Letters to the editor

Got, now give• CONTROVERSY and her sex symbol status has helped Shilpa Shetty win the Celebrity Big Brother reality show, which has bec...

Got, now give

• CONTROVERSY and her sex symbol status has helped Shilpa Shetty win the Celebrity Big Brother reality show, which has become the talking point after the racist controversy, both in India and Britain. But do such shows really have any meaning for the people in our country where half the population live below the poverty line? While Shilpa Shetty would gain Rs 10 crore overall, we the common people wasted our time and money on SMSing our support for Shilpa Shetty on the racists remarks against her, at which she coolly did a U-turn and denied that there was any racism involved. This was just to increase her own popularity. I hope she now passes on some of the money she has won to charity — to help the destitute and downtrodden women in our country.

Will you, Shilpa?

— S.N. Kabra; Mumbai

Metro upgrade

• IN recognition of their outstanding contributions in various fields, 121 persons were given the Padma awards. Some, were even given higher awards. The architect of Delhi Metro, E. Sreedharan, a Padma Shree awardee, should have been given a higher award this time. The Delhi Metro is a marvel of Delhi. It is an embodiment of efficiency, punctuality, reliability and excellence. If there is something in the national capital of global standards, it is the Delhi Metro. And if there is one person to whom credit is due for the marvel, it is DMRC’s CEO.

— E.M. Adithyan; Edapal, Kerala

Bone up on law

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• I AGREE with the editorial (‘Misrule of Law’, January 27) that the incident in court where lawyers were involved in lynching the Nithari accused should not be seen in isolation. Earlier, the Noida Bar Association also resolved not to defend them; J&K Bar Association took a similar stand in the sex scandal cases. A class tenner would be able to make out that in our adversarial legal system both sides (ie, the prosecution and the defence) deserve a fair hearing. Such a fundamental concept of law has been lost on today’s lawyers. Perhaps they need to go back to the law colleges. The universities, too, need to introspect on the state of legal education they provide.

— Pranav Sachdeva, New Delhi

Touching pride

• APROPOS of L.K. Advani’s advice to be proud of Hinduism, may I ask if anyone can be proud of their religion if it discriminates and has perpetuated the caste system? Christians and Muslims may have different sects, but nothing like the untouchability that Hinduism has. The caste system did not allow us to win wars because more that 50 per cent (of the population, the ‘untouchable’) were not allowed to participate. We were also deprived of the contribution of 27 per cent of our population. Even today we continue to treat lower castes in an inhumane fashion.

— R. Singh, Delhi

Haryana ahead

• This refers to the advertisement on page 14 in The Indian Express of January 26. When the whole country is celebrating the 58th Republic Day, how come Haryana State Youth Congress leader celebrating the 60th Republic Day? Haryana is the state where the only surviving member of the Constituent Assembly, Ranbir Singh Hooda, still lives.

— R. Krishnan, New Delhi