This refers to your editorial ‘Personal Undertakings’ (IE, November 11). Our ministers don’t learn, they only set examples to be emulated by those who follow them. Their working motto is “ham sab chor hain” (all of us are thieves). Further, “jo pakra jaaye so chor, baqi sab sahukar” (whosoever is caught is a thief, the rest are honest and dutiful). They know each other well, and a good policy would be to set a thief to catch a thief. This would bring many others of the species to keep the CVC busy till his retirement. The priorities of the ministerial fraternity are — self, relatives, sycophants, puppets, and manipulators. It is said, “andha bante rewari, murh murh apnon ko hi de” (a blind person while distributing sweetmeats, obliges only his kith and kin). Today the honest among the species are almost extinct, and are in need of a sanctuary for protection. — F.S.K. Barar, On e-mail Belated outrage Apropos of ‘All to PM: out with the names, order probe’ (IE, November 10), whosoever is corrupt deserves to be caught and severely punished, regardless of whether that poses any danger to the survival of the government or not. It is better to quit honorably than to cling to power in this manner. As for A.B. Bardhan’s statement that it all began with the Congress. Why didn’t his party rake up the issue then? Was the CPI also enjoying the loot? — Subbaraman, On e-mail Termite ridden Is anyone really surprised at reading this: ‘His salary Rs 9,000, his assets Rs 100 cr’ (IE, November 11)? How about looking into the assets of some senior officials and politicians as well. India is being eaten from the inside like wood infested by termites. By the time people recognise the problem, serious damage will already be done. — Atam Uppal, On e-mail Make it public Could the home department of Maharashtra and its intelligence department be unaware of the activities in the police at Pune and Mumbai as is being made out? The SIT must make its report public so that people can know the extent of corruption in the government at all levels. — M. Madan, On e-mail Jaya’s challenge This refers to Jayalalithaa’s campaign against The Hindu. This is one of the darkest moments in India’s democratic experience. We honestly need to debate whether we are mature and responsible enough to be a nation that can uphold democratic values and institutions. Do we deserve to be a democracy? — Vinod K. Varma, On e-mail Help, but beware Mani Shankar Aiyar has summed it up beautifully in ‘On the waterfront’ (IE, November 11). I think the only way out is for India to get involved both militarily and economically in Sri Lanka. The LTTE is behaving as if it represents the sole voice of the hapless Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Indian support will certainly give the limping government of Sri Lanka the much needed balance to take on the LTTE in case of a fight. The chances of that happening seem brighter by the day. At no cost should the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka be affected. However, we must be wary of both Sri Lankan politicians and LTTE goons. — Niranjan Kamath, On e-mail
