II

Come 23rd of March and the politicians get busy in holding seminars on Shaheed Bhagat Singh. But actually the wily politicians are busy grinding their own axe. Finding a politician who works for the development of India is like finding a needle in the hay. Bhagat Singh may not have envisioned that one day corrupt Indians would be looting their fellow brethren. If the great martyr would have been with us today he would have been really unhappy.

JASLEEN KAUR, Amritsar

III

Few important names of the authors that Bhagat Singh had read have been mentioned. Bhagat Singh did not read just any book that he could lay his hands on. He read only selective authors that appealed to his mind and that shed light on social exploitation under foreign domination. For example he wrote a letter to his friend Jai Dev to send him the following books from the Dwarka Dass Library, Lahore: Militarism & Anti-Militarism by Karl Liebknecht; Why Men Fight by Bertrand Russell; The Soviets at Work and The Collapse of The Second International, by Nikolai Lenin; Left Wing Communism — An Infantile Disorder by Vladimir Lenin; Fields, Factories and Workshops, and The Civil War in France by Marx. Tolstoy and Rousseau also shaped his mind. On the day of his execution he was reading Lenin. With all these readings his mind had become razor sharp.

He did not read books to while away his time in prison but to understand the problems that beset the poor and the unprivileged under the foreign rule.

He strongly condemned the commemoration of martyrdom, especially of his own. He felt the money wasted on such commemorations could be used for the betterment of the poor. His reading had made him fearless of death. He was quite hopeful that his views and analysis would continue to guide his countrymen. That is why he wrote in his famous Note Book “Hawan Mein Rahengi Khial Ki Bijlian, Yeh Muste Khak Hai Fani Rahe Na Rahe” (This body is bound to mix up with the dust but my views would continue to light up the firmament).

Prof LAKHA SINGH, Taran Taran

IV

The article was really interesting as it gave information and brought to light the hidden aspect of one of the greatest revolutionary of 20th Century India. It also described in detail about his love for books by different authors and on different subjects and how they influenced his thought process.

The tribute paid by the writer shows that Bhagat Singh had a great thirst for literature and knowledge on different subjects that ultimately enabled him to make his mark in history.

FATEH NAJAMUDDIN, Panchkula

Skewed sex ratio

The news report “Sikh community’s bid to check female foeticide makes little headway” (Mar 8) has rightly pointed the failure of the Sikh leadership in addressing the issue. The lack of will to curb the menace is evidently clear in the community’s efforts.

While the Akal Takht did nothing to curb the menace even after issuing a hukamnama to the community, the SGPC even after boasting of launching a cradle scheme didn’t bother to install cradles in all the major gurdwaras under its control. As far as the SGPC is concerned, placing cradles in the gurdwaras would not have cost much to the body having an annual budget of Rs 450 crore. The Sikh leadership should wake up from its deep slumber before it is too late.