Letters to the editor

Ps and Queues• I REALLY enjoyed Shekhar Gupta’s article, ‘Vain, Insensitive, Pompous’ (IE, May 7). It was as if he were...

Ps and Queues

• I REALLY enjoyed Shekhar Gupta’s article, ‘Vain, Insensitive, Pompous’ (IE, May 7). It was as if he were writing on behalf of the billion people of this country. I wish to endorse his opinion by quoting one particular statement by a senior management figure. He said the biggest power in India is the ability to “bypass queues”. But more often than that, it’s the clout that these people use to harass the “aam aadmi” that makes their behaviour insufferable. As a kid, I used to wonder why the sons of senior police

officials had so much clout in school. So much so that even the school management was hesitant to take strict action when one of them nearly killed someone. The high court’s decision in the Jessica Lall murder case restored some of our faith in the judicial system. But again the handling of the Nithari killings raises questions. Are politicians here to serve us or are we to be left to their whims?

—Kushmakar Sharma, Chennai

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• SHEKHAR GUPTA is right when he writes that every time a VIP breezes past those fretting in queues, he gets curses and so does the entire political class. Sixty years after independence, politicians and bureaucrats retain the trappings of a colonial bureaucracy, enjoy discretionary powers without accountability, and promote a VIP culture to satisfy their bloated egos. Indian democracy can be described as “by the people, of the babus and for the politicians”. Media exposure will go a long way in uncovering the monstrous face of the VIP.

—Vitull K. Gupta, Bhatinda

Missing mandate

• IN his piece, Inder Malhotra nailed the sanctimoniousness of our MPs (IE, May 7). I would like to add another dimension to the issue. Major decisions are taken by the Manmohan Singh government although it does not have the mandate of even 25 per cent of the voting public. It is clear that, given the quality of our MPs and their single-minded drive to cling to their chairs, a determined PM and his cabinet can get away with anything in this country.

—R.Venkatanarayanan, Noida

Killers in khaki

• THE mind-boggling crime committed by a few high-ranking Gujarat police officials in taking the life of a helpless woman makes one wonder about the real motive of these officials (‘Gujarat’s Dirty Harry’, IE, May 2). They had nothing personal against the victim, so what were their compulsions? It must have been the willingness to please the ‘emperor’, whom they served so that they can gain in stature and get to do what they please, including making money hand over fist. Power proved too heady for officials like D.G. Vanjhara. It is not known how many have fallen victim to him. His fate should be an object lesson to all officials. Ultimately the rule of law shall prevail.

—A. Prasad, Ahmedabad