Omar, think twice before tweeting

Government should be more cautious
After the Anna Hazare episode, the government should have been cautious and should not have seemed to be vindictive. The income-tax notice issued to Arvind Kejriwal now seems to be little suspicious. The department might argue that the case was on for the last four years, but the fact remains that they should have not taken so long to settle the matter. This clearly shows their
haphazard way of working. Secondly, the issuance of breach of privilege notices to Kiran Bedi and Prashant Bhushan is highly ill-timed.

First, the MPs should ask themselves if they deserve the kind of privilege they enjoy inside the Parliament. The chair’s honour and
prestige depends on the person who sits on it. Respect
is commanded and not demanded.  Instead of harassing the activists, the government should try to alleviate people’s woes. They should devote their time in passing laws and nothing else. The more they harass the activists, the more they will be exposed.
—MH Nayak, Mumbai

II
The members of Parliament have initiated breach of privilege proceedings against actor Om Puri, former IPS officer and Magsaysay awardee Kiran Bedi and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan for their remarks against parliamentarians. Parliamentary privileges were provided to protect the British Parliament from the influence of the monarch and ensure independence of parliament and its members in fulfilling their assigned roles.

India adopted the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy, but here there was no monarch to interfere with the working of the parliament and parliamentary privileges should not have been provided at all. Our constitution gives us the right to freedom of speech. Still there are certain riders and criticising MPs is certainly not one of them. What Puri, Bedi or Bhushan said was far less abusive than the man in the street says about our netas, but our MPs are fuming for having been insulted and abusing a constitutional provision against those who have just shown them the  mirror. They must go to any paan vendor or rickshaw puller and ask them what they think of the netas. By making it an issue of parliamentary privileges they are undermining the parliament.
—MC Joshi, via email

Separate queues for the  elderly, pregnant women
Apropos “Lalbaugcha Raja’s team most wanted” (September 3) on innumerable callers seeking out-of-turn darshan on recommendation of the organisers. I was lucky to get a darshan of the Lalbaugcha Raja on the very first day in little more than two hours. While I appreciate the police bandobast and security arrangements by the mandal, I have a suggestion. The organisers should have separate queues for senior citizens, disabled people, pregnant women and women carrying babies Also, because of the rain, the footpath near the pandal gets very slippery. The  organisers could place jute bags for the barefoot devotees who stand in queues for long hours.
—MN Malkani, Mumbai

Offering homage to a music legend
Apropos “Music loses a note as Khale passes away” (September 3), Padmabhushan Shrinivas Khale was a popular music director who brought to limelight two Bharat Ratnas — Lata Mangeshkar and the late Bhimsen Joshi. He was in the  music world for six decades. His compositions are so popular that many listen to them even today and are still enchanted. His fan and singer-composer Shankar Mahadevan has achieved the art of singing Marathi songs through Khalekaka’s encouragement. Many singers were polished through his efforts. He was a fabulous musician. We offer our final homage to his soul.
—Achyut Railkar, Mumbai

Omar, think twice before tweeting
The analysis of Seema Mustafa “Omar wasn’t elected to tweet” (September 3) delves a blow to the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) chief minister. The unprecedented resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu assembly on the Rajiv Gandhi assassins has kicked up a row and a ricocheting effect across the nation. The J&K chief minister tweeting on Parliament attack accused Afzal Guru is nothing but an unsavoury mixture of human rights and the judiciary. Mixing communal politics on the national issue by the CM is a dangerous portent. The Congress has done a good thing — and politically correct too — to distance itself from the controversy generated by Abdullah.  It is pertinent to mention here that Abdullah conveyed his reservation about Guru’s execution to the UPA government about the possible violence in the state some time back. As the head of the state, he should have been little bit circumspect and weighed pros and cons before jumping his gun to obviate reaction from the Opposition.
—HP Murali, via email

II
The analysis by Seema Mustafa “Omar wasn’t elected to tweet” (September 3) was an interesting read. Omar Abdullah was elevated as J&K chief minister at the behest of his father, Farooq Abdullah, now a Union minister. He is so devoted to his family that he makes it a point to be with them in Delhi every weekend, even when there is turmoil in his state. His main job is to work for betterment of the state, tackle insurgency, law and order among others. He is entitled to tweet, no doubt, but he should think twice before tweeting on controversial issues.

Taking a cue from the tweet, an MLA has brought a resolution on the subject in the assembly and the speaker said there was “nothing wrong in discussing it”.

Well done Mr chief minister, you are in a soup now as the Opposition parties would combine forces to oppose it tooth and nail, if it is admitted. What would be your gain? The decision has already been taken on the accused — Afzal Guru — by the Supreme Court and the mercy petition is before the President.
—Yash P Verma, Pune