L E T T E R S    T O    T H E    E D I T O R

Maintaining dignity of office

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may be soft in his approach, but it goes to his credit that when he takes a stand on any issue, he sees to it that he is vindicated. It goes to the credit of Manmohan Singh that he has not stooped as low as his detractors so as to reply to his opponents in their own language. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi must also be complimented for not indulging in name-calling and personal attacks. To describe the Prime Minister of our nation as a ‘night watchman’ and ruling party as a ‘termite’ in fact shows the frustration of a political party which has been away from the corridors of power for a long period of time.

ARUN HASTIR, Babehali (Gurdaspur)

II

Narendra Modi’s remarks on the Prime Minister and the Gandhi family are in very poor taste (editorial ‘Another Modi show’ March 5). He holds a responsible position of the Chief Minister of a state and is not any ordinary man in the street. Manmohan Singh gracefully apologised for the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom in Parliament, Modi is still devoid of remorse for his failure to quell the anti-Muslim riots although the prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said that he was pained and ashamed of the killings. I am reminded of Shaikh Saad’s verse: Gar na beenad broz shappara-chashm\chashma-e-aftab ra che gunnah ( if a bat-blind person cannot see during the day, what is the fault of the sun?)

BHAGWAN SINGH, Qadian

SATWANT KAUR, Mahilpur

Important positions

The post of the Governor of a state, one of our revered constitutional institutions, must not be disgraced or undermined in any way. Unfortunately, the post which should ideally be the preserve of any statesman (though an extinct species by now) or scholar of impeccable repute and integrity, is grossly politicised these days and as such the esteem of the high office has been lowered. Top bureaucrats doing favours to the ruling party and politicians failing to get people's mandate in elections are so often rewarded with the post of the Governor of a state. Their appointment and subsequently their partisan behaviour and gestures erode the dignity of this post and make a mockery of our democracy.

H L SHARMA, Amritsar

II

Offering attractive assignments to judges of Supreme Court and High Courts after their retirement is a shady practice which has an adverse impact on the functioning of the judiciary. Still worse, it is the tainted judges who generally take away high-profile assignments. The upright judicial officers who scrupulously tread the “straight and narrow” path during their professional career are just allowed to fade away.

Tara Chand, Ambota, Una

Wasting votes

We , being citizens of India , are not making appropriate use of our votes. Most of the times, people vote out of caste or class loyalty, irrespective of the fact whether the leader is worth our vote. People follow their party leaders blindly to get small favours done. No one is concerned about the right choice of a leader. People must apprehend the importance of their vote and it is the need of the hour that they should cast their vote to the one who works for public welfare. Giving our votes to tainted leaders is just like betraying our motherland.

MANDEEP KAUR GILL, Veela-Teja (Gurdaspur)

Correction

In the news report ‘A fish that will check dengue’ (Chandigarh Tribune, March 11) a fish ‘Gambusia’ has been incorrectly named as ‘Gangusia’.

ATM in police stations! There are many complaints of robbing of ATM machines. Many ATMs are without security guards giving an open invitation to robbers. Gujarat has proposed a solution to overcome this menace. According to this proposal, the ATMs should be located inside police stations wherever possible. People will feel safe while dispensing money from ATMs. The Reserve Bank of India has given clearance to this move. The banks can fulfill the infrastructural needs like ACs, CCTV cameras, furniture and other facilities in ATM enclosures. S C DHALL, Zirakpur