Bail to Chidambaram

This refers to ‘P Chidambaram gets bail in INX Media case’ (December 4). The senior Congress leader must truly be thanking his stars and also heaving a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court finally granted him bail in the INX Media money-laundering case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate.

It’s a different matter that the apex court has also directed the former Finance Minister neither to leave the country without prior permission of the court nor try to influence the witnesses or tamper with the evidence while setting aside the Delhi High Court’s November 15 verdict which denied him bail. Significantly, Chidambaram has been in judicial custody for over 100 days.

However, even as the top court has restrained Chidambaram from giving press interviews or making any statements with regard to the case and the Congress party having welcomed its decision, one is intrigued by the remarks of Shashi Tharoor, one of the senior Congress leaders, that “justice delayed is justice denied” and “this should have been granted much earlier.” Don’t such comments tantamount to contempt of the highest court of the country?

Vinayak G

Bengaluru

CSR does matter

Apropos ‘Why CSR does more harm than good’ (December 4), I beg to differ with the author’s view. If we let companies take on social responsibility on a voluntary basis, the results will be negligible as their focus will be more on enhancing dividends for their shareholders rather than serving the cause of the people. Amidst the current slowdown, companies have been raising a hue and cry about the need to boost consumption demand, which can happen only if people have more disposable income. Allocating a portion of their bottomline for social causes will never pinch, rather it will only enhance the goodwill of the companies in the eyes of the public.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi

 

Sexual violence

The palpable outrage following the brutal sexual assault and grisly murder of young veterinarian in Hyderabad has given rise to calls for stringent punishment for perpetrators of sexual violence against women. Demands such as public lynching, chemical castration and death penalty are nothing but a clear reflection of people’s seething anger and frustration over the poor rate of conviction in sexual assault cases and slow judicial process, emboldening the sexual perverts to persist with their nefarious activities.

Rather than channelling the worst of society’s instincts, our focus should turn towards addressing the patriarchal inequality inscribed in daily life. The seeds of sexual violence and assaults are often sown in our homes and societies, in grossly unequal power relationship that often gets its vicious velocity from existing caste and religious inequalities. More than the stringent legal framework, attitudinal change towards women and treating them with respect and empathy would go a long way in reducing crimes against women in our society.

M Jeyaram

Sholavandan, TN

 

Citizenship Amendment Bill

The Modi government has given clearance to the Citizenship Amendment Bill and is all set to pass it in the ongoing Winter Session of the Parliament itself. The contentious Bill exemplifies reflects the changed political complexion of the country. It definitely goes to dent India’s image as a liberal, secular democracy with the rich tradition of accepting and accommodating all manner of people. Calling immigrants of a particular religious hue as ‘termites’ is not worthy of our great nation. It is disquieting in the extreme to think where the country is heading.

Division of man on the basis of religion underlies the Bill. If conferment of Indian citizenship on “non-Muslim minorities” from Muslim majority Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan is not communal and antithetical to secularism, what is it?

It should be remembered that the history of mankind is the history of migrations and we are all immigrants with varying periods of arrival.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Send your letters by email to bleditor@thehindu.co.in or by post to ‘Letters to the Editor’, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859-860, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002.

comment COMMENT NOW