Woods is Tiger again

Internet gag undemocratic
The UPA government’s attempt to ‘gag’ the internet should be condemned by all right thinking people. Telecom minister Kapil Sibal wants to introduce this Goebbelsian measure because some morphed pictures of Sonia Gandhi appeared in the social networking site Facebook recently. Does he know that almost all public personalities all over the world receive such ‘treatment’ at the hands of Facebook users every single day? No world leader or celebrity has so far made the ridiculous suggestion that the internet must be censored. With his suggestion, Sibal is in the august company of the despots in Beijing. What is so special about our ‘leaders’ that they cannot be ridiculed or made fun of? If the sensibilities of the sycophants of the ‘first family’ will be hurt by such features so be it. Such demands by people in power should be resisted by strong public opinion. Otherwise every politician in the country will claim immunity from criticism by users
of the Internet.
—Subramanian Venkataraman, via email

Less pocket money = discipline
This is with reference to ‘Cut wards’ pocket money for attendance sake, parents told’ (December 6). A large amount of pocket money spoils a student and makes him lead an indisciplined life like bunking classes, going for a movie or generally ambling around college with friends. Parents who give large sums of money to their kids must be blamed for their waywardness. It is imperative for parents to rein in their wards by giving them a limited amount of pocket money. This will ensure a better future for their wards.
—Jitendra Kothari, via email

Reservation for all poor
The Union Cabinet’s proposal to give reservations for Muslims within the 27 per cent OBC quota is a regressive step and a Congress ploy to win Muslim votes. Caste based reservations have not yielded results so far. Only the affluent are cornering reservations while the poor continue to suffer. Furthermore, a religion based quota within a quota is likely to invite communal flare-ups. Caste divisions in society will escalate further. If the government is really interested in the upliftment of the poor and eradication of poverty, then all poor people, irrespective of caste, creed, community, sex and colour should be given reservations to bring them at par with the rich.
—NR Ramachandran, Chennai
 II
It is disturbing to see so many reservations for women in election constituencies. With this, we don’t have the freedom to choose whom we want while electing candidates. This is not a democracy.
—Mahendra Tripathi, via email

Woods is Tiger again
Tiger Woods closed with clutch birdie putts, including holing a 6-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for a 3-under 69, to win by one shot over former Masters champion Zach Johnson. After going for over two years and 26 tournaments without a win, and after so much turmoil in his personal life and with his golf game, Tiger Woods stood over a 6-foot birdie putt on Sunday to win the Chevron World Challenge. His win ended a drought that lasted 749 days and might have signaled that Woods is
on his way back.
—S Akhilesh Krishnan, via email

Media influences cricket selectors
The inclusion of Irfan Pathan in the ODI team was a media influenced selection (Irfan included in one-day team, December 6). Recently, a strong propaganda campaign was launched by the media in his favour which has definitely influenced the selectors. Irfan has been given plenty of opportunity to play and perform for team India for several years now. As we have many new players who are performing well now, his inclusion in the ODI team is not justified. In the past too, the media has influenced selectors for and against some players. Selectors should not get influenced by media, regionalism and religion. The selection must be based on merit only in the interest of cricket and the country.
—Pratap Singh, via email

Metro work stalled
This is with reference to ‘MMRDA lethargy holds back Metro work’ (December 6). MMRDA is delaying the project by not doing earth filling under the Jagruti Nagar station on the Asalfa stretch despite hardship faced by road travel commuters. Frequent breakdown of BEST buses, traffic jams are regular features on this route. Imagine if an ambulance gets trapped on the road because of the debris piled alongside AGLR.
—Deepak Chikramane, Mumbai

Bring Rs25 pass back, BEST
BEST undertaking’s decision to discontinue its Rs25 daily bus pass is totally arbitrary and uncalled for. More undemocratic is the 60 per cent increase in the daily bus pass fare to Rs40. The BEST’s contention that this extreme step was taken to counter the misuse of the daily pass system does not make any sense. Since the Rs25 ticket did not contain the identity of the purchaser, it is alleged by BEST that the same ticket was used by various individuals throughout the day thereby causing losses to the undertaking. I am sure that such cases would be minimal. If so, then by increasing the daily pass fare by 60 per cent why are all the commuters who used to avail the facility being reprimanded?
—Sridhar Narayan, via email