Opinion The rot within
Anna Hazares statement that Indian voters are vulnerable to small favours reflects a stark reality.
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The rot within
* Anna Hazares statement that Indian voters are vulnerable to small favours reflects a stark reality (Rs 100,a sari,a bottle,IE,April 12). While one should ignore the hyperbole,the message is clear we must reform our electoral system to make the influence of freebies ineffective.
Y.G. Chouksey,Pune
Reformist agenda
* Apropos Hysteria will not end corruption (IE,April 10),people are outraged by scandals,suggestions of scams and the immunity they believe the political class is giving to wrongdoers who support and serve its vested interests. But the manner in which this resentment has been expressed is both empty and dangerous. The solution lies not in condemning or bypassing politics,but in compelling politicians to work honestly. Unless we can ensure elections in political parties,reform of election finance and prosecution of corrupt politicians and bureaucrats,we cannot hope to survive as a true democracy. The need of the hour is not to throw the baby out with the bath water,but to improve the system by voting in intelligent and sincere legislators and forcing them to be transparent and accountable.
Ved Guliani,Hisar
Grist to the mill
* Your editorials on the Anna Hazare episode have rightly cautioned the government against giving in to activists posing as peoples representatives. Yet,the groundswell of support that Hazares fast got can act as a catalyst to speed up action on the Lokpal bill and create a platform to generate public debate on the issue. This will,in fact,prove to be helpful to the government whose move to table the bill could have been otherwise scuttled by the opposition. Now,any party that is seen as hindering the bills passage will have to think twice about its prospects at the hustings.
Sitaram Limaye,Vadodara
Same old
* Rahul Gandhi betrayed his political immaturity by berating veteran Marxist and Kerala CM V.S. Achuthanandan for contesting elections in his late 80s,even when he was campaigning vigorously for the equally old M. Karunanidhi in Tamil Nadu.
J.V.R. Gopal,Navi Mumbai
Chain reaction
* The worst fears about Fukushima have come true,with the official declaration that the Japan nuclear disaster is as bad as Chernobyl (Japan n-threat now equals Chernobyl,IE,April 13). The level of nuclear severity in Fukushima has been raised from 5 to 7,the same as Chernobyls. Could the level of radiation become a threat beyond Japan? It is time experts came together to discuss whether the safety mechanisms of our reactors require an overhaul.
S.N. Kabra,Mumbai
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