Letters to the editor: India’s warm-up match a let-down

India’s warm-up match a let-down
With the T20 World Cup all set to begin, India had a nice chance of winning the practise match to boost their morale. Unfortunately, we did not capitalise on the opportunity and gave a psychological advantage to our neighbours Pakistan by easily surrendering the match. This win will help the Pakistanis raise their confidence to regain the T20 World Cup. We need to do some quick thinking on the balance of the team. While R Ashwin was the lone strike bowler in the match, the rest, including the dependable Zaheer Khan, were hammered to all corners of the stadium. Hope Mahendra Singh Dhoni does a quick analysis to find out what went wrong and adequate measures are taken to ensure that India consistently performs well in the tournament.
—V Ganapathy, Mumbai

FDI in retail
This refers to the article “The myth of big retail” by Sreenivasan Jain. The government’s approval of FDI in retail markets will be of immense help for the country’s economic growth. Further, the country’s overall retail sector will become a $450 billion industry by 2015. The Indian consumers seem to have realised the importance of retail stores. The benefits that the retail sector bring in are innumerable. First, it restrains brokers and intermediaries from playing havoc with the farmers’ profits. As a result, the latter get better returns for their hard-earned produce. Second, retailers pass the savings (earned from direct procurement) on to the customers by selling good quality products at attractive prices. There were protests held in the past against the entry of private retail giant Wal-Mart in the country. In this era of globalisation, such retail entries should be welcomed. As such, any attempt to disrupt retail operations should be seen as a law and order issue.

Incidentally, traders and shopkeepers are still protesting against the retail sector. Let there be healthy competition.
—PSS Durai, Mumbai

II
Who needs Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) when there is enough money for investments in India itself? Our tax laws are faulty, which encourages hoarding of black money. The other failure is corruption and bureaucracy.  The foreign investors bring their money in India and create employment opportunities, but they earn sizeable profits and take out the money. Instead of FDI, it is better to create a friendly atmosphere with minimum red-tapism, corruption and practical laws in India to manufacture and sell goods. Gandhiji’s Swadeshi movement helped make economic progress without attracting FDI or foreign help. But this is possible only if the government so desires.
—Mahesh Kumar, via e-mail

Hats off, Dhoble
It was heartening to know that the recently transferred cop, Vasant Dhoble, who will now be the ACP of Vakola, has been asked by his friends to help them keep the belly of the suburbs clean from vice dens. Dhoble has been accused of terrorising Mumbai’s night life. But to be fair to the man, he has done his best to launder the city’s suburbs of flesh dens and assorted illegal activities where women are oppressed and harassed. The man is not a moral police officer and he certainly knows the difference between right and wrong. Hats off to you, Mr. Dhoble.
—Altaf H Ladiwala, Mumbai

Respect sentiments
The violence throughout the world over the blasphemous film, Innocence of Muslims, is not justified in the least as Islam advocates for peace. However, we must also denounce the inflammatory contents of the film. Freedom of expression cannot be absolute. Just like freedom of action is not a free license to kick everyone you want, freedom of expression does not mean you go on hurting people emotionally. Ridiculing any religion or the personalities related to it should be excluded from the ambit of freedom of expression. It is illogical that you outrage someone and then expect him to always behave in a sensible and peaceful way. The followers are in blind love with their religions. We must learn to respect their sentiments.
—A Hameed Yousuf, Bangalore

HM a laughing stock
The statement of Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde that the coalgate scandal will be forgotten like Bofors is indeed very deplorable, shameless and irresponsible. Such a statement is not expected from a responsible home minister who is supposed to look after the nation’s interest in the face of any calamity and crisis. The statement only exposes the true mentality and nature of the UPA II. They are openly and shamelessly indulging in national loot with impunity, and if exposed, they laugh it off. Such faulty and defective planning has led to national economic doom, inflation, scams, and scandals, while the aam aadmi continues to suffer.
—SP Sharma, Mumbai

II
Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde has become a laughing stock after his Bofors comment created a furore in the political circle. He is now trying to save his face and the prestige of the Congress party by saying that the comment was made in jest. The Congress-led government at the Centre is well and truly trapped and would like to come out of the rut. National resources were put to test and the UPA ministers made mincemeat by allotting the licenses to their kith and kin to enjoy the fruits. Shinde is trying his best to impress people and his own bosses by saying that at times one says something in jest, but it comes across badly. It is part and parcel of the UPA ministers to issue statements without knowing the intensity of the problem and take back their words by giving lame excuses. Shinde is in total predicament now.
—SA Ramani, Navi Mumbai