Letters to the Editor

On a demolition drive

The story “Politics of change” (TSI, Nov 27) gave a true and candid picture on the prevailing political scenario in Tamil Nadu. It is indeed a sorry spectacle that the leaders of the main political parties, the DMK and the AIADMK, have developed personal animosities and do not consider them as political adversaries. It is a unique situation in Tamil Nadu. The animosity is so ingrained in their minds that they do not even meet in social gatherings. After coming back to power the first thing Jayalalitha does is to put the DMK leaders in jail under some pretext or the other.

She does not seem to realise that she herself is embroiled in disproportionate wealth case to the tune of Rs 66 crore. She is notorious for her knack of transferring IAS and IPS officers on a fortnightly basis. She is in a demolition- mode on anything constructed by the DMK government. The latest one is for shifting Anna Centenary Library with no rhyme or reason. She will be spending public money for redesigning structure and at any rate it will not be suitable to house a hospital.
VN Gopal
Chennai

Know yourself
The editorial “If we want a poverty free India...” (TSI, Nov 20) is exactly what the readers of TSI have come to expect from you. To simply speak the truth as it should be, without fear or favour. The article was brutally honest about the much hyped India-China competition. The truth as clinically de-constructed by Arindam Chaudhuri is that India was never in the competition, thanks to its own outdated policies and the spectre of China conveniently used by our politicians to drum up chauvinism. The article is spot on in its criticism of the communist governance who spent over 30 years in power holding onto the archaic communist dogmas that, ironically, the very nation that inspired them in the first place (China) was quick to realise the limitation of. For too long, critics have harped on our democratic credentials to thwart attempts to learn and implement all that is good about China. If India doesn't want to be overshadowed by the imminent rise of china then it should have no qualms about shedding its Chinese bogeyman.

Suchitra Pandey
New Delhi

RTI abuse
On the reports about cases of frivolous and vexatious use of the Right to Information Act, 2005, Prasoon Majumdar is right to express anguish in his article “Right to irritate” (TSI, Nov 20). While the RTI allowed the common man access to information which was earlier privy to the government, on the other hand, the same law is perpetually abused by many to settle down personal scores. It is really a matter of great shame and worry that a mockery of this valuable Act has been made because it is being misused in the current days as a medium of business and making money by some people having their own vested interests. There are more alarming reports that many corporate houses to settle personal scores against their business rivals, some NGOs and several fake media personnel too have jumped in the fray to collect information through RTI. Prasoon has rightly commented that although for a corrupt democracy like India, RTI is a very powerful tool and allows citizen to seek information and most importantly keep the establishment on its toes yet if checks and balances are not provisioned at right places, the very essence of the law would soon get lost.

Dilbag Rai
Chandigarh

We are miles away

The article “If we want a poverty-free India...” (TSI, Nov 20) is really very interesting and insightful. In spite of all the hype and hoopla about India's rise as a global superpower, a critical analysis shows that India is miles away from China. Being the most populated country of the world, it constructively utilised its demographic dividends, but for India its population became a burden. In India, the rich got richer and the poor got poorer, though our politicians have been sloganeering “garibi hatao” for more than four decades. India, in reality, is not a poor country, but more than half of Indians are made to live in poverty. The politics of this poverty is to raise a loyal vote-bank with government sponsored welfare projects. But we must remember that social welfare projects cannot eradicate poverty. To eradicate poverty we need strong political will and meticulous economic planning.

Nirupam Hazra
Santiniketan, West-Bengal

Child prodigies

It refers to your cover story “Small wonders”. It is not that children of the 1970s and 1980s did not have enough talent in them, it is just that launchpads and platform available to today's kids are so many that there is no dearth of showcasing their talent to the world. And also today's parents are more encouraging towards their wards and they also go the extra mile to ensure that their kids are groomed well. The only flip side of this whole issue is whether these child prodigies turn out to be same talented youth when they turn old or with the passage of time they will get distracted and lose the focus. Here, the role of a proper mentor will come in handy who can keep a child prodigy on his feet and encourage him to stay focused.
Bal Govind
Noida

No end to man's greed

The editorial “7 billion people and the resource crunch...” (TS1, Nov 13) was insightful, informative and well researched, with apt statistics and references from various sources. The double standards of the developed nations have been brought to the fore in unwavering terms. The book edited by Arthur H Westing “Global Resources and International Conflict” has clearly brought to the fore why various conflicts or group of interests are developing all over globe and finally who stands to benefit from it. All these conflicts and selfish interest groups point out to the developed nations, but ironically these developed nations despite being the world's greatest consumers and polluters, try to find out ways and means of proving that the under-developed and developing nations are the main culprits. Sanctions are imposed by developed nations on these so called targeted developing and underdeveloped nations to ensure that they take steps to reduce their consumerism and the pollution level in their countries so that the USA, European nations, Japan etc can continue to consume, pollute and waste more! It made me recollect what our father of nation said: “Nature can cater to man's need, but not to man's greed.”
L. Savitha
Bangalore

Muslims and congress

This refers to the article “It's a love-hate relationship” (TSI, Nov 13). The plight of the Muslims in India ever since the partition days, and their continued susceptible attitude with regard to their relationship towards Congress party have been finely analysed by the writer. This phenomenon reflects more distinctly in north India than in the south. The economic status of Muslims in every strata of society continued to remain a grim picture even after six decades of independence. Hats off to the writer for enlightening the crucial issue so vividly.

Satya Murty
Kakinada

Parental pressure

Apropos of “They need tender care” (TSI, Nov 20), Dr. Ashima is right that a lot of pressure is put on kids to perform not only in studies but also in various other fields, and this is adding to the pressure on kids. Parents never think bad about kids but they forget that when being adult it is hard for them to do every work given by their boss, how can a kid cope up with pressure? Kids are performing on reality shows but ignoring their studies. Showcasing talent is not bad, but it should be during their vacations.

Vishal Vyas
Hyderabad

Time to act

The editorial “If we want a poverty free India...” (TSI, Nov 20) by Arindam Chaudhuri points out major flaws in India's development despite it being considered one of the fastest developing nations in the world. This needs to be addressed.

Kaustabh Bhattacharjee
Pune