Readers’ Forum

Tihar: A resort for politicians
It would have been better if the UPA government would have put Kalmadi and Co. in some five star hotel instead of putting them in the Tihar Central Jail. High tea with the jail superintendent, freedom to enter, leave prison cell or meet co-accused, unrestricted access to jail premises—this is what life seems to be like in Tihar Jail for the high accused in the country’s two biggest scams—2G Spectrum Scam and Commonwealth Games. Inspecting trial court judge Shri Brijesh Kumar Garg was aghast to see that high profile undertrials prisoners were being given undue liberty by the jail authorities. While sacked Commonwealth Games Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi was having tea and snacks with the jail superintendent in his chamber, the judge found the cells of 2G Spectrum accused were unlocked and all the high profile undertrial prisoners were able to roam around and interact with each other. This clearly shows that the UPA government did formality by arresting the accused involved in various scams. Basically it was done to fool the general public that government is serious about corruption and is taking steps to check it. But the truth is just the opposite.

—MAHESH CHANDRA SHARMA, E-198, Panki, Kanpur

Congress shows its impatience with people’s power (Organiser, 19.6.2011) Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Prof VK Malhotra has rightly criticised the indifferent approach of Delhi’s Chief Minister and her Cabinet for not visiting the injured of the Ramlila Ground who are being treated in various city hospitals. Infact she has not uttered a single word of sympathy or in support of hundreds of people who were maltreated in the capital by the police. What to talk of providing medical facilities it has come to light that hospitals are being pressurised to release the injured at the earliest. It is clear that the police action was deliberate and planned attack in which the Delhi government colluded with the Central government in totality.

—RAMINDER SINGH , B-224, , Naraina Industrial Area, Phase:1

Karunanidhi and his daughter Karunanidhi who hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus by asking a stupid question like “ from which engineering college did Sri Ram did his engineering,” is now to answer, in which college he taught his daughter Kanimozhi who looted crores and crores of rupees of Bharat. In which way he brought up his daughter who is getting punishment in jail?

—S DAS, Balasore, Odisha

Christian caste wars in India, church burnt down Christians say we don’t have caste system in Christianity. But this is only for coversion purpose only. This is a cunning act of luring and enticing the simple people. But once this is achieved, reservations are begged/demanded shamelessly and our shameless, spineless so-called secular politician succumbs to such demands. The unscruplous Indian politicians only think about the short-term gains of vote-bank tactics!

—BK CHAUDHARI, bk_chaudhari@hotmail.com

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Caste wars among Christians in India is escalating day by day. Each passing day situation is going more and more out of control. In the latest incident, Christians belonging to one caste burnt down a church under construction by another caste. But more important is that this incident happened in a State where Christaians forms 90 per cent of the population. The Catholic Church under construction and nearing to completion in Phokhungri Village, in Nagaland was burnt down by the villagers on May 28. At the time of writing this letter the apex body of Christians in India, Catholic Bishops Council of India, which always issues statements on every church burning, had not commented on this church burning.

—CENTRE FOR HINDU MEDIA RESEARCH AND STUDIES, centreforhindu@yahoo.com

Sonia most unpopular leader ever:Asia Poll Asia Poll, which is the Asian subsidiary of the largest polling organisation in the world, has conducted an extensive survey of over 60,000 Indians across the subcontinent on their opinions of political parties and leaders and their voting intentions in view of the serious cases of corruption against senior politicians. Unsurprisingly, Sonia Gandhi came out as the most unpopular politician since Independence with only two per cent of the population considering her suitable to lead the country. About 90 per cent of the public said that she is the major cause of corruption in India. Qualitative findings from focus groups found that many believe Sonia Gandhi is a foreign dictator in India. When questions were asked about Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, the outcome was equally negative with only four per cent thinking Rahul Gandhi would make good leader and less that one per cent preferring Priyanka. Most educated urban Indians are strongly against the re-election of Sonia Gandhi as Congress leader or any member of the Gandhi family as there is a strong view that these people are foreigners subverting India’s Independence and encouraging Christian conversions and are the root of all corruption’s scandals in India. Another strongly expressed view was that Sonia Gandhi has packed regional government with her Christian supporters.

—MADHUKAR AMBEKAR, madhukar_ambekar@me.com

Is Sonia a security risk? Monish Tewari, Abhishek Singhvi and Jayanti Natarajan find enough pleasure in defending the indefensible Sonia Gandhi. They, in fact, act as her domestic aid. Sonia Gandhi is the only person having prerogative to get into any act without giving any prior notice. People are yet to know the purpose of her trips abroad? Surely these are her personal trips and has nothing to do with any good Indian cause. Did she and Rahul fly by a luxurious charted flight, if so, who paid for it? How long would she be out of India and would Indian mission keep a tag of her itinerary particularly with reference to her alleged money laundering. What kind of foreign money did she carry or she did not carry anything since transaction could be done through Hawla? Indian customs, surely, would not dare check her but I am sure she, an American stooge, does not have to go through American customs either. Weeks back she made a similar trip with all her family members to the same place; what is the necessity to make everything of her trip so secret? Why no queries has been initiated about the payment by Russian Government of millions of dollars to Sonia and her family including her mum since 1971? What is the reason that Sonia changed her mum’s residence to New York, a very strong base for expatriate Italians outside Italy? Is Sonia Gandhi a high security risk for India?

—TUSAR KANTI KAR, 14/3/1, Sribash Dutta Lane, Howrah-711 101

US is more serious against terrorism As compared to other countries it seems that the US is gaining the upperhand in its war against terror. Just a month after it hunted down the world’s most wanted terrorist—Osama—in Pakistan, the US has also killed Osama’s potential successor, Illyas Kashmiri, in a drone attack in Pakistan’s tribal area. Illyas was a key planner of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and was wanted by the US, Pakistan and India alike. But it was the US that was successful in hunting down its prey.

—PRIYANKA BASU, by email

Misunderstanding Baba Ramdev Why should each word of Baba Ramdev be put to critical scrutiny? Though erudite in traditional sciences like Yoga and Ayurveda, he is not an expert in politics where statements made are different from thoughts withheld. He should be allowed to have a catharses of emotions among his disciples after the undemocratic suppression of his satyagraha movement in Delhi. Baba Ramdev is not a Harvard graduate like our Home Minister and may not be able to convey his ideas in a subtle idiom. The call for Shastra (training in weapons) and Shaastra(learning of scriptures) is as old as the Dashnami Sampradaya of Adi Shankaracharya. Nanga(naked) Sadhus are known for resorting to belligerent methods in the past,though the circumstances were different. The sixth Sikh guru,Guru Hargobind carried the twin swords of Miri and Piri, signifying temporal and spiritual matters respectively. The creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh to fight the forces of tyranny at social and political levels had the old ideal of combining religious studies with physical might. Even the nonviolent Mahatma Gandhi once observed : If I were to chose between cowardice and violence I would chose violence.” Baba Ramdev’s call for preparing 1,10,000 young volunteers should be viewed in the context of police brutalities on innocent satyagrahis including women and elderly persons in Delhi. Perhaps by the word Sena Ramdev meant security guards for the protection of his flock. A patriotic soul like him cannot think otherwise. In fact,his crusade against corruption is the result of his intense national feeling about which he speaks in every discourse . Besides, the Hindi word Sena does not always mean an army in the sense we understand it in western parlance. One may recall Indira Gandhi as a child led Baanar Sena against the British,without making use of even a pistol. Is Shiv Sena not Sena in the sense of a distinct group?

—Dr SATISH K KAPOOR, Dayanand Institutions,Solapur