Letters to Editor

Black britishers of india

This refers to Arindam Chaudhuri's editorial “Dictatorship of the sycophants” (TSI, June 13-19), which condemns the midnight swoop on innocent protestors at Ramlila ground in New Delhi. The incident was worse than British terror because we live in free India. Anna and Ramdev are leading the second freedom struggle which will make India corruption free. This fight against the high, the mighty and the shamelessly corrupt will be a long one because Indians are fighting against Indians who have been elected by Indians. From Gandhi the Mahatma, to Gandhi which is Madam Sonia, Indian politics has sunk to an all time low. All kind of means will be used by the UPA to malign the civil society movement. If that fails, violence can be used to silence honest voices forever. I see a parallel between Mid Day journalist J Dey's brutal killing in Mumbai where he was exposing the oil mafia and the civil movement against black money. The way these black Britishers (Cong led UPA) are using all weapons at their disposal to crush peaceful protests makes it clear that this government runs on black money.

Santosh Mohan Joshi
Sangli, Maharashtra

Bill of disaster

This refers to the writeup “The communal violence bill ...’ (TSI, June 6-12), which rightly states that the communal violence bill can be a disaster if passed. The Congress and Sonia Gandhi led NCA has formulated this bill in such a way that it is completely biased towards non Hindus and portrays Hindus as if they are the only culprits in the society. It is classic case of minority appeasement by the Congress party. Whether this has been suggested to her by her ill advised well wishers or not, we will never come to know, but Sonia Gandhi should use her own mind and take decision thinking strategically with long term vision for the country, rather than taking absurd decision like these. Today's voters are increasingly becoming intelligent and they can not be taken for a ride any more by the Congress or the Gandhi family.
Bal Govind
Noida

Unfolding the red terror

The symbol of CPI on the cover page (Reign of terror, 13th-19th June) was rightly portrayed by putting a skeleton between the hammer and sickle. In fact this is the true story of the Black Rule of 34 years by the Red army. West Bengal was the last bastion of the so called strong Left party of India, the CPI. Sometime I wonder, if not for Mamata Banerjee, this sorry sate of affairs would have continued for another three decades to come. Your story nicely explains how this party was able to win elections after election by doing all type of in-human activities. Communists are always known as the most tolerant force but the sheer love for power made them comrades butchers. The "skeletons" are just the tip of the iceberg as much more is to be seen. The act is no less than the Idi Amin story of the fifties. I must congratulate the entire team of TSI for putting together a beautiful piece of investigative journalism, which nowadays is a rare sight in fortnightly or weekly magazines. Looking forward to more such interesting stuff in the future.

Sudhir Mishra
Bhubaneswar

The TV channel war

Referring to supplement Media Watch (TSI, June 6-12), it is a misnomer that TRAI controls Cable TV including DTH prices across the country. There should also be a cap on all available channels, including the free-to-air ones, and a single rate for all channels should be prescribed, opposite to what happens in the case of Cable TV. And whenever any service provider wishes to increase its total or partial or any kind of charges for its services or removes any existing channel, it must get approval from TRAI. Tata Sky had recently increased charges from Rs.100 to Rs.160 for every additional TV set using the service. Did it have approval for the same from TRAI, especially for existing customers of Rs.100? To watch all of its channels except South Indian ones the total cost per month for three TVs is Rs.750 per month, while the cable TV charges Rs. 300 per month only. I wonder why all free-to-air channels are not aired under DTH like Tata Sky. We need proper control over all the Cable TV operators and telecasters in accordance to rules prescribed by TRAI.

Mahesh Kumar
New Delhi

Tapping golden potential

What Prasoon Majumdar has brought out through his article, “Privately owned gold needs to be tapped” (TSI, June 6-12) is very much in tandem with the present trend amongst people eying good returns from their investments. However, in India most of the gold is held by families in the form of ornaments which forms an integral part of our culture and tradition. Gold in India is treated as a security for the married women, “Stree dhan”. Furthermore, the Government too has failed to impress the common populace especially, in rural regions about various means of investments. Therefore, it is imperative for the Government to put appropriate measures in place.
Lt Col (Retd) Ranjit Sinha
Kolkata

Education, pride and prejudice

This is in reference to the cover story, “The Pied Piper of Patratu” (TSI, June 6-12). Education is about bridging the gap and not increasing it! Schools today are more concerned with reputation. They do not give fair chance to weak students. They display the results with pride but, only after having sieved out the weaker students. Schools should be concerned with education and not prestige. Education needs to be treated as a tool and not weapon. It has been reduced to a weapon of percentage and marks. It is no longer a reflection of the actual capacity and depth of a student. The efforts of Jharkhand needs to be appreciated because India requires a uniform spread. We cannot allow basic education to be a cause of divide. Hubs of education are good but each state must form its own model. We keep saying that children are  our future, its high time we mean it as well.

Pramila Chirukandan
Kondhwa, Pune

Death of democracy

Arindam Choudhuri's editorial “Dictatorship of the Sycophants” (TSI, June 9-13) like always is a crisp and passionate piece. Today in India, when someone steps forward to stop corruption through peaceful means the government instead of supporting the cause, ruthlessly tries to abolish the campaign. When Anna Hazare demanded an anti-corruption law the media went gaga, because of the involvement of the fashionably clad elite. But, as Ramdev strained to bring back the black money resting and multiplying in foreign banks, the media backed out and the opposition too went quiet. Well, this silence screams aloud about the illegitimate ventures of many from government to opposition to the elite who support the political parties with funds and get huge favours in return. We Bharatvasis might not know what is happening in the inner mucus of our nation but we do know one thing, that we will support anyone who takes pain for nation. And thus, I hold great respect for Ramdev who disregarded all mundane pleasures for the benefit of us all. Alas! Democracy is bleeding because of hypocritical rulers. The brutal evacuation of Ramdev and his supporters from Ramila ground will be registered as the day Indian democracy died.

Sunil Kumar Gautam
Mumbai

Divide and govern

This refers to the editorial “The Communal violence bill ..." (TSI, June 6-12). Does politics mean ruling through narrow policies that undermine human dignity? Sadly, politics in India is restricted by communal vote-banks. The self-imposed policy-makers try and create a revengeful environment in the nation. The unequal policy of reservation, security and other advantages based on religion and caste initiate unrest among the citizens. Such policies harness a culture of revenge, treachery, selfishness and unbelieving relations. The government instead of promoting education that will help people become more liberal, logical and communicative, prefers floating lopsided and biased bills, the present Communal Violence Bill is one such example.

Uttam Kumar Bhowmik
Chandramerh, Tamluk

Reforming Education System

This refers to the article “ Jharkhand will soon be an educational hub” (TSI, June 6-12) written by Prashant Sharan. Jharkhand aims for 100 per cent literacy, but reply to the questions of bad teaching staff and inadequate infrastructure given by the state's education minister Baijnath Ram are not sufficient. As per the needs of a democratic nation mere literacy is not enough to keep this secular state on ground. It’s the understanding of current circumstances and socio-political scenario that will take it forward. Literacy without education is no more than sight without vision. The right to education provides literacy until the age of fourteen but how many of us are aware of what all is being taught. The right to education need not be enforced but informed in a manner understood by each and every one in the society. If we look at the number of dropouts in the state, how does it even matter when a poor child will go to the school to learn from teachers who are merely performing their duties. What really matters is what happens in those schools and the kind of motivation given.

Shikha Singh
Patna