Nip it in the bud

The advice given by the American president that we should not allow the country to be splintered along lines of religious faith or indeed along any lines, could not have come at a more appropriate time. That the BJP government extends its tacit support to the divisive efforts of fringe groups is further evidenced from the I&B advertisement on the R-Day fete which carried a picture of the original Preamble to the Constitution deleting the words “secular” and “socialist”. This omission is not an oversight, it’s deliberate. The BJP government should come clean about the motive behind this blatant omission which should be strongly objected to by all secular minded citizens. The media has a duty to highlight this attempt to declare that India is not a secular and socialist country.

Tharcius S Fernanado

Chennai

The advice to uphold religious freedom citing Article 25 of our Constitution is a first. In the normal course, a visiting dignitary will concentrate and stick to the core agenda of strengthening bilateral relations aimed to further stimulate business of commerce and trade. It is too early to comment upon whether this remark has hurt the sentiments of law makers or business tycoons or the intellectual diaspora, but there is a studied silence on their part. However, it would definitely have hurt the sentiments of the common people. Is it a veiled attempt by Washington to bring India and Pakistan on the same page?

Ettirankandath Krishnadas

Palakkad, Kerala

Obama’s remarks are amusing. It seems he has not understood Sanathana Dharma which respects all the religions. It seems he has also overlooked the fact that India has some remarkable places of worship of many faiths. In fact, India may be the only nation where minorities enjoy maximum freedom which is proved by its presidents and prime ministers hailing from different faiths. Secularism favouring the minorities cannot be found anywhere in the world. As such, without realising the ground reality, Obama serving sermons to broadminded Indians is irrelevant and unacceptable.

VS Ganeshan

Bengaluru

Security’s for everyone

In your editorial, ‘Beyond symbolism’ (January 27), you have mentioned that the US and India can have different interests and pursue common goals simultaneously. The nations should share what they have and not focus on what divides them, either the closeness of India to Russia, or US ties with Pakistan. This does not apply to India and the US alone but the rest of the world too. Diplomacy should be shown in strengthening bonds of friendship and cooperation between the world’s two largest democracies and also the ability and willingness to work towards unity between India and Pakistan, and Russia and the US. The agreement should actually be one of social security and not lead to a policy just in favour of the bigwigs.

TV Jayaprakash

Palakkad, Kerala

Be prudent

With reference to the article, ‘Some directions for directors’ by Lalit Kumar (January 28), the amendments in the new Companies Act enhancing the duties of directors prove that bad actions by some create more stringent laws for all. A few cases of gross neglect and personal dishonesty such as was witnessed in Satyam Computers have occasioned the new provisions. (Therefore, those who take directorship for image-building or comfort or do not apply their mind to the work on hand would flinch, no doubt.)

The provision for integrated decision making by the directors (combining all stakeholders’ interest including the community) is welcome — the focus would shift to optimisation instead of maximisation of results when there is a conflict of concern. Though the fine is not high in value (from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh), the stigma it carries should serve as a deterrent.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Parting shot

Barack Obama’s statement that “India will succeed if it is not splintered on religious lines” is in line with promoting meritocracy as a weapon of development as opposed to power politics arising out of a fractured mandate and vote-bank strategies. It calls for responsible leaders who place the nation’s growth above themselves.

Vikram Sundaramurthy

Chennai

India would do well to heed Obama’s parting shot. The warning comes at a time when the nation is embroiled in the controversy surrounding ghar wapsi or the reconversion campaign launched by the Sangh Parivar and endorsed by some MPs of the ruling BJP The increasing incidence of crimes against women and children has also put the law and order machinery under a cloud and made India cut a sorry figure in the eyes of the international community.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

Exploiting farmers for land

This refers to the article ‘Talk to farmers, don't bully them’ by Abhirup Bhunia (January 28). The government should never become an agent for the private sector in acquiring land for their projects. The price to be paid to farmers according to the ordinance is the guideline value multiplied twice in urban areas and four times in rural areas. This is not the market price. After the end use of the acquired land, the market price increases at least eight times as was reported to have happened in Haryana in the land deal done by Robert Vadra. This is the reason farmers are sceptical about selling their lands.

The government should look to giving a part of the land back to the farmers after the end use. This is the treasure everyone is after. The government should never acquire land for the private sector. The private sector should look to compensate adequately for the acquisition of farm land and not use state power to grab land from farmers. All the State government industrial development corporations put together have more than 10 lakh acres of land. What are they are doing with this land? Until land-owners are adequately compensated, how can we expect them to understand the importance of rural infrastructure and lowcost housing and industrial corridors? No law without common sense can work in a democracy.

CR Arun

Email

Not advisable

It has been reported in the media that teachers in northeast Pakistan are being given firearms training and will be allowed to take guns into the classroom. The remedy is worse than the disease. It’s the administration that needs to arm itself with adequate (armed) security personnel and provide peaceful teaching-learning process.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

Erratum

b In the article, ‘Honey, I shrunk the delivery time’ which appeared in cat.a.lyst dated January 23, the name of the senior partner and director, BCG, was incorrect. It should be Abheek Singh. The error is regretted.

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