Meddling minister• IT is deplorable to see the manner in which successive education ministries are meddling in the functioning of institutes like IIMs and IITs (‘IIMs move to avert showdown with Govt’, IE, April 19). It was under the erstwhile NDA regime that Murli Manohar Joshi proposed to drastically slash the fees charged by these institutions for the benefit of the “underprivileged”. Thankfully, that decision has been reversed by the incumbent education minister but he has now gone a step further in asking them to defer the admission process until the Supreme Court vacated its stay order on 27 per cent reservations for OBCs in institutions of higher education. How can these elite establishments be said to be autonomous?— V. Rajesh, MumbaiFake custodians• THE attack on the office of Star News by the activists of the Hindu Rashtriya Sena in Mumbai must be condemned by everyone because there is no place for such fanaticism and intolerance in a democracy. The Constitution has given us the right to expression. The print and electronic media’s role is very crucial in a healthy democracy. But unfortunately a few fanatic organisations are systematically trying to smother the voice of the media, and they are being supported by political parties for their own vested interests. Today a handful of fanatics dominate millions in the name of religion In Gujarat one such organisation did not allow the screening of Parzania. Growing intolerance and violence against brave and honest persons are matters of serious concern. These so-called custodians of religion and culture need to be exposed.— Hitesh Parmar, RajkotKids, not stadia• THIS refers to ‘The Incheon pinch’ by Bibek Debroy (IE, April 19). Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar is right in saying that the money saved in not conducting Asiad 2014 can be redeployed to facilitate 72 crore young Indians train in organised games. For the last Asiad in Delhi, the Capital’s playgrounds were converted into magnificent stadia not accessible to the children of common people. They are all now mostly used for multi-crore rupee song-and-dance programmes. A country where a large number of children go to bed on an empty stomach cannot afford to have mega-shows like the Asiad and Olympics. Let us prepare our young to win medals and represent India in international meets. Only then should we host such sports events.— N. Kunju, Delhi
