August house no more?

August house no more?
On May 13, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha held special sittings to mark 60 years of the first sitting of the Parliament on May 13, 1952. But even after sixty years after the inaugural meeting, there is nothing much to show for our highly hyped parliamentary democracy. If the MPs of yore had dreams and visions of changing the country for the better, those ideals are sadly missing now. With politics in the country transcending to a higher level where it is seen as the safest investment yielding guaranteed returns, national feelings and acts of selfless service have no place in the current run of affairs. For a country sadly lacking in having its duly elected representatives hell-bent on foregoing every semblance of maintaining the decorum of the august house, such commemorations hardly save any purpose.
—Pachu Menon, Goa

Glorified pipedream?
The grandiose Dharavi Redevelopment Project (DRP) when sanctioned in 2004, ignited multiple dreams from the abyss of poverty, chaos and destitution. Eight years hence, the DRP remains an ambitious infrastructural development plan on paper; a false beacon of hope in the land of rancor and shattered dreams. Given its poor track record, sluggish pace of work, questionable quality and “red tapist mentality”, the Mhada seems ill-equipped to handle an undertaking of this significance and magnitude. A robust Public Private Partnership eschewing equitable distribution of revenues may have served the stakeholders’ interests better. Rather than sit on the fence and play it safe, the situation demands a more progressive approach and unless that happens, the DRP will remain a glorified pipedream.
—Pradyut Hande, via email

MU v/s academicians
Apropos of ‘MU to take action against striking staff’ (May 13), the Mumbai University seems to be emboldened by the government’s tough stand against the striking Air India pilots while trying to deal with the college and university teachers’ strike in more or less the same way. It needs to be pointed out however, that the poor teachers slog it out in classrooms with hundreds of students for some eighteen hours per week for salaries that are not even a third of what some of their former students get in corporate houses. If they want to be paid according to accepted government norms, there is nothing wrong with that. Mumbai University is already in a big mess and can ill-afford to continue its confrontation with academicians who are pillars of the great institution.
—Dr V Subramanyan, via email

Was it justified?
I was extremely disturbed and shocked to read ‘Man dies of heart attack after his stall is removed’ (May 13). The newspaper vendor was earning his livelihood with utmost sincerity and honesty, as he may have no other means of income. There are various newspaper vendors in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai etc. who are conducting their business on footpaths, without causing any inconvenience to people. Will the BMC officials please explain why they took such a harsh step, which ultimately caused his death. The municipal commissioner and commissioner of police should immediately order an enquiry, and give justice to the deceased vendor and his family.
—Ibrahim A Latif Khan, Vashi

Hidden agendas
This is with reference to ‘Bad education Ex: NCERT advisor’s office vandalised’ (May 13). Physical assault on former NCERT adviser Suhas Palshikar deserves to be condemned in no uncertain terms. Democracy doesn’t mean giving a right to acts of vandalism by RPI followers. All likeminded people have been questioning why was there no repercussion or reaction when the cartoon first appeared? Grandson Prakash Ambedkar said even Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the architect of the Constitution and champion of democracy would not have minded this cartoon, so why is RPI leader Ramdas Athavale adding fuel to the fire?
—Deepak Chikramane, via email

II
Apropos of ‘Palshikar not ready to write off cartoon’ ( May 13), former advisor to NCERT Dr Suhas Palshikar deserves praise for asserting, instead of buckling under pressure, that there was nothing objectionable in the inclusion of Ambedkar’s cartoon in the textbook. He has also hinted at a deeper conspiracy in some people raking up the issue now. It is not just a coincidence that a nondescript leader of a discredited splinter party in Tamil Nadu, Thol Thirumavalavan was the one who raised it in Parliament. In order to sound politically correct, because of the compulsions of vote bank politics, every party jumped on to this bandwagon of ‘insult to Ambedkar’. It is a shame that even the ruling party is pandering to Dalit chauvinism. Seeing how his own ideals of ‘free thought’ are being trampled upon by his own followers in his name, Dr Ambedkar must be turning in his grave now.
—Vijay Mohan, Chennai

Dirty politics
With the CBI probe initiated by the Supreme Court all set to sound the death knell of embattled chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, in his quest to stage a comeback, the former leader has resorted to dirty politics to bring down the DV Sadananda Gowda government. There is no doubt that resignations tendered by seven ministers and ten legislators are his ploy. Having failed miserably to get Central leadership on his side and all his efforts to destabilise the ruling dispensation coming to naught, the move appears to be a last ditch attempt to turn the tables on his successor and replace him with a Lingayat leader. The BJP’s top brass should not give in to Yeddyurappa’s threat and pitch in firmly behind Gowda to ensure that the government completes its term.
—NJ Ravi Chander, Bangalore