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THE Tribune report “Women’s reservation and Congress woes” (Jan.12) emanating from Delhi, inter alia, states: “Another area which the Congress President has to look into is the demand for change of the leader of the Legislature Party (CLP) in Himachal Pradesh”, and gives out that soon after the recent AICC session in Delhi several MLAs sought a change in the CLP leadership. The report goes on to add that the incumbent, Mr Virbhadra Singh, who had put in his papers just after the defeat of the party candidate (his wife, Mrs Pratibha Singh) from the Mandi parliamentary constituency, continues to be the CLP leader but his resignation has not been “technically rejected”.

The electoral debacle in question undoubtedly inflicted an injury on Mr Singh’s public image and prestige. Candidly speaking, Mr Singh simply reaped the “bitter fruit” of his mistake to push his wife, a political novice, into the election fray. For a while it did seem that he would not be able to withstand the “setback”.

However, his instantaneous resignation as the CLP leader on moral grounds coupled with Mrs Sonia Gandhi’s well-considered reluctance to accept the resignation helped him contain the demage. Over the months Mr Singh has considerably retrieved his position and prestige; so much so that at the moment he seems to enjoy over- whelming support not only within the CLP but also among the party’s rank and file.

The fact that the ruling coalition in the state had launched a massive vilification campaign against Mr Singh and made him the target for witch-hunting has added a new dimention to the demand. To my mind, it would be immoral on the part of the party to ditch Mr Singh under the circumstances. Bluntly speaking, the demand for Mr Singh’s ouster as CLP leader at this juncture is not only unwarranted but also ill-timed and immoral. Let the party high command beware and ponder!

Promoting vegetarianism

It is being said that vegetarianism is a luxury of the rich and is unviable for the poor. Nothing can be farther from the truth. In fact, vegetarianism is not only cheap but also the right food for the millions of the poor people in the country.

It has been proved by scientific research and particularly by the Health Bulletin No. 23 of the Government of India that per 100 gm of any food-stuff, pulses provide about 24 gm , groundnuts 32 gm and soya beans 43 gm of protein. Further, there is ample quantity of carbohydrates in various vegetarian food-stuffs and in many vegetables and fruits.

As against this, eggs have only 13 gm of protein per 100 gm with no carbohydrates and no fibre. This is why medical authorities throughout the world have warned about the dangers of heart attacks, cancer and kidney trouble by eating eggs which contain about 500 milligrams of cholesterol per 100 gm.

Thus, from the point of view of better nutrition in the form of protein and carbohydrates, a balanced vegetarian diet consisting of pulses, cereals, fruits and vegetables is the best for human body, particularly for the growing children.

Dr Michael Klaper, the world authority on nutrition as also two Nobel Prize winners of 1985, Dr Michael S. Brown and Dr Joseph L. Goldstein, have pointed out the harmful effects of eating eggs.

R.N. LAKHOTIA
President, Indian Vegetarian Congress
Delhi

It is indeed gratifying to learn of the magnitude of the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa. All Punjabis will welcome and participate actively in this historic commemoration.

It would, however, not be out of place to suggest that had it not been for the enlightened Guru of universal humanism, the First Guru, Baba Nanak Devji, the nation and the community would not have had the sacred guidance of the subsequent nine Gurus. The sapling of the Sikh faith was planted by the first Guru at Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala district. Surely, in the fitness of our tribute to the historic legacy of the Khalsa, Guru Nanak Devji’s site of Gurdwara Ber Sahib at Sultanpur Lodhi should feature prominently as part of these observances.

A proposal for restoring the sanctity of Sultanpur Lodhi and its real place in Sikh heritage has been before the state government for a few years. Perhaps, some of the suggestions made therein could now form part of the developmental plans on this occasion. The following suggestions are offered:

(a) Restoring full flow of water into the Black Bein rivulet, thus creating its pristine purity for environmental and pilgrimage purpose. Legend has it that it was in this rivulet that the great Guru disappeared, and attained enlightenment. When he reappeared, it was under the Ber Tree, still extant in the gurdwara’s precincts, that the great Guru gave us the unique “Moll Mantra”.

(b) Develop proper infrastructure and a communication system for this historic town, with its various gurdwaras, all associated with the great Guru’s life.

(c) Create the requisite infrastructure for visitors, with the ultimate aim to develop the town as the pivotal centre for the “Pilgrim Circuit” covering Goindwal Sahib, Khadur Sahib, Tarn Taran Sahib and Darbar Sahib at Amritsar. This would give an enormous boost to tourism in Punjab.

Our public interest organisation named Common Cause has very warmly welcomed the initiative of Mr Ratan Tata of Tata Sons “not to support any specific political party or candidate for political office”, and also “not to give or take any payments to obtain business or favours, or to give donation to any government agency to obtain any favourable performance of official duties”. This is a great step forward for cleansing public life in the country.

Common Cause has written to all chambers of commerce and industry associations in the country bringing this splendid development to their notice and requesting them to convey it to all their members, suggesting the adoption of a similar code by all of them. It will be for the political parties to find alternative modes of mobilising and collecting funds for their activities on the lines generally adopted by Western countries.

	M A I L B A G	Monday, January 18, 1999
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