M A I L B A G

Left shouldn’t work against national mood

Apropos of Amulya Ganguly’s article “Left’s base is shrinking: It remains out of touch with the national mood” (Dec 28), I share his concern over the Left parties working against the national mood by trying to reverse the tide of economic reforms. Though they are supporting the UPA Government from outside, they are expected to act responsibly.

The Left should not criticise the government day in and day out just for criticism sake. Power without responsibility is not sending the right signal. The way they are conducting themselves is in bad taste as sometimes, it appears as if they are the real Opposition and not the BJP.

There can be no going back from our chosen path of liberalisation and privatisation. The Communists’ style of shutting their eyes from the realities is affecting their credibility and base. All good thinking citizens wish Left parties to see reason, change their critical approach and strengthen the hands of the Manmohan Singh Government by exercising restraint and striving for public good.

K. LAL, Yamunanagar

II

Why shouldn’t the Left parties oppose the anti-people policies of the Centre? They have been raising the relevant problems of the common people. The issue of poverty does not disturb the elite who are well fed and well bred and their class interests are not the interests of this vast land. Mr Ganguly is overeager to defend the interests of the corporate houses and the industrialists by running down the Communists in a biased manner.

It is wrong to say that the Communists did not participate in the freedom struggle. They have played a big role in preserving the unity and integrity of the country and by keeping the communal forces at bay. Whether the writer believes it or not, the Communists are considered people’s selfless leaders. They have been relentlessly fighting for national welfare for the last 75 years.

RAJ BAHADUR YADAV DEHATI, Fatehabad

Prescription for growth Barbara Wootton very aptly remarked, “Whenever six economists gather there are seven opinions.” Prof Amartya Sen and Meghnand Desai showed compliance with Ms Wootton’s remarks at the recent national seminar on “Development and Nationhood: An Indian Perspective.” The former feels that the secular and non-sectarian party (Congress, according to Prof Sen) would be favourable for India’s development while the latter preferred a grand coalition of the Congress and the BJP for better economic growth and development. Both economists view development more of a function of the political set up, within the country than to the attitude of the incumbent government. Not all presidential forms of government have succeeded in providing the basic necessities (both tangible and non-tangible). Also neither democracies like ours nor monarchies like Bhutan have ever succeeded in determining the development thrust of the country. The economists may participate in the debate for a Utopian world but should offer suggestions in tune with the resources available, ceteris paribus. HARPREET SINGH, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana

Punish the guilty

It’s outrageous to note that in an accident on Thursday in R.K. Puram, Delhi, after hitting an Indian Air Force employee, a police van, instead of rushing him to the hospital, fled from the spot. As a result, he died. How can, in a system which claims itself to be people-centric, powers are vested in the hands of those who themselves don’t realise the importance of obeying even basic human laws?

Action must be taken against the police officials responsible for the incident. Mere suspension from duty or imposition of fine won’t do.

NIKHIL JAIN, New Delhi

The Anara episode

The clean chit given by the Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory to Anara Gupta once again exposed the black face of the police forces. Such incidents can rightly be construed as the helplessness of the police to catch original criminals and making innocents scapegoats. The police has long been known for such high-handedness. This not only leads to mental and physical harassment of innocent people  but also erodes people’s faith in the police.

SIDDHARTHA RAJ GUHA, Jabalpur (MP)

Root out corruption

The editorial “Jamming jails” (Jan 6) rightly points out that installing jamming device in jails is not the only solution for preventing the use of mobile phones in jails. In endorse the opinion that the malady is due to rampant corruption and official laxity in enforcing the rules.

Clearly, the system has become so corrupt that the installation of jamming devices will not help solve the problem. Most problems of the country can be resolved if the powers that be take stringent measures like checking corruption from top to bottom, enforcing accountability in the system through severe punishment for the corrupt and law breakers and ensuring transparency in governance.

Dr VITULL K. GUPTA, Bathinda

Chhota ghallughara

The massacre of Sikhs, known as “Chhota ghallughara”, by the then Viceroy of Lahore, Yahiya Khan, and his Diwan, Lakhpat Rai, near Kahnuwan (Gurdaspur) took place in 1746 and not in 1846 as mentioned in the feature “Historical gurdwara seeks importance” (Dec 30). Thousands of Sikhs were killed.

In 1846, three battles of the first Anglo-Sikh War took place at Baddowal (Jan 21), Aliwal (Jan 28) and Sobraon (Feb 10). The Treaties of Lahore (March 9 and 11) and Bharowal (Dec 16) between the British and Lahore Darbar were concluded when Maharaja Duleep was just eight years old.

BHAGWAN SINGH, Qadian