The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Letters to the Editor

NEWS AND VIEWS

PUNJAB

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

HIMACHAL

REGIONAL BRIEFS

NATION

OPINIONS

LETTERS

BUSINESS

SPORTS

WORLD

SPECIAL COVERAGE

CHANDIGARH

LUDHIANA

DELHI

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS

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

UPA govt must take hard decisions

The Tribune Editor-in-Chief Raj Chengappa’s front-page letter to the Prime Minister (May 22) was balanced and a pithy comment on the first year of the UPA government led by Dr Manmohan Singh. The wisdom and integrity of Dr Singh is matchless. However, the common man is more concerned about the prices of essential commodities. On the question of price rise, while the Centre blames the states, the states pass the buck to the Centre. The UPA government must take concerted steps to arrest price rise.

Secondly, repeated strikes by Naxals show the weakness of the government to act decisively. The government lacks a clear vision and a policy to deal with the Naxal menace.

Besides, there is an urgent need to take immediate action to tackle climate change. Ministers’ indiscipline is another serious matter. Ministers must not express themselves on blogs. Today the voter has become aware and cannot be fooled. Politicians must understand this. People do not want a weak, ineffective and corrupt government. The government has to take hard decisions to meet the urgent needs of the people and the nation.

Capt AMAR JEET KUMAR, SAS Nagar

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor, neatly hand-written or typed in double space, should not exceed the 150-word limit. These can be sent by post to the Letters Editor, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160030. Letters can also be sent by e-mail to: Letters@tribuneindia.com

— Editor-in-Chief

The letter touched all major concerns. The Tribune has aptly named UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi as ‘Prime Monitor’. The day is nor far off when The Tribune will compete with the best of national publications. We look forward to more reading delights from Mr Chengappa’s pen.

RN SEHGAL, Ludhiana

III

Mr Chengappa has brought out the factual position of the performance of the UPA government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh. The immediate task is to control prices, particularly of food items.

It will also be in the interest of the nation if criminals and corrupt people are shunted out of public office and only the deserving get berths. There is no doubt that progress will be the main issue in getting the mandate in the next election.

O P GARG, Patiala

Air tragedy

To the editorial “Mangalore’s ghastly tragedy: Was there more to it than just pilot error?” (May 24) I would like to add that it is true that any small human or mechanical error during flights can cause a mishap of this magnitude. The tragedy could have been averted had the plane landed at a right place. Human lives are very precious and they should not be allowed to perish due to avoidable human errors.

ANUP K GAKKHAR, Haridwar

PhD’s importance
Balvinder’s article, “The ‘doctoral’ disorder” (May 14) has expressed dissatisfaction with the calibre of PhDs. His stand may be true in some isolated cases but it will be wrong to doubt the intellect of all PhD degree holders.
From my personal experience, I feel that getting a PhD in sciences is an uphill task. The candidate has to cross hurdles like approval of synopsis. Laboratory work takes at least three to four years. At times, an experiment fails and it has to be repeated.
PhD is a research degree. Every teacher irrespective of his subject should acquire this degree. It is difficult for any nation to survive without research. Electronic gadgets that we use daily are products of research.
Dr SS JASWAL, Patiala

Haughty Canadian

The editorial “Canadian arrogance” (May 24) was apt. Throwing to the winds all norms of diplomatic etiquette and a sense of duty, the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi has not just refused the visa to a father desiring to meet his daughter but has also attempted to insult India’s security force, the BSF, which has done highly commendable service to the nation at great personal risk.

It speaks of their ignorance of international relations and the required decorum when the High Commission used phrases like ‘notoriously violent paramilitary unit’ and ‘engaged in systematic attacks on civilians’ to describe an organ of our security set-up.

The High Commission’s official who dared to describe the BSF as ‘responsible for committing crimes against humanity’ must immediately be sent back to Canada where a strict departmental action needs to be taken against him for attempting to insult a friendly nation.

VED GULIANI, Hisar

I fully agree with the comments and the spirit of the editorial. The Canadian official in the Canadian High Commission in Delhi has crossed all limits of decency.

The BSF is a dedicated force committed to defending the Indian borders from foreign-based terrorists and anti-social elements. India and Canada have cordial relations and must work to ensure that these remain so.

AMAR JIT SINGH GORAYA, Griffith NSW, Australia

III

Instead of getting worked up over Canada’s description of the BSF, the zealous patriotic Indians should pay a visit to the remote border areas and try to appreciate the viewpoint of the vulnerable villagers whether they regard the BSF as “messiah” or a “notoriously violent force”.

The news reports of routine atrocities on the locals and shooting of innocent civilians certainly do not paint the BSF in a glorifying light. Canada may hold no right to assess the BSF. Still it remains the duty of the Indians to indulge in stocktaking and do some soul-searching.

KAJAL CHATTERJEE, Kolkata