Check facts

It is well-known that the government had opposed the release of the Italian marines for the Christmasholidays. The Supreme Court set aside the protestations and allowed them to go on humanitarian grounds. When the Italian government refused to send the men back, the Court confiscated the Italian ambassador’s passport and blocked his access to airports. So, if Narendra Modi wants to thump his patriotic chest on the issue of allowing the marines to go home, he should have the guts to condemn the Court (and face the consequences) rather than personally attack the Congress president. A prime ministerial aspirant ought to check facts.

Sham Sankar

Thiruvananthapuram

Power factor

As rightly observed in the editorial “Mind the gap” (April 1), the capacities created must be fully utilised and the power fully paid for. This will happen only when the entire scheme of free/subsidised power is rationalised.

Namasivayam K

online

Black box information

This refers to the report, “Race against time to find MH 370 black box” (April 1). The black box was not fitted with a satellite transmitter, in order to cut costs. The battery of the black box lasts for a month after a plane crash. Had there been a satellite transmitter, it would have sent signals even without battery power. Passengers have the right to this information. It is high time that international organisations such as IATA and ICAO looked into this crucial issue. Passengers must know about this when they book their tickets.

Deendayal M Lulla

Mumbai

Congress woes

If only the Congress had been determined about easing out Manmohan Singh, the way the BJP dealt with Advani, it would have coasted along with a healthy GDP, and scams would not have flourished in a sterner administrative environment.

But the Congress does not have an RSS to force policy initiatives on the party. Its benign dynasty-led leadership was not up to it when it came to the crunch of governance.

R Narayanan

Ghaziabad

Vote-bank mentality

With reference to “No party for Muslims” by Rasheeda Bhagat (April 1), it is worrying that Muslim representation has fallen in Parliament, but why single out Gujarat? Muslims have allowed themselves to be used as a vote-bank for ages and all these so-called secular parties are to be blamed for this.

If the Congress could not show enough confidence in Muslims, why blame the BJP which has never been their party of first preference. So it boils down to all the political parties reposing faith in the community.

Bal Govind

Noida

Muslims from all over India should join any party of their choice and work their way up instead of looking for accommodation as a kind of appeasement. In Kerala, the Indian Union Muslim League with only Muslims as members calls itself secular while it brands the BJP communal.

C G Kuriakose

Kothamangalam, Kerala

Inaccurate inference

The observations and analysis by CP Chandrasekhar and Jayati Ghosh in “Have workers in Gujarat benefited from development?” may be correct but to infer from this that the growth in Gujarat is hyped is ridiculous. The writers also have compared unemployment levels in various states to arrive at their conclusion.

KV Natarajan

Chennai

Arm workers

It is very clear workers have lost their bargaining power. A living wage is what every working Indian needs. We cannot mask this necessity with the buzz word ‘development’. The right to unionise will give workers greater bargaining power.

At the same time, we need to reform our labour laws to accommodate the needs of both workers and businesses. We should not pitch them against each other as is happening now, with the prevailing bad labour laws.

CR Arun

e-mail

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