Letters to Editor

Womanhood in politics
This refers to your editorial “……Long live paribartan!” (TSI, May 16-22 ), which talks of yet another defeat for men in Indian politics. Mamata Bannerjee and Jayalalitha, both have won their state elections and are future Chief Ministers of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The stronghold of Mayawati and Sheila Dixit as Chief Ministers of UP and Delhi respectively is well-known. Pratibha Patil, as the President of India, also figures in this list of powerful women in politics. Sonia Gandhi is again a woman who loves to lead with example and is the president of Indian National Congress. It seems women are increasingly taking over the jobs that men used to do and that too without the help of any kind of reservation or quota. A woman was already a 'home maker' and now she will be the 'nation maker'. It is better if now men are accepted as the weaker sex.
Mahesh Kumar
New Delhi

US not friendly
Arindam Chaudhuri's editorial “Pakistan: The real rogue nation" (TSI, May 9-16) has rightly commented on the killing of Osama bin Laden by US forces in Abbottabad in Pakistan. There are many instances that suggest that Pakistan government always knew about Osama whereabouts, but feigned ignorance in front of America. Abbottabad episode has once again proved that Pakistan is a safe haven to provide asylum to international terror outfits and to give all possible aid to these insurgents through the ISI. When President Obama called his Pakistani counterpart Aasif Ali Zardari to inform him about the mission accomplished, what did it meant? It was clear that the US does not trust Pakistan as far as fulfillment of American strategic and military interests are concerned. Now the valid question is : Will US adopt similar a ploy in case of terrorism in other countries in the region particularly India which had born the brunt of 26/11 Mumbai attack ? Will it see 26/11 in Mumbai in the same light the way it saw 9/11 in US? Americans have done a great job in killing Osama, but for their personal interests – but getting too carried away about their deed will be only too foolish, since they still supports Pakistan. Therefore, India should always stay guarded against any unwanted activity done by the Americans.
Suman
Noida, Uttar Pradesh

Poppy dream of maoists
Once allowed to be grown for medicinal purposes only in certain pockets of Gwalior and Neemuch, today poppy crops are turning out to be a lucrative trade for Maoists in more than a dozen districts of Bihar including Champaran from where the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, had started his freedom struggle in 1942. The special story of Sanjay Upadhyay “Mao’s opium different from Marx’s” (TSI, May 2-8) unveils the menace of illegal cultivation of opium patronized by Maoists in villages of their influence. The law enforcement agencies like NCB, CID, COBRA and CRPF have failed to deliver. Despite their hectic joint operation they have not been able to destroy the standing poppy crops spread over thousands of acres in the Maoists hit areas. Poor farmers are unaware of the consequences of illegal opium farming are tempted by selling them the ‘new’ variety of mustard seed which will fetch them hefty dividends. Maoist's economy is thriving tremendously through prohibited trading of opium which is also one of the reasons of mounting terrorists violence.
Santosh Kumar Pandey
Ranchi

CPM defeat was imminent
The editorial ''It's the end of the rape of Marxism in Bengal! Long live paribartan!'' (TSI, May 16-22) by Arindam Chaudhuri is a good read. The CPM defeat in Bengal was imminent as people were unhappy with the government. In Mamata Bannerjee, the people saw a fire brand leader, who can put back the state on the road to development. Arindam rightly points out that in initial ten years of their rule, the CPM delivered on many fronts but later on they became complacent and took people's support for granted for which they paid a heavy prize. I only hope that Mamata and her party workers will guard themselves from getting complacent and work relentlessly to address people's grievances. Also, I feel that like Arindam that the CPM will now become more democratic like the CPM in Kerala and Tripura. I am happy to see that Arindam has applauded the current chief election commissioner Dr SY Quraishi who made sure that elections were free and fair. Now, it is time for Mamata to deliver.
Sanjeev Sirohi
Meerut

Kudos to electronic media
Arindam Chaudhuri's editorial "It is the electronic media..." (TSI, May 2-8) was riveting. I agree with him as he has raised many important questions. The fact is that the electronic media has reporters and editors who want to see a real change in India. Like common people they too are fed up of the country's cankered economic and political system. That is why they gave full support to Anna Hazare when he unleashed a peaceful campaign against corruption. His movement can only succeed when the media and citizens come forward to support him. Arindam has rightly pointed out that without the help of electronic media, Anna's movement could not have succeeded. The live coverage of the protest made politicians jittery. Keep it up!!!
Supreethabv
Via email

Pakistan exposed
Your edit “Pakistan: The real rogue nation”  (TSI, May 9-15), made a good read. Also, it busted many myths people had about Pakistan. The truth is out that for so long General Pervez Musharraf misled the world by claiming that he was not hiding in Pakistan and that the fugitive was dead. It was all propoganda. However, the way Osama was killed raises many questions: Was it an election plank by the US President Obama and his team? After the death of Osama, one man who is going to benefit the most from it is Obama. His popularity has improved. Chances are that most of the Americans who were opposed to him for his failure to rev up the economy, are going to vote him back into power when election is held. The other issue is why was Osama killed when he was unarmed? Why didn't the special US force arrest him? Besides, they even didn't show the world Osama dead body. Something appears to be fishy. Looking at the track record of America, nothing can be said for sure about what really happened.
P V Ariel
Secunderabad

What a masterpiece
The story on “LIFE” (TSI, May 2- 8) was nothing but a soft porn. The write-up was a classic example of how the voyeuristic feelings could be turned into sex symbol. Ishan Raychaudhuri’s effort to discuss nudity, a taboo even in an the era of Facebook and twitter, via TSI is praiseworthy. There was more spice in the way the work of Sarah White, the naked therapist, was described. The fact is that sex is an elixir of both the physical and mental potency. Men give love to get sex and women give sex to get love. It is universally a biological fact that love, lust and lady are what nourishes a man’s physique, temperament and mood. The behavioural changes and neurotic metamorphoses brought about by biology, body and psychology would go down as the watershed phenomenon in history of the mankind as well as in the arena of medical science. Sarah White and TSI should be thanked for this. It is high time we started looking a curvaceous body not lasciviously but puritanically, platonically and purely as the source of life
and blessings.
Shreeprakash Sharma
Samastipur, Bihar

Electronic media role praised
The editorial "It is the electronic media." (TSI, May 2-8) by Arindam Chaudhuri was an eye opener. The general feeling is that the electronic media sensationalises irrelevant news and overcast the reality, but the positive role played by the media during the anti-corruption campaign in India and Arab uprising was worth praising. Lately the media has become one of the pillars of democracy and voice of common man. Anna Hazare's movement would have not been so popular without the encouraging support of that electronic media. I am happy to know that for the first time in my life the media played a great job. By giving full coverage to Anna movement it did a great service to the nation. It should continue to do so till Indians succeed in finishing off corruption from their society.
Siddhant Bajpai
Bareilly