Opinion Look within

The uproar in Parliament over a court in Siberia deliberating on banning the Bhagavad Gita is both hypocritical and unnecessary

The Indian Express

December 23, 2011 12:07 AM IST First published on: Dec 23, 2011 at 12:07 AM IST

Look within

The uproar in Parliament over a court in Siberia deliberating on banning the Bhagavad Gita is both hypocritical and unnecessary (Trans-Siberian trivia,IE,December 20). India has a very poor record of tolerance for literature. It banned Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses and James Laines Shivaji,to mention a couple. If India believes it can act against a book that it deems harmful,without paying heed to global opinion,then why does it seek to register a protest with Russia for a decision that should ideally be left to its courts? It is an internal matter of that country.

Suren Abreu

Mumbai

Take care

THIS refers to Then as farce (IE,December 22). India is in dire need of an independent anti-corruption ombudsman. The ball is now in Parliaments court,and the parliamentarians must remember that it is not the government but Parliament which is supreme in lawmaking and which should represent the will of the people. If Parliament fails,the ball will return to the peoples court.

M.C. Joshi

Lucknow

ONE should acknowledge and admire the efforts of Anna Hazare to clean up our society. However,it seems he is underestimating the vicious cycle of corruption. What if the Lokpal and its bureaucracy become a den of corruption? Who will bell the bandicoot in that case?

S.R. Devaprakash

Tumkur

Food insecurity

THE socio-economic and caste census is running behind schedule and,therefore,its not clear how the priority and general categories mentioned in the food security bill will be identified. The PDS,in most states,is afflicted with corruption. The food security programme can work only if state governments are willing to reform the PDS and demonstrate they can handle grain distribution to 50 per cent of the urban population and

75 per cent of the rural population. The Centre claims the food security programme will need a maximum 60 million tonnes of foodgrain to meet requirements. Under these circumstances,the food security scheme appears to be ill-advised.

C. Koshy John

Pune

Prize talk

THE Bharat Ratna has not been given to Mahatma Gandhi,this makes it clear that great persons do not necessarily need an award for the great deeds that they have performed (Bharat Ratna Ghalib,IE,December 20). Awarding Bharat Ratna to Ghalib or Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay would be an obsequious act,which they do not require. They are already far greater than Bharat Ratna. Justice Katju shows his bias when he says that conferring the award to cricketers will make a mockery of it.

S.R. Singh

Ahmedabad