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

N-plant issue: Public hearing a farce

The motive of the Haryana government behind holding ‘’a public hearing” on the environmental concerns and risk factors involved in the proposed Gorakhpur nuclear power plant was laudable (editorial “Planting fission”, July 20). The end of the meeting was, however, not appropriate as it was wound up in haste when some Opposition leaders arrived at the venue of this public discussion which left the common man confused and surprised.

In a democratic and civilised society, dissent of opinion should not only be tolerated gracefully but respected also. No piece of fertile land should be forcibly acquired from the farmers. The fertile land of Gorakhpur village yields  three crops a year.

Moreover, demographically also, the area is not suitable for setting up a nuclear power plant as it is densely populated. It can be shifted to some distant uninhabited part of Rajasthan so that it affects a lesser number of people directly.

Dr RAJ BAHADUR YADAV, Fatehabad (Haryana)

SUDESH KUMAR SHARMA, Kapurthala

Part of society

Inder Malhotra in his article “Danger signals from Baghpat” (July 20) has apprehended that khap panchayats are a grave danger to the existence of the state. I would like to say that there is nothing unusual in the decisions of the panchayat. First, it is impossible to enforce such decisions. Second, people just ignore the unreasonable diktats as per the society’s convenience and changing times.

Khap panchayats have existed since time immemorial. They are the democratic face of the society to regulate their own domestic affairs. Nor are these panchayats illegal because many of their decisions are taken in public interest. However, their decisions which are in violation of the law can be ignored or declared illegal.

The panchayats interfere only in matters of public importance, like same gotra marriages. They try to enforce their ancient customs through panchayats. Allow the khap panchayats do their useful work and let the state do its own. Both can co-exist peacefully as shown in the Bibipur panchayat in Jind.

DR S K OHLAYAN, Kurukshetra

II

The modern woman has penetrated into every citadel held by the man so far (editorial “Khaps’ diktats”, July 19). She has conquered space; pilots the supersonic jets and aeroplanes besides guarding our borders in inhospitable conditions and difficult terrains. Educated women have equalled or surpassed men in almost all fields in his domain. She has the talent and power to decide about her future. Now she is not begging equality. She is more than equal to man. The sooner we understand this gospel truth, the better for our social setup.

KARNAIL SINGH, Kharar

Managing the economy

The rupee has recovered and stock markets have attracted major investment proposals that have come from abroad. IKEA plans to invest Rs 10,500 crore in India and Coca Cola is investing Rs 28,000 crore.

There is a lot of difference between the working of former Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who believed that Indian companies were bringing black money through Mauritius. Dr Manmohan has cleared this ambiguity and held out an assurance of a fair deal to foreign investors. He has rightly stated that India treats everyone fairly and reasonably and there will be no arbitrary decision in tax matters.

SUBASH C. TANEJA, Gurgaon