Letters to the editor: 'Apolitical’ candidates from city for President?

‘Apolitical’ candidates from city for Prez? 
This has reference to ‘Yes, another President from Mumbai’ (April 26). DNA owes an apology to readers for wasting a quarter page on Thursday. It seems there was an acute dearth of idea for Siva Sankar while picking ‘apolitical’ candidates from Mumbai to amend “previous forgettable records”. It is natural if one doubts the reason for non inclusion of Mukesh Ambani, Nusli Wadia or Ajith Wadekar in Siva Sankar’s list. If a woman president is proposed again to “make amends”, will Siva Sankar campaign for Parmeswar Godrej, considering just her socialising skills? Sachin Tendulkar’s and Shah Rukh Khan’s names might have been deleted from Siva Sankar’s list as they may not be willing to retire from their flourishing profession.
—Haridasan Mathilakath, Nerul

II
It is sad that we cannot even think of intellectual, clever, young and dynamic young candidates to be our country’s president. Do we really think that we need singers, celebrities, poets and sportsmen to change the country? Is it a competition among our states? Where is our national integrity? I do agree that as presidents Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj and Adi Godrej may be able to handle the present situation to serve the country; but in a free India, why do we need to differentiate within our cities/states? Is it a rat race to find the perfect candidate? Remember, we need to prosper economically, socially, educationally and internationally.
—Jayant Samarth

Pakistan PM
This has reference to ‘Pak PM may be jailed’ (April 26). The Pakistan Supreme Court is reported to have held Gilani, the country’s prime minister, guilty of contempt for refusing to reopen an old corruption case against president Asif Ali Zardari. The court convicted him till the rising of the court, which means that the PM was not arrested or jailed; in a symbolic sentence that lasted about 30 seconds, he had to remain in court as the seven judges of the bench delivered judgment, rose and left the court. The sentence is somewhat surprising. A sentence to last for 30 seconds, somewhat not known in the history of any judiciary the world over. A punishment for 30 seconds makes a mockery of the situation. A PM should not be a silent spectator to the graft cases. His silence in this matter remains a mystery. So too his punishment.
—Gururajan Ramachandran

Lindstorm’s revelations
Sten Lindstorm’s “revelations” on Bofors have put the Congress party in a spot of bother. The former Swedish police chief’s statements are like a double-edged sword for Congress president Sonia Gandhi. On the one hand, Rajiv Gandhi has been given a “clean chit” on the other hand, Lindstorm’s comments on Ottavio Quattrocchi has the potential to create a storm. His averments have indeed thrown all political parties into their  “raging best” and the parliament, as expected, has become a haven for some loud voiced leaders. It is no hidden secret that successive Congress governments were soft towards Quattrocchi and propelled the CBI to go slow on him. Eventually, all cases against the arms dealer fizzled out much to the amusement of many. So, what Sonia Gandhi will do now is being anticipated with huge interest by the people of India. She has to take sufficient care to protect the image of her late husband and at the same time make sure that her party’s interests are safeguarded. The doubtful future for the Congress party, and the UPA, in the 2014 elections must be on the top of her mind already. Her opting out of the prime minister’s post, in 2004, was viewed as a masterstroke by many experts. People started to view her as a leader who had grown beyond expectations though some cynics held the then president APJ Abdul Kalam responsible for her stance. However, does she have enough tricks in her bag to pull off another ace is the biggest question the answer of which will certainly decide the fate of the UPA government now or in 2014.
—Ganapathi Bhat

Whistling Woods
This is with reference to the city edit ‘Missing the woods’ (April 26). With the Supreme Court verdict, that upheld the Bombay high court verdict directing the state government to take back the 20-acre land given to Subhash Ghai by the former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, the noted filmmaker who built his ambitious institute Whistling Woods in the Film City might be feeling the heat for being in the company of a corrupt politician. Let Ghai’s bitter experience be a good lesson for entrepreneurs and industrialists to be very careful while dealing with unscrupulous politicians.
—KP Rajan

Dog waste
This has reference to ‘Corporator mulls bins for dog waste’ (April 26). The idea to install bins for pet poop is good and is prevalent in the West where people have a strong civic sense and a strict administration. In Mumbai, we have neither civic sense nor a strict and vigilant administration. People walk their dogs on the streets to poop as housing societies require them to collect and dispose it, which very few are inclined to do. Moreover, pet poop constitutes a fraction of the total poop on the streets deposited by stray dogs. The bins may work in elite pockets having clean and well-maintained roads and pavements, which is not the case in most parts of the city.
—Robert Castellino, Mumbai