'Saif Ali Khan should get exemplary punishment'

Saif Ali Khan should get exemplary punishment
It has reference to ‘Won’t forgive Saif for the blows: Victims’ (February 23). What an ugly show of valour by a Padma Shri awardee, who in the company of his girlfriend Kareena Kapoor and a few others, assaulted a man and his aged father-in-law at Taj Hotel. The only fault of the poor victims was that they had requested the restaurant manager to ask Saif and his friends, which included Kareena, Amrita Arora and Malaika Arora Khan, to keep their voices down. And how can a Nawab in the actor tolerate this? This shameful incident shows the actor’s value system. He has set a very bad example in the society as a celebrity and a role model. It is a matter of shame that nobody came forward to help the victims. Even the hotel management stood as mute spectators. This Padma Shri had spats in public earlier too which involved some photojournalists in Patiala in September 2008. Now, the law should prove that nobody is above it and let the punishment for this dastardly act be a deterrent for other stars who consider it a matter of pride to take law in their hands.
—Dilbag Rai, Chandigarh

II
Saif Ali Khan exceeded all the limits by what he did at Hotel Taj. What kind of a value system does Saif have to assault a senior citizen? Bollywood seems to have lost all its human touch that is  shown in the films. Such acts may have their roots in the fact that these actors work overtime and are under the influence of liquor most of the time. They often enter into conflicts with strangers and come out unscathed by going for out of court settlement. Surprisingly, the bail given to Saif was over within a record time of 90 minutes. Had it been someone else and not Saif, he would have been behind bars for a few days at least.
—CK Subramaniam

III
Living in an upmarket cooperative society which houses film stars, we often have to endure noisy late night parties. Holding up elevators with drinks in hand, abusing drivers and domestic help and having loud brawls in public view are not uncommon to us. The stars responsible for indulging in violence, driving drunk, running over pedestrians or poaching wildlife must be taken to task. Their ways may mend and arrogance cured if their film career is temporarily suspended or put on hold each time they behave irresponsibly in society. Unfortunately, our star-struck masses do little by way of admonishing their ill-behaved idols. Crying about being ‘specially targeted’ does not help, as celebrities who remain in public eye must put in extra efforts to retain their image of being socially accountable and amicable.
—Brinda Upadhyaya

E-meters in autos
This has reference to your city edit ‘Embrace technology’ (February 23). There is no doubt that electronic meters will be hard to be tampered with. Opposition by auto unions is understandable and taking the matter to court is a clever ploy to halt the E-meter implementation. After the transport authority’s crackdown on faulty meters, the fares have considerably dropped and commuters have been well benefited. With E-meters in place, commuters will be confident of using auto rickshaws more frequently. However, some of the concerns of the auto unions are not out of place, like saving the meters from rain and moisture. The transport authorities must look into them and offer solutions. The government should make sure that electronic meters are put on every auto rickshaw as soon as possible.
—Ashok goswami

Making EC ineffectual
Is the government trying to defang the Election Commission (EC)? A repeatedly embarrassed Congress, running short of excuses every time the EC has demanded a reply for the  shenanigans of its senior leaders, appears to have finally run out of patience and decided to crack the whip — not on the violators of the code but on the poll panel. The Congress’s game plan is to wrench the model code of conduct out of EC’s grip. Once the code gets a statutory status, the poll panel will have no say over the alleged violations since the complainants will then have to approach the courts with their grievances; how speedily such grievances will be redressed does not merit elaboration. And Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari’s unsolicited advice to the EC to cooperate in its own devaluation by “revisiting” the status quo of having the model code under its jurisdiction is akin to adding insult to the commission’s injury.
—J Akshobhya, Mysore

Jobs to all
Alok Deshpande’s ‘Unemployment remains million dollar issue’ should be an eye opener for the politicians. The unemployment problem is not only faced by the Marathi youths but by all. We all have to bear the wrath of unemployment. It’s a serious situation and requires utmost attention. The politicians should look at it as a ‘whole’ thing and not be specific. Youths should be provided with good, satisfactory offers.
—Zeal Dhruna

Kripa’s wealth
It is a pity that the Bombay high court had to intervene in the ongoing corruption case against Kripashankar Singh. He should have relinquished his post ages ago to face fair and speedy trial. He has put investment bankers, investors to shame by owning assets disproportionate to his source of income. One wonders how the working and non-working family members managed to earn properties worth crores of rupees in plush localities in such a short span of time. It is high time that the case is placed on fast track to deliver justice.
—Deepak Chikramane