Letters to the Editor Biting the Telangana bullet SIR, This is with reference to your editorial “Telangana at last”. Since 2004, the Congress has staved off the demand for a separate state, citing one hurdle or the other. If it drags the issue further still, it might lose the support of its 17 Lok Sabha MPs in the proposed Telangana region. Election time seems to be the best time to make or break promises. The Congress cannot afford to ignore the issue any longer. It is now almost certain that it is going to bite the bullet on Telangana. It has to accept the challenge ‘to do or die’, ignoring the likes of Mamata Banerjee. When she spoke against the further division of West Bengal over Darjeeling, it had afforded a measure of relief to the UPA government. The Congress must realise that it is beside the point whether Miss Banerjee welcomes the emergence of Telangana. It will surely buttress the GJMM’s demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland. After the 2009 Lok Sabha election, the Congress let the people of Telangana down again. The BJP has now promised the creation of Telangana state within 100 days, if voted to power. Now the Congress is so jittery that its strategists are working overtime to come up with another trick, indeed to throw a spanner in the works by planning to tag Kurnool and Anantapur districts of Rayalaseema region, in the hope of cutting to size the growing influence of Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress which has four Lok Sabha seats. It also wants to convert Hyderabad into a Union Territory. This is not acceptable to Telangana leaders. Before the 2009 election, the Congress had promised statehood for Telangana. It had even cautioned the people of Seemandhra that unless they voted for the Congress they would need a visa to visit Hyderabad. This trickery enabled the Congress to win 33 of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh. As it turned out, it backtracked after being re-elected. Yours, etc., Gokul Burman, Chakdaha (Nadia), 25 July. RAHUL-MODI DEBATE SIR, Manish Tewari’s challenge to Narendra Modi for a debate opens a welcome idea of holding debates ~ as in the USA ~ between the potential candidates for the office of Prime Minister, representing the Congress and the BJP. A series of debates on various issues will help people know the candidates, their knowledge of the long political history of India, their calibre, agenda, and strategies to address the national problems. It will help put the troubled nation on the right track. Let Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi face each other, to help people select the right PM. Yours, etc., Jagat K Motwani, New York, 26 July. SEN TAKES A RISK SIR, Amartya Sen is a great economist and commands respect all over the world for his phenomenal contribution to the subject. He does not profess any political ideology as such. He is now taking a break in India, his home. His recent criticism of Narendra Modi may be interpreted as an indirect endorsement of the policies of UPA-II. He is, therefore, likely to be criticised by the BJP and its saffronite allies. It would be better if he refrains from commenting on controversial issues. His image could be dented in the minds of Indians. Amartya Sen being Amartya Sen, he cannot afford to take that risk. Yours, etc., Jorhat Singh, Mumbai, 26 July. SALMAN KHAN SIR, There is an adage, “ as you sow so shall you reap’. The Bollywood actor, Salman Khan, has been charged under Sections 304(2) ~ (culpable homicide not amounting to murder); 279 (causing death by negligence); 337 (causing hurt by an act), 338 (causing grievous hurt); 427 (causing damage or mischief to property); and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act and the Bombay Prohibition Act. One person was killed and four others, sleeping on a pavement in Bandra, were injured when Khan’s Toyota Land Cruiser allegedly rammed into a bakery on the night of September 28, 2002. He was driving the car and was directed to be present in court whenever required. The Sessions Court had on June 24 upheld a magistrate’s order that Khan was guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. His appeal against the verdict was dismissed. The actor had earlier been tried by a metropolitan magistrate for a lesser offence of causing death by negligence (Section 304 A of IPC), which provides for a maximum prison sentence of two years. Yours, etc., Raju Sharma, Kolkata, 27 July. VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY SIR, Ever since your message to readers on 2 July about the facelift, I have been voyaging to see how your plan unfolds itself with each day’s edition. As a well-meaning and ardent reader of The Statesman for over six decades, I am all for your efforts to make our favourite daily look smarter and smarter, along with its increased attractiveness and readability. Eight long years have gone by since May 2005 when you last attempted similar revamping in respect of The Sunday Statesman, which you have also promised to improve still further. Undoubtedly, the editorial and oped pages appear as if in rich apparel. The thumbnail snippets should have their headings in bolder type like ‘Short Takes’. ‘100 years ago’ has been given a very appropriate column. The dignified designation, ‘People’s Parliament. Always in Session’, concurrently offers scope for the ventilation of people’s views in a parliamentary manner. Yours, etc., Abdus Subhan, Kolkata, 21 July.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 19:34:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015