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Nobel for Obama unjustified

The announcement of Nobel Peace Prize for US President Barack Obama (news report, “Obama is Nobel peacemaker”, Oct 10) has come as a surprise. For it appears premature. He is yet to realise his peace plans.

He could have been considered for the prestigious award after a few years. Now that the award has been announced, Mr Obama will do well to live up to the expectations of the people.

Col R D SINGH, Ambala Cantt

II

Usually awards are conferred upon people when they have accomplished something tangible and not for mere pledges to achieve meaningful results. Thus the announcement of Nobel Peace Prize for Mr Obama comes as a surprise.

He has neither achieved peace nor has he undertaken efforts to establish world peace. No sooner had the award been announced he convened the war council to discuss how best to wage war in Afghanistan.

SAFIYA SAMEENA, Vijayawada

III

What has Mr Obama done in this short span to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize? Has he established peace in Afghanistan or has he achieved any other major breakthrough to attain peace?

This is not the first time that the award giving committee has bungled in awarding peace prize to a politician. It is hard to digest that such prestigious awards are often given to oblige political leaders of western countries.

ARUN HASTIR, Gurdaspur

IV

The US President has not accomplished much to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Giving an award for mere promises is rather strange and defies all logic.

R KAPOOR, Solan

National holiday?

The debate on whether we should have a holiday on Gandhi Jayanti is worth pondering over. The fact is we are moving away from work culture and have begun to revel in holidays.

On such significant days we hardly spare a thought for our national heroes and instead fritter away time in fun and frolic. At best, some political parties organise rallies or programmes that are no more than a sham.

NEHA PAUL, Patiala

II

There should be no national holidays. Instead, we should have national days when people should work gratis. People should continue to work in offices, factories, institutions, etc and one day’s salary should go to funds for the poor.

 C K SHARMA, Gurgaon

Root out Maoist menace Maoists (editorial, “Maoists in Maharashtra”, Oct 10) are now making their presence felt in as many as 20 states as Union Home Minister P Chidambaram stated recently. This should make the government sit up and take notice. Behind the Maoist problem lie deep-rooted economic and social inequalities. It goes without saying that successive governments have failed to end exploitation and discrimination in society. Our political leaders, with a few exceptions, are corrupt. There cannot be a better proof of their venality than the fact that while their wealth is increasing at an astonishing speed, the common man is finding it hard to make both ends meet. They are self-centred and oblivious to the needs and aspirations of the public. While the mindless violence perpetrated by the Maoists needs to be condemned, it must be admitted that the permanent solution to this violence lies in tackling the causes that sustain it rather than in suppressing it through the government machinery. The Centre’s anti-Naxal plan which also includes a Rs 7,300-crore package for developmental works is a step in the right direction. HEMA, Langeri, Hoshiarpur