North Indian parochialism at its best
Sir,
The north Indian controversy was waiting to happen. What is surprising, though, is that it happened in Mumbai and not in any southern metropolis. The constitution and law guarantee complete freedom to every citizen to live and work without restriction in any part of the country, and rightly so. Having said that, I feel we need to delve deeper into the reasons behind recent events.
From the time of independence until recently, all decisions were north centric .This was not surprising as Delhi was located in the north. The power centre being in the north created a false feeling that all other regions were mere vassals of the BIMARU states. The Northeasterners were referred to derisively as Chinks, the Southerners as Madrasis and the Marathis as Ghatis. Railway Minister Lalu Prasad displayed the same arrogance in his recent remarks in Bangalore.
Madhavan Nair
Bangalore
Outsiders
Sir,
Reacting to the attack on the north Indians by the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, lead by Raj Thackeray, the Bollywood film star, Shah Rukh Khan, is reported to have stated that every Indian has the right to live anywhere in the country. Every Indian should endorse this view as this is what has been guaranteed upon under the Constitution. For, the votes cast by “outsiders” too are counted for their victory in the election. People should rally round and voice their concern against such parochial tendencies.
V S Jayaraman
Chennai
Weak PM
Sir,
Quite often one gets a doubt about who is in charge of the Government at the Centre. One thing is certain. It is not the Prime Minister. Ministers in his cabinet travel abroad without the PM being any wiser for it and ministers of various departments are at loggerheads about the functioning of each other’s ministries. Dr Singh may be loved by all. But, what India needs now is a prime minister who is feared more and loved less.
Rajalakshmi V S
Mumbai
Subsidy
Sir,
The AP government’s decision to offer Christians subsidy to undertake pilgrimages to their holy places in the middle east has drawn flak. Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy knows that the Supreme Court has passed strictures against the Haj subsidy and directed the union government to stop this blatant appeasement of the minorities as it is unconstitutional.
In spite of this if he now proposes to extend the same concession to Christians it only shows how desperate he is to please Sonia Gandhi so that he will not be pulled up for his monumental failure of governance of the state.
V V S MANI
Bangalore
Concessions
Sir,
Muslims have been enjoying travel concessions when they go on Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. The Andhra Chief Minister has now come up with a proposal to extend this concession for Christians who want to go on pilgrimage to Israel.
This is quite fair. It is in fairness of things that concessions are extended to the pilgrims from the Hindu community also. The government can consider extending the privilege only for pilgrims travelling more than a thousand kilometers from their home town.
K Venkataraman
Mumbai
Consumerism
Sir,
This refers to the news report on Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s request to the banks (Lend liberally to spur spending, banks told, DH, Feb.13).
Liberalisation and globalisation are being touted as the panacea for all our ills by the economic czars who now control the destiny of a billion people.
But what we see now in the name of development is an open encouragement to brazen consumerism. While squandering our precious resources and the people, with state patronage, living it up as if there is no tomorrow.
V VENKATASUBRAMANIAN
Mumbai
