Express your voice

is easier said than done for the Congress to counter someone with the stature of Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. It is unfortunate that the grand old party failed to groom a second rung of leadership. It only concentrated on cashing in on the Nehru-Gandhi family. In contrast, in the BJP, there are over a dozen second-rung leaders whose names just roll off, besides old guards like Vajpayee and L K Advani. So, one can visualise one of the party’s second-line leaders in the forefront a decade later. Equally important, that person would have a galaxy of people of his age to form a new team. Considering these advantages that the BJP enjoys, why should the Congress be entrusted with the governance of its country. Let it put its own house in order first.

Sridharan

• This is with reference to Tavleen Singh’s column, ‘‘Why its Islam vs rest of the world’’. Contrary to what she says, Islam has never opposed any kind of modernisation. On the other hand, if, by modernisation, she refers to nudity, then that should be unacceptable to all, not just Muslims. Tavleen has only focussed on one side of the coin. She has given a clean chit to the rest of the world. I hope she focuses next on how the world behaves with Muslims. If Muslims don’t press the world to follow their ‘non-changing’’ culture, why should the rest force Muslims to accept its ‘‘ever-changing’’ culture?

Dr Rehan Ansari

• Tavleen Singh has hit the nail on the head by asking why Muslims leave their countries for the US and UK despite their condemnation of the West. There can be little doubt that the Muslim world has ignored globalisation, modernity and technology only because of their religious fanaticism. As individuals, they favour progress and intellectual enlightenment. Yet, as a society and culture, they have remained imprisoned in the watertight compartments of their faith, social norms and religious law. It is painful that they have resorted to violence to curb any opposition to their ideology. This has been the main source of the rise of terrorism. This senseless violence has only brought more backwardness to the Muslim society, leading to their isolation in the world.

Ved Guliani

• In his column, ‘‘What they don’t tell you about India Shining’’, P. Chidambaram has rightly stated that ‘‘…child labour is another glaring, and persistent, violation of human rights’’. While child labour in industries may be banned, what about the children who work in most households — washing clothes, washing utensils, cleaning rooms etc. at an age when they should be in school.

Mahesh Kumar

Write to yourvoice@expressindia.com