A fine example

The funeral of Tamil Nadu’s chief minister, Jaylalithaa, was organised well and was incident-free despite the huge assembly of people. Contrary to expectations, the whole State remained calm. These are a fitting tribute to the departed leader. This is how people and the administration should behave when a leader of the masses dies. Besides, the number of leaders who came to pay their last respects indicates Jayalalithaa’s stature. This may be the first time the passing of a CM dominated the attention of the country and was given due national honour.

VS Ganeshan

Bengaluru

TN is orphaned

There are few politicians like Jayalalithaa. A fighter to the core, she was a mass leader treated like a goddess. She never compromised on her principles and executed her authority with audacity and distinction. The vacuum will be difficult to fill.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

Jayalalithaa’s passing away has caused severe damage to the prospects of Tamil Nadu becoming a welfare state. The schemes boldly executed by her are well crafted and have done good to the people, particularly the poor. She would have implemented many more beneficial schemes. She will be remembered for a long time.

TR Anandan

Coimbatore

Stability issues

Political stability may well be a badly needed commodity in Tamil Nadu in the days to come. The ruling party at the Centre would be tempted to take advantage of the relative vacuum in Tamil Nadu politics to push its own agenda. It would do well to appreciate that any misstep would be fraught. Tamils venerate Kannagi, a woman who wreaked vengeance on those who had wronged her by tearing off a breast and using the incendiary power of her anguish to set ablaze an entire city.

Padmini Raghavendra

Secunderabad

Double whammy

News of the death of Cho Ramasamy comes as a shock. His demise a day after the death of his friend Jayalalithaa is a double whammy to lovers of of 1960s-70s films, the golden period of Tamil cinema. Cho will never hesitated to say what he felt was correct and his magazine, Thuglak , is sought after by thousands of readers interested in politics. He was an excellent speaker. His death has created a void in print journalism.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

After Babu Rao Patel of Mother India , it is only Cho who excelled in satire, particularly political satire. Besides being a good comedian in Tamil cinema, with his legal background, he also served as advisor to many corporate entities. He was a close friend and confidante of Jayalalithaa. The greatness of Cho lies in the fact that despite his sharp and ruthless criticism of political leaders, he remained a good friend of all politicians irrespective of the party they belonged to.

Tharcius S Fernando

Chennai

Save us taxpayers

The Taxation Laws (Second Amendment) Bill on the voluntary disclosure and investment scheme named Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) 2016 was passed without waiting for the Budget. The practice is that changes in tax laws are made only in the Budget. Also, after first saying no questions will be asked about deposits up to ₹2,50,000, the Government has now changed its stance.It is not that most such depositors have deposited black money; most people are not likely to have enough white money even for emergencies.

Who keeps a record of their hard-earned money legally earned over a period of two-three decades or more? But tax authorities can ask for it. Only God can save honest taxpayers from the tax department.

Changes like this shake the confidence of people.

The present tax laws are enough to catch those with black money, yet rich and politically connected persons are never touched. Ordinary people should not be made to feel threatened. Remember, tax planning within the law is not tax evasion.

M Kumar

New Delhi

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