Political vendetta against dissidents

Political vendetta against dissidents
A majority of our politicians sermonise on the sanctity and sovereignty of the constitution and the legislature. They want us to respect their supremacy, believe that they are the saviours of our democracy, and that a few social activists and NGOs are a threat to it. Still, they turn vindictive at dissenting voices. Vengeful action follows, if someone dares exercise his democratic right to question the politicians’ misdeeds, misdemeanours and excesses. This was evident from the malicious actions initiated against Baba Ramdev, and Anna Hazare and his team. It is a pity that the politicians do not realise that by such oppressive actions, they are digging the graves for their political career, and are facilitating an uprising of the people. Our economy is being plundered, and our national wealth is being gobbled up by a few who enjoy impunity from any action. As the late Nani Palkhiwala said: “Our democracy is being defaced and defiled. We, the people, alone can save it”.
—VV Vijayan, Mumbai

Donkey jibe: Govt  should step in
The Union government should take up the issue of former England cricket team captain Nasser Hussain publicly calling some Indian cricketers “donkeys” in his televised commentary. The matter should not be left to be taken up only by the BCCI, instead it deserves all seriousness on part of the Indian government to be taken diplomatically with the British government. Also, it is time that the prime minister directly intervenes to publicly support the Bill on regulating sports bodies in India, including the BCCI, as floated by sports minister Ajay Maken bypassing the opposition by a handful of ministers.
—Subhash Chandra Agrawal, via email

Good, Raja’s assets remain mystery  
Finally as directed by prime minister Manmohan Singh his cabinet colleagues have declared their assets and liabilities and the same are now on the prime minister's website. Of the 76 ministers, the five who have failed to comply with the PM’s directives are Vilasrao Deshmukh, Krishna Tirath, Jayanthi Natarajan, Jitendra Singh and S. Jagathrakshakan, who is the information minister himself. Interestingly a perusal of the declarations shows that none of them, including the prime minister, have signed their statement of assets and liabilities. While the prime minister owns a Maruti 800 which was purchased in 1996 for Rs2,40,787 with a current value of Rs24,745, his minister of state for minority affairs Vincent Palha has a fleet of  nine high-end vehicles, including an Innova, Honda CRV, Toyota and a Mercedes. Besides his fleet of cars, the home minister P Chidambaram’s assets include a bicycle valued at Rs1,239. Former environment minister and now in-charge of rural development Jairam Ramesh owns a 2004 Maruti Zen, while sports minister Ajit Maken a 2003 Maruti Vitara.  Topping the list of business ventures is urban development minister Kamal Nath and his family members have business interests in 25 private limited companies. Going through the mindboggling figures of ministers’ assets it is clear that politics is not for the aam aadmi. Our only

consolation is that we were  saved the nightmare of viewing the assests of A Raja and Suresh Kalmadi, who are now entrusted to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
—Aires Rodrigues, Goa

II
The declaration of assets by the powers-that-be has become such a joke that no one has an iota of belief in the evidently false declarations (“Mostly crorepatis in Singh Parivar,” September 4).  Most of the ministers have declared assets that would put even a daily wage earner to shame. AK Anthony’s endowment is a case in point, while SM Krishna’s assets would indubitably make millions of Bengaluru techies richer than him. We, people, are no fools and ministers cannot bamboozle us by declaring such puerile assertions concerning their wealth.
—K. Chidanand Kumar,
via email

Need to respect
your teachers
There was a time when Eklavya cut his thumb and presented it to his guru without any questions asked. Today, we have students spewing venom against a teacher and take out a morcha just because he slapped a student for talking on her mobile phone, which was against the college rules. What could be the reasons for a teacher-student relationship acquiring a totally new dimension? In the past, teachers not only imparted formal education but also helped mould the character of students. On their part, students acquired knowledge that helped in building their character as well as excel in academics. Today, education has become just one of those industries that have only commercial interests. Educational institutes have become like business houses. Teachers exhort students for personal tuitions in
exchange for good marks in exams. If a student refuses, he or she is failed. Students succumb to this pressure to accomplish their desire to take admissions in good colleges. This greed of students and teachers has resulted in paper leaks, fudging of entrance tests, paying bribes to teachers among other vices. In the past, students respected their teachers and sought their blessings. Today, students ridicule their teachers and sometimes even resort to violence if the teachers don’t allow them to copy or reprimand them for any mistake. Today, we need teachers who would guide their students on path towards a respectable career. And we need students to learn from the wisdom and experience of teachers to acquire knowledge to make their life enriching.
—Amjad K Maruf, Mumbai

Manjul’s irregular
As one of the regulars with Manju’s “Irregular”, I found the cartoon “This was last week’s fashion, wasn’t it?” (September 3) referring to a gentleman wearing an Anna cap and a tricolour shirt, amusing. However it would have been more appropriate if the second person had been shown with Ganpati Bappa on his shirt instead of “10 Messi”.  The Messi fever was confined only to Kolkata whereas Ganesh festivals is celebrated throughout the country this week.
—Dr V Subramanyan, Mumbai