Mail of the Week

PICTURE SPEAK

"India in Numbers", August 21

"Your issue paints a clear picture of the healthy state of our nation and arouses patriotism. There is a lot more to rejoice for than to crib about."

Colonel R.D. Singh, Jammu

Don't Forget the Basics

India's so-called "arrival" as a developed nation is in its infancy ("India, at 59", August 21). Despite notable achievements in the recent past, a lot needs to be done if the country is to catch up with China. China is a more favoured destination for foreign direct investment, preferred over India by Fortune 500 companies. Besides, India has to fight against terrorism, a threat as dangerous as it is real.

V.K. Tangri, on e-mail

Despite rapid strides in many spheres, we remain an essentially poor and backward country. Given our talent and enterprise, we could have done better under a more pragmatic, committed and farsighted leadership. It may not yet be too late for us to catch up with other nations, but there is an acute need to accelerate development.

S.C. Kapoor, Noida

In the 60 years of freedom there has been little change in the condition of poverty in the country. Over 95 per cent of the population is still poor and the trickle-down growth policy we followed has only increased the inequalities of income.

Danendra Jain, on e-mail

As India turns 60, the older order should yield place to the new. Archaic laws and a tired education system should be renounced. Revolutionary schemes should be adopted to bring the nation on par with the developed world.

Raaj Gopal Mehrotra, Kanpur

It is sad that in your Independence Day issue, the armed forces found only an innocuous mention. A nation that does not remember those who laid down their lives for it, cannot remain a nation worth dying for.

S. Shekhar, Chennai

It was refreshing to see India being compared with China and the United States. It seems we are finally trying to break free of the Pakistan fixation.

Arindom Choudhury, Hyderabad

That we have fared better than China and the US on many key parameters should be a source of pride for Indians. The main cause of concern in developing India is the ever-rising population. If we manage to contain it, we can become an economic superpower very soon.

Bal Govind, Bareilly

Three New 'P's

The three 'P's that have plagued India since Independence are politicians, perfidious police and power-electricity ("Three is a Crowd", August 21). While we have too much of the first two, there is a shortage of the last.

Vishal Sawhney, Lucknow

We need people who have a passion for change. The middle class has to shed its apathy and get involved in nation-building. Divisive forces should be curbed but healthy debate should be encouraged to demonstrate that we are a vibrant democracy despite problems. If we could harness the potential of every individual, we could do wonders for the nation.

D.B.N. Murthy, Bangalore

Don't Ground Grammar

The decision to make the examination system flexible and take learning away from the rote method is welcome, but making English grammar unnecessary is worrisome because such an incomplete education cannot help Indian students compete with their

foreign counterparts ("Dumbing Down", August 7).

The Modern Hindu

DOWN BUT NOT OUT

The unseemly dumping of Natwar Singh by the Congress's ruling family, which he had served for more than four decades, exposes the ruthless streak that runs in its genes. But given Singh's record as a doughty fighter, he is unlikely to take this insult lying down. R. Padmini, Secunderabad Natwar Singh has found it convenient to shout against the leakage of the report, rather than answer the question the country is asking-why did he write to a foreign government to help his friends make money? Megha A., Hyderabad

Hindus cannot be classified into traditionalists, Hindu nationalists and flexible Hindus ("The Elastic Indian", August 21). Today, very few Hindus are averse to imbibing ideas from the West. The average Hindu is modern in his outlook, secular in his spirit and democratic in his temperament. Hindus have always been accommodative; they are neither exclusivist nor rigid.

T.S. Pattabhi Raman, Coimbatore

Managing Mumbai

Decentralisation of the BMC is the only way out to enable the civic body handle problems of ever-growing slums, potholed roads, garbage removal, mushrooming illegal structures and water and power crises ("Too Many Bad Cooks", August 14). The BMC should be trifurcated under three independent commissioners, one for the inland city, one for the western suburbs and one for the central suburbs. It is a Herculean task for a single commissioner to look after the affairs of a city inhabited by 14 million people with no civic sense.

K.P. Rajan, Mumbai

Pak's Double-talk

The atmospherics in Indo-Pak relations-ranging from expulsion of the Indian diplomat, calling Jamaat ul Dawa supremo Hafiz Mohammed Saeed a charitable leader and later putting him under house arrest-speak volumes of Pakistan's "seriousness" about the peace initiative ("Interview of the Week", August 21). High Commissioner Aziz Ahmed Khan's dismissal of India's evidence on source of terror and his statement of commitment to the peace process is all hogwash.

Debee Prasad Rath, Sunabeda, Orissa

Fuzzy Standards

The soft drink controversy is unnecessary ("The Battle Hardens", August 21). While the draft Bureau of Indian Standards rules on colas have not yet been notified, state governments have gone overboard by banning the colas. How can the government take such an extreme step when the standards are still in the draft stage? The Left has also jumped into this battle because of its anti-MNC stand. Food standards should not be mixed with politics.

M.M. Gurbaxani, Bangalore

The pesticide levels are far higher in milk, tea and vegetables sold on the streets than in soft drinks. An article in a Bangalore daily rightly retorted that the government, which supplies "microbial-contaminated water has no right to take action against soft drink firms".

S.S. Ramanatha Rao, Bangalore

It is shocking to note that pesticide residues in colas were found to exceed the permissible limits by 24 times. The results of the study by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) shook the nation when investigations endorsed the findings. However, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss, who keeps himself occupied sacking chiefs of health institutions, has not uttered a word in praise of the CSE. Instead, he has rebuked the Centre for holding a media trial and has passed on the responsibility of protecting the health of consumers to the states.

J.S. Acharya, Hyderabad

Beyond Academics

While studying the educational status of the Muslim community, an important factor to be noted is that a good number of upper- and middle-class Muslims migrated to Pakistan during Partition ("A Shocking Divide", August 14). The people left behind belonged typically to the lower socio-economic-and hence less educated-strata. The academic lag has seeped down into the next generations.

Bishan Sahai, on e-mail

You are right about the fact that there is great scope for spreading education among the Muslim youth, most of whom, even in the Middle East, are or could be open-minded. However, your focus of survey and study needs to be the demographic imbalance caused by the alarmingly high rate of growth of Muslim population. Census figures suggest the near-inevitability of Hindus being outnumbered in the times to come.

Captain S.B. Tyagi, on e-mail

Correction

It was wrongly mentioned in "Alarm Bombay" that Prakash Malavade is a shakha pramukh in Bandra East (August 14). He is a senior Shiv Sena party activist and does not hold any post. The error is regretted.

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