Khairlanji

THIS has reference to the article "Dalit blood on village square" (December 1). The horrendous incidents in the land of B.R. Ambedkar and Mahatma Jyotiba Phule caution us about the thousands of prospective Khirlanjis in India. Caste prejudices arise owing to the lack of a sense of history on the part of the present dominant castes. These people are not aware of the their forefathers' misery and humiliation under the original Hindu social system which depicted them as Sudras and kept them at the bottom of the social hierarchy. They are the offspring of the sections that were oppressed then. The processes of Sanskritisation, Westernisation and reservation policies have helped them reach their present status.

SAMBI REDDY ENDREDDY HYDERABADBush minus

The Republicans' debacle in the United States mid-term elections is a clear testimony to the rejection of President George Bush's policies and programmes by his own countrymen (Cover Story, December 1).

Brij Bhushan Vyas Lucknow* * *

It was a referendum on President George Bush's flawed Iraq policy and the hysteria generated over an imaginary threat to world peace from Iran and North Korea. Bush could no longer take Americans for a ride.

K.P. Rajan Mumbai* * *

Americans need to be appreciated for showing to the Republicans the door. If only they had meted out the same treatment to George W. Bush during the presidential election in 2000, the world would have been a different place today. It is surprising that Bush has not resigned after his defeat in this round. After all, the poor showing of the Republicans has a lot to do with his decision to wage a fruitless war in Iraq on flimsy grounds apart from his flawed politics on the domestic front.

S. Balakrishnan Jamshedpur* * *

George Bush seems to be have been caught in the vortex of never-ending problems. The problem with Americans is that they fail to rise above their narrow interests, which prevents them from looking at realities in an objective manner. This is bound to give rise to wrong strategies.

Arvind K. Pandey Allahabad* * *

The photograph of a downcast George Bush walking away from the press conference podium is enough to gauge the impact of the midterm elections on him and his party.

P.M. Subair Malappuram, Kerala* * *

The U.S.-created quagmire in Iraq has had its political impact.

The removal of Donald Rumsfeld as Defence Secretary is going to do no good. The basis for the invasion of Iraq was the so called weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). It was Bush, not Rumsfeld, who decided to invade Iraq. Blair has admitted that going along with the U.S. has cost heavily for Britain. But it was he who, in the foreword to the September 2002 intelligence dossier, had proclaimed that Saddam was capable of deploying and launching WMDs and biological weapons in a short span of 45 minutes.

Harshdeep Singh Rapal Secunderabad* * *

The occupant of the Oval Office cannot cope with the new crop of Democrats who will carefully plan to win the ensuing presidential election. Never will the Democrats allow the Bush administration a second wind to continue with its nefarious war in Iraq. America faces a dilemma. It is very difficult for the Democrats to offer a coherent alternative except to urge the Bush administration to withdraw all its troops and entrust the whole crisis management to the United Nations Security Council.

Thomas Edmunds Chennai* * *

There is nothing as total victory in any war because even the victor loses men and material. As the only superpower left to shoulder the tremendous responsibility of leading this world, the world community should be thankful to the United States for sacrificing much to spread so little: human values. This world would be a better place to live in if the entire West Asia is made sans religion and nationality.

V.N. Ramaswamy HyderabadSachar report

It is shocking to read that the Muslim community is only marginally better off than the Scheduled Castes ("Combating Muslim exclusion", December 1). As it was the Congress that was in power for most of the post-Independence years, it alone should be held responsible than the others for perpetuating such a condition. And this report also calls the bluff of the main Opposition party, the BJP, which always talks of minority appeasement. If at all they had been appeased, they would not have been at such a low level of the social hierarchy.

At a time when we are still in the process of uplifting the Scheduled Castes, the Sachar report has come as a bolt from the blue. It should have come at least two decades earlier, which would have enabled the government to take affirmative action.

The country's dream of becoming developed in the next 20 years would not be possible without bringing the S.C.s and Muslims into the national mainstream.

Kattari Ananda Naidu Chennai* * *

Praful Bidwai has lamented about the low percentage of literacy among Muslim children both in urban and rural areas.

While fully agreeing with him, it may be stated that Muslims themselves are responsible for this. As he himself has admitted, many Muslim children do not join school and many of those who join do not reach even the high school. What can the government or the other communities do for this?

Inadequate education leads to a low level of employment, which results in poor economic conditions. Reservation alone may not help. Clerics, elders and religion-based political parties should impress upon the Muslims to educate themselves adequately.

R. Thirunarayanan North Carolina, U.S.* * *

At present India has four Muslim cricket players, all of them from underprivileged families.

They have made it to the national team through sheer hard work. Reservation for Muslims would have been justified had there been a general bias against the community. Poverty and the lack of educational facilities are responsible for the backwardness of some sections of Muslims and that is true of people from other religions as well.

J. Akshay SecunderabadCapitalism

I liked the arguments for and against globalisation in the article "Capitalism recycled" (December 1).

In various discussions I had on the subject, I overlooked the need for `public good', which is almost non-existent in a market economy. This certainty is a valid argument and perhaps is the most significant of all.

What the authors say about `creative destruction' happens in any kind of `progressive society' albeit the rate of destruction is faster in a rapidly advancing and globalising economy.

`Free markets' necessarily contribute to the widening of inequalities. But if they do not worsen the situation of the "have-nots" is it not Pareto efficient (Pareto efficiency cannot be used as an argument for globalisation though)? I am more concerned about the `absolute' poverty prevalent rather than `relative' poverty.

What needs to be done is to increase and improve infrastructure that will contribute to developing the backward sectors. Moreover, significant government intervention (planned economy) is required.

Alex Thomas Kollam, KeralaTax burden

The wealth tax must be abolished ("Poor man's burden", December 1). If genuine means to accumulate capital and lower taxes are not offered to taxpayers, they resort to tax evasion. If all the taxes due from celebrities, politicians and businessman are recovered, then there may not be need for any taxes for a year or two at least.

All tax dues must be collected from each and every citizen irrespective of his/her social status.

Mahesh Kapsai New DelhiChild labour

The Cover Story on child labour vividly highlighted the plight of exploited children ("Stolen childhood", November 17). That India has the largest number of child labourers is a cause for serious concern.

There is no dearth of laws seeking to ensure the rights and needs of children. The Juvenile Justice Act was amended so as to make it conform with the standards prescribed in the Convention of the Rights of the Child.

But there is inexcusable delay in constituting the institutional mechanisms envisaged by the Act. The government should have the will to enforce the relevant laws effectively. But social attitudes should also change at the same time.

V.K. Sathyavan Nair Kottayam, KeralaReservation

The "social justice parties" are making a hue and cry about the Supreme Court order barring the "creamy layer" among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes from the quota regime ("Ambiguous verdict," November 17).

In fact, the electoral compulsions of the Congress have already resulted in a section of its leaders asking the government to challenge the verdict.

Many beneficiaries of reservation do not want to share the benefits with their own brethren. At least they should be prepared for the categorisation of S.C.s and S.T.s into sub-groups for equal representation as is being done in Andhra Pradesh.

S. Hemavathi HyderabadMattoo case

This has reference to the article `A judgment to remember' (November 17). R.K. Raghavan has given useful advise to parents in general.

As observed by him, parents should not be indifferent to their wards' misconduct and ensure that they do not become a social menace.

G.E.M. Manoharan CoimbatoreANNOUNCEMENT

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