THE Janata Dal (Secular) chief’s excuses for his party’s realignment with the Bharatiya Janata Party are amusing (Cover Story, November 16). H.D. Deve Gowda’s insistence that someone from his own family be in control and his opportunistic politics have driven away leaders such as Siddaramaiah and M.P. Prakash from the party.
After publicly pronouncing that his party would not compromise its secular credentials, Deve Gowda tacitly supported his son’s realignment with the BJP.
K.R. Srinivasan, Hyderabad
COALITION politics in this country is unscrupulous and opportunistic. However, the Centre did the right thing by withdrawing President’s Rule in Karnataka and upholding the Constitution. That does not, however, make the new ruling coalition in Karnataka any less immoral.
V.K. Sathyavan Nair Kottayam, Kerala
Tehelka exposeAFTER the sting operation by Tehelka, Lalu Prasad has been asking for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi’s arrest (“Action replay”, November 16). Columnists like Praful Bidwai are calling for action against Modi.
In a democracy, no one, not even the Prime Minister, has the authority to order the arrest of any citizen, however ordinary, without the kind of evidence that would bear scrutiny in a court of law.
If there is such evidence against Modi, how come there has not been a single first information report filed against him? It is clear that all the propaganda against Modi is in view of the impending Assembly elections in Gujarat.
M.C. JoshiLucknow
THE most questionable aspect of the Tehelka sting operation is its timing. Dates for the Gujarat Assembly elections have been announced. Those who conducted the sting say “evidence” was collected over several months.
Why did they have to wait for so long to make their findings public? Recalling the 2002 riots, no matter how gruesome they were, will only bring about further communal polarisation.
K.S. Jayatheertha Bangalore
Public healthTHE country, for all the progress in various fields, is still far from being able to bring the underprivileged within the ambit of quality health services (“Miles to go”, November 16). People living in far-flung areas have scant access to health centres.
There is also lack of awareness about government drives to curb serious diseases such as polio and AIDS.
Arvind K. Pandey Allahabad
No more bribesTHE Kerala’s government’s recent drive to make commercial tax checkposts corruption-free extends to all 15 posts in Palakkad district and not just Walayar (“Corruption check”, November 16). The social audit held recently proved that all the checkposts in the district are now free of corruption, a unique achievement in the country.
A.K. Ramachandran Aramkode, Kerala
Blue LadyIT is unfortunate that the judiciary has permitted the dismantling of the ship Blue Lady, which contains hazardous waste (“The dilution of a principle”, November 16).
P.S. Subrahmanian Tiruchi, Tamil Nadu
Bhagat SinghBHAGAT SINGH was a serious thinker and an Indian Lenin in the making (“Celebrating Bhagat Singh”, November 2). It is unfortunate that he had to die so young. However, the never-ending Gandhi-bashing over the Mahatma’s failure to stop the execution is distressing. Gandhi had received a communication from the Hindustan Socialist Republican Army saying that its members were prepared to give up violence if he was able to save the three revolutionaries on death row. There could not have been a better gift for Gandhi than this promise.
He sent a letter to Lord Irwin on March 23, 1931, requesting a meeting. It was a Monday. Gandhi observed a vow of silence on Mondays. But he was prepared to communicate with the Viceroy, even if it had to be through written notes. Gandhi also feared that the execution would lead to violence.
No one would have been more distressed than Gandhi himself on the day of the executions. Bhagat Singh’s own denial of the usefulness of the path of terror was not so very different from Gandhi’s immortal teachings.
Prem Chand SahajwalaNew Delhi
THE Cover Story on Bhagat Singh was very welcome. Schoolchildren no longer know what Bhagat Singh stood for. They think Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekhar Azad were terrorists who strayed from Gandhi’s non-violent path. The documents published as part of the Cover Story explain the vision of these young leaders.
K.J. Thomas Changanacherry, Kerala
