Letters to the editor: Bharat 'bandh' nothing but politics

The BJP is damaging its own image by its obstructionist tactics (We’re hurt the most by bandh: Farmers, September 21). Having ruined the monsoon session of Parliament at the taxpayers’ expense and having vowed to disrupt it till Manmohan Singh resigns, they are planning to demand a special session to debate the economic reforms and probably corner the government into a trust vote. This is blatant politics against the interests of the country. They speak out against the loss to the exchequer through scams and frauds, but have no hesitation in declaring an all-India bandh that will cause bigger losses and hit the poor particularly harshly. Thanks to them, the purpose of Parliamentary debate has disappeared in the strident anti-government rhetoric that marks every statement of theirs. As an opposition, they have shown scant responsibility for their role while perpetually blaming the government for poor governance.
—Suren Abreu, Mumbai

II
Shedding crocodile tears for the woes of the common man, the opposition called for a Bharat bandh, costing the nation a loss of Rs12,500 crore. The drama, as it is being played out, makes it very obvious that political parties are only interested in either pulling down the government, or extracting maximum mileage for supporting the government (even to the extent of  bailing them out in disproportionate assets cases!). All parties are power-hungry and care little for farmers and the common man. Has any party ever  called for a bandh for the thousands of farmers who have and continue to commit suicide because of abject poverty? Has any political party ever thought of calling a bandh to protest against middlemen who have sucked the lifeblood of the farmers and the common man for decades?
—Robert Castellino, via email

III
Your photographer, Puneet Chandok, deserves credit for his photo on page 4 (September 21 ). The picture speaks volumes about the double standards of the BJP. On the one hand they claim that they are fighting for the aam aadmi, but in this picture, their workers are trying to thrash two hapless street vendors with a weapon of the Mahabharat era! Surely their action is to be condemned. The BJP leaders owe an apology for this gross misbehaviour.
—Narayan Badmanji, Navi Mumbai

UPA should go
The UPA deserves to go. But unfortunately, it will remain in power due to the support of either, or both, Mulayam Singh and Mayawati. An already tainted government, which survives on the outside support of some other tainted politicians, have no right to take important decisions like FDI. It can hardly function as a stop-gap government without wielding discretionary powers. It is not unfair to expect this government to resign and face the elections afresh, instead of continuing and further damaging the nation with some more scams, inefficiency, inaction on serious issues like price rise, punishing terrorists and other such misdeeds. There is no moral right for the highly-tainted Manmohan Singh government to remain in power, after the TMC’s withdrawal of support, and thereby becoming a minority government.
—VS Ganeshan, Bangalore

Punish doctors
The report “Powerless hospital leaves patient to die in the dark” (September 21) made a sad reading. Being in a noble profession, doctors and nursers are expected to serve the people without any expectations. They are revered as God, next to one’s mother. But of late, the medical profession has gone to the dogs. The medical officer in this case is alleged to have thrown her hands up in resignation and asked the patient to wait till the electricity was restored. Was the hospital not provided with a generator set or an inverter for power supply? This inhuman behaviour of the doctors is to be condemned and invites severe punishment.
—Sravana Ramachandran, Chennai

Back to Nehruvian era
This has reference to the recent political developments in Delhi following the announcements of new economic reform policies. No doubt all our political parties have re-affirmed their commitment to the good of the common man. However, the hapless ‘common man’ is confused. The BJP, after having boycotted the recent monsoon session of Parliament, now wants a special session to discuss the FDI policies of the government. Can we trust the BJP that it will seriously discuss anything in Parliament after its recent track record. Or is the BJP taking a U-turn after it has smelt power, however feebly. The second moot point is will all state governments, since they have a choice to implement these policies, discuss the issue in their legislatures, as they expect UPA to do, before they hurriedly accept or reject it? The ruling party, on its part, should come out with facts and figures to justify the manner in which  the new policies will benefit the common man. In any case, I shudder to think of going back to the Nehruvian era of the seventies, when we had to wait for years after booking to get a two-wheeler or a residential telephone.
—Guruvayurappan K, Navi Mumbai