• Apropos of ‘Hegemony, Uninterrupted’ by Kancha Ilaiah (IE, January 21), the caste system is not unique to India. The Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Scythians and even Celts, classified society in such terms. But India is the only country that exhibited a caste system until modern times. However, in today’s India, any person of any religion, sex or caste can succeed in any profession. There are poor Indians belonging to all sects. Blaming one particular sect displays a narrow mindset. — Prasoon Tiwari On e-mail • I cannot claim to be a professor of political science like Kancha Ilaiah, but I can certainly claim to have a rational mind. The author seems to have a theory about brahmin hegemony and he has done a wonderful job of picking up anything that would appear to be (even remotely) related to it. I agree that the lower castes have been at the receiving end for far too long and it is important that they be uplifted but I cannot subscribe to his theories. — Gaurav Gupta On e-mail • This article coincides with a prospective election. Perhaps the writer has political ambitions! — N. Radhakrishnan On e-mail • An interesting but “flawed” piece arising from a mindset that sees the world essentially in Muslim versus Non Muslim terms. Perhaps it would make more sense if the so-called brahminical forces are assumed to include not only upper class Hindus but even westernised Muslims and OBCs, Dalits, et al. — Harish Mirdha On e-mail • I don't understand what problem the writer has with a particular caste. Those brahmins who rose to important positions did so on the basis of their superior education and through merit. Those brahmins who were unable to withstand this fierce competition were left out. They never complained and adjusted to those jobs that came their way which matched their abilities. — Krishna Prasad On e-mail • It's high time those with old mindsets like this writer understand the new world. In this era of globalisation, it’s the survival of the fittest. The meritorious gain. This ideology has even hit the US economy with jobs moving to India. Today’s world is not bothered about whether one is a Brahmin or SC. The only question asked is: can you deliver? So instead of constructing obscure images of hegemony, I would advice the writer to come to terms with changing realities. — Gopikrishna Deshpande On e-mail Sad verdict • The Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) is deeply disappointed at the January 6 Supreme Court judgment upholding secrecy pertaining to civilian nuclear installations and dismissing appeals by the PUCL and Bombay Sarvodaya Mandal to make public an AERB report. The judgment is anachronistic. Ironically, one of the co-petitioners was a former AERB chairman, A. Gopalakrishnan, who had contended that “serious accidents” could occur at Indian nuclear power plants. The verdict militates against the valuable principle of transparency in matters of public safety and environmental health. India’s own safety record in civilian nuclear installations is seriously flawed. The judgment fails to distinguish between civilian and military nuclear installations but upholds omnibus censorship. Regrettably, it subjects the fundamental right to information to arbitrary restrictions in the name of denial of sensitive information to ‘enemies’. The presumed enemies are, above all, Indian citizens. — J. Sri Raman and others CNDP, New Delhi
