Opinion Letters to the Editor: Avoidable Slip
With regard to the draft National Encryption Policy, the government’s decision to withdraw the poorly conceived draft in its entirety was the only face-saving course left.
Draft National Encryption Policy: Social media platforms like WhatsApp have now been exempted. -
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With regard to the draft National Encryption Policy, the government’s decision to withdraw the poorly conceived draft in its entirety was the only face-saving course left. It is the kind of embarrassment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could have done without, especially just days before his visit to Silicon Valley in the US. Governments may have to find other ways of “seeing” through societies, beyond the magic bullet of cracking encryption.
– Jayatheertha S.A., Hyderabad
Fit for review
Apropos the editorial ‘Quota fracas’ (September 23), interpret and question RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comments in whichever way, is it not a fact that the reservation policy in India has been politicised? Quotas have become tools in the hands of the political parties to create caste and community vote banks. Under the present circumstances, no political party can afford to take a rational stand on the reservation policy. Then why expect the BJP to be an exception? The BJP’s distancing itself from Bhagwat’s comment was quite understandable. The main beneficiaries of caste-based reservations have been those in the upper strata of the reserved categories rather than those who are socially and economically weakest. Over six decades of quotas for SC/ STs have failed to bring these categories on par with the others. The OBC quota regime since 1990, too, has only led to newer castes and community groups demanding OBC status. This puts a big question mark on the merits of the caste-based reservation policy. There is certainly a case for review. Reservations cannot continue forever nor can they be an ever expanding phenomenon.
– M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
Regulation needed
The government may have succumbed to public pressure and dropped the controversial draft of the National Encryption Policy, but one does need a regulation to monitor social networking applications like WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. These social networking sites are being used to promote pornography and other illegal activities. The draft encryption policy required businesses, telcos and internet companies to store all encrypted data for 90 days in plain text. It may have been next to impossible to follow and monitor all messages but a realistic policy needs to be put in place so that the medium is respected by one and all.
– S.N. Kabra, Mumbai
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