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The true sycophant

The editorial “Dictatorship of the sycophants” (TSI, June 13-19) rightly points out the double standards of the fourth estate as they stand exposed. The difference in coverage of the Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev protests was there for the whole world to see. There were no celebrities for Ramdev because there was no 'live' electronic media coverage. The Centre was jittery about Baba Ramdev’s protest because he is a potent weapon against them. The biggest concern was that, unlike the Hazares and Bhushans, Baba Ramdev has a sizable number of followers, who constitute a potential vote bank. Once the police attack had attacked supporters of Ramdev at the Ramlila ground in New Delhi, the PM should have resigned on moral grounds. But he was too busy pleasing the 'Madam' instead. The PM should take inspiration from Lal Bahadur Shastri and Madhavrao Scindia, who quit because of accidents for which they were not responsible.

Sridhar K Penna
Hyderabad

No to Communal Bill

Arindam Chaudhuri's incisive article “The communal violence bill ...’ (TSI, June 6-12) has brought forward the dangers of playing the communal card. India has a long and cherished history of assimilating various religions/sects in its society, showing the world art of blending various civilisations into one entity. We can only appeal to our leaders in NAC to lead us to light, not to more communal heat. The proposed communal violence bill, if passed , may be misused by some quarters interested in vote marketing. We should  instead benefit the minorities, wherever they exist, by reducing their housing, medical and educational expenses. All religions are different in  practices, but we should not create a difference and divide the country on the basis religion or caste, finally weakening the social fabric.

Benoy Sengupta
Kolkata

Insulting the Mahatma

This refers to editorial “Dictatorship of the sycophants” (TSI, June 13-19). The timely and no-nonsense piece by Arindam Chaudhuri brings light to anathema of the Indian Government towards the people’s uprising against corruption and black money in the most democratic way. It is unfortunate that the government which should have come forward to initiate the stringent action against corruption has chosen to silence the crusaders like Baba Ramdev in an undemocratic way. It is really unbecoming of the government that they have chosen the most cruel and unpardonable brutality to stall the proceedings of the movement which is ‘the most unkindest cut of all’. By crushing the peaceful Satyagraha of Ramdev and his supporters the government has actually insulted Mahatma Gandhi, who gave birth to this peaceful way of protesting. But this looks inevitable as we find the unpalatable commissions and omissions of a shameless and unapologetic dictatorship of  sycophant leaders of India.

Tharcius S. Fernando
Chennai