Quota politics

• The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision on 5 per cent reservations f...

• The Andhra Pradesh government’s decision on 5 per cent reservations for Muslims is brash (‘YSR, it’s regressive’, IE, June 20). When a decision of this magnitude is made at a state level, it behooves that a serious deliberation be made on the pros and cons. But it seems that YSR’s government took the decision solely dictated by vote bank politics. I believe that the existing fashion of identifying the needy is quite inefficient. To add to this, YSR’s move will further complicate the issue of reservations based on caste/religion. As a secular state, it’s high time India thinks about identifying the needy in a more logical (scientific) and efficient manner. A good way to start is by identifying the economic status of an individual.

— Ashu Pulipaka On e-mail

• This idea, launched to promote vote bank politics, should be fought by every Indian citizen to prevent further fragmentation of society. I must congratulate the Express for once again bringing another major concern before their readers and the country.

— Kamalesh Sharda Toronto

• Your analysis of the Muslim quota in AP is very incisive. The government has decided to take the shortest possible route. What is even more worrying is the deafening silence of all those who shouted themselves hoarse over Gujarat. Where are the Azmis, Akhtars, Teestas of the world who proclaim their reformist credentials. Or are Hindu hardliners right, do their heart bleed only for Muslims?

— Hirva Trivedi Mumbai

Electric option

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• Oil prices are soaring and, who knows, by next year it could touch $70 a barrel. Besides the foreign exchange burden this entails, it will impose hardship on consumers and the transport industry in general. One way out is to look at electricity-driven automobiles and railways more seriously. It is very necessary that the country gears up to move in this direction.

— C.R. Bhattacharjee Kolkata

Imrana case

• The decision of the Ansari panchyat and maulvis to issue a firman that Imrana, belonging to Chaitwal in western UP and who was raped by her father-in-law, should live with the latter and regard her husband to be her ‘son’ is laughable. It implies that if you rape a woman, you can bag her as your wife. Muslim intellectuals should react against this foolhardiness.

— M.G. Kapahy Delhi

Sudarshan’s history

• BJP Holding Company Chief K.S. Sudarshan often conveys the impression that he has neither a sense of history nor can he be convincing about anything. How lucky we are that he does not head a History department in any educational institution.

— M.K.D. Prasada Rao Ghaziabad

Iran polls

• The big question about the Iran elections is the participation rate (‘Iran run-off: Vote against extremism, urges Rafsanjani’, IE, June 21). As with legislative elections, most liberals have given up voting because having a moderate president (like Khatami) is pointless while the Guardian Council calls the shots. In elections last year, the participation was less than 15 per cent, which distorted the results and inflated support for hardliners.

— Adam Gordon Melbourne