Rajan MumbaiMalnutritionTHE UNICEF report on nutrition in children exposes how ineffective most of our health programmes have been ("Tragic picture", June 2). The Anganwadi worker has too much of a work in her hands. Branded infant feeds make children averse to the normal local diet as they grow up and put too much pressure on the food budget of the family.
Like all other multinational corporations, those manufacturing infant feed have also made inroads into rural areas, which would be detrimental to child nutrition. Equally disconcerting is the neglect of the girl child, which is evident from the higher proportion of malnourished girls than boys. What is needed is proper education on breastfeeding practices, proper weaning, prevention of childhood illnesses and early diagnosis and treatment.
Jeevan Kuruvilla Vellore, Tamil NaduNuclear orderIN his essay "The imperial nuclear order" (May 19), Aijaz Ahmad mistakenly calls me an Iranian-born professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego, and claims I have made several statements. In fact, I am not a professor of physics and I did not say any of the things quoted in the article.
The claims were made by Professor Jorge Hirsch, the person I was interviewing for Z magazine. I believe the author mistakenly used my name when he meant Jorge. Hirsch is the professor and focuses on global nuclear issues, but he is not Iranian-born. I'm sure this was an oversight.
Foaad Khosmood Received on emailFanaaTHIS refers to the article "Heights of intolerance" (June 16). The fascist protests of the Bharatiya Janata Party against the screening of Fanaa in Gujarat infringe on the rights of not only Amir Khan but those of the people.
C. Ramesh Keeramangalam Tamil NaduANNOUNCEMENTLetters, 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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