Letters To The Editor

Jail house count• IN the editorial, ‘Barred from truth’ (IE, November 27), you have criticised the Sachar Committee for &#147...

Jail house count

• IN the editorial, ‘Barred from truth’ (IE, November 27), you have criticised the Sachar Committee for “censoring” the finding of the high percentage of Muslims in jails, from its final report submitted to the prime minister. Your argument is that this “stark” aspect of the Muslim social condition should have been “quantified”. At the same time, you have pleaded against the Sachar panel’s attempt to “count Muslims in the armed forces” as it would have “harmed the one institution that has been truly non-denominational”. It is bewildering that you have not similarly considered the serious implications of the ‘Muslims-in-jail count’. Does it not imply an unjust, oppressive Indian state and its agencies deliberately targeting the minority community? For example, if a large number of Muslims are in detention on charges of terrorist acts, who is responsible?

— M. Ratan, New Delhi

Learning curve

• This relates to an article by Mini Kapoor, ‘China on the J-curve’ (IE, November 25), which gives an interesting account of Ian Bremmer’s thesis on the hazards of a possible transition from a closed to an open society, especially its effect on the relative stability of its economy. There are several obvious lessons for our mandarins in the South Block (if only they would shed their inhibitions) to formulate some ‘bold policies’ towards our Great Neighbour. For, God forbid, if our open society status were ‘reversed’ vis-a-vis China’s, the latter would not have waited for Bremmer’s thesis to start its offensive.

— A.N. Mitra, Delhi

Glam game

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• IN your editorial, ‘It’s just a game’ (IE, November 25), you suggest caution and calm to MPs and the public after the miserable showing of the Indian cricket team in their ODIs with South Africa. It is the media — The Indian Express included — which has been whipping up public passion on the Sachin and Dhoni magic. Such media coverage gives rise to a mad frenzy about the game. Ironically, there is barely a whimper in the corridors of Parliament when the Indian football team is trounced by half a dozen goals at the Asian qualifiers. The minister for parliamentary affairs, who happens to be the president of the AIFF, does not have to intervene since not many are bothered about Indian football. The same goes for hockey!

— Gautam Mookerjee, Kolkata

Not by law alone

• DOMESTIC violence in India is almost always a hushed-up phenomenon. Women are rarely open about the abuse they endure within their homes, and much less seek legal recourse. Friends and relatives constantly urge the woman to ‘compromise’, and often the victim convinces herself that there is no abuse simply because there is no overt beating. Other forms of violence like verbal assault, forced sexual intercourse, emotional trauma are swept under the carpet. Until recently, these were not even included in the legal definition of the term ‘violence’. The new Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which came into effect from October 26 this year, seeks to change that. But are laws enough to guarantee a safe domestic environment for women or do we need something more? Can laws, albeit well-meaning, truly empower women? How can we ensure that there is no laxity in their implementation? These questions need answers.

— Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan, Pune