Dream a little dream

Sir — Reports of supernatural visions of deceased relatives and friends are not novel in India. Many people, ranging from self-styled godmen to political leaders, often claim that departed personalities appear in their dreams to inspire them towards doing good. This is what happened in Bihar recently when Tej Pratap Yadav, the eldest son of the Rashtriya Janata Dal chief, Lalu Prasad, claimed that the founder of the Samajwadi Party, Mulayam Singh Yadav, appeared to him in a dream and inspired him to ride a bicycle to work in order to help save the environment. Given the record levels of poverty in India, it would perhaps be better if the dearly departed sent messages of welfarism to our politicians instead of preaching political propaganda even in the afterlife.

Sakshi Jaiswal, Navi Mumbai

Let the past be

Sir — The Supreme Court must be lauded for rejecting the plea to set up a commission to change the names of buildings that have apparently been renamed by Muslim rulers in the past (“SC: India can’t be a prisoner of the past”, Feb 28). While the practice of renaming cultural and historical institutions is not unique to the current dispensation, such targeted attacks on the nation’s history only foment communal tensions. The Supreme Court has rightly pointed out that Hinduism is “a way of life”, which “does not allow bigotry”. The saffron party would do well to think twice before destroying India’s pluralist social fabric.

G. David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sir — The Supreme Court bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna deserves praise for dismissing Ashwini Upadhyay’s parochial petition to institute a renaming commission. The bench rightly said that the Bharatiya Janata Party leader was trying to keep the country on the boil and going against the values of diversity and inclusiveness promoted by the Constitution. This should teach the current dispensation to stop wasting public resources on renaming places.

Prem Sharma, Barnala, Punjab

Vendetta politics

Sir — The arrest of the deputy chief minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, by the Central Bureau of Investigation owing to alleged irregularities in the implementation of the liquor policy is a big jolt for the Aam Aadmi Party (“Sisodia arrested”, Feb 27). The hard work that Sisodia has put in to improve the infrastructure of Delhi’s schools will be invalidated if the allegations are proven to be true. Strangely, allegations about the Centre’s close ties with the Adani Group have been summarily dismissed. Perhaps Sisodia would have escaped arrest had he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

M. Zakir Hussain, Kazipet, Telangana

Sir — It has become a common practice to label any critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party an anti-national. Moreover, raids conducted by Central agencies only occur in Opposition-ruled states which are swiftly followed by arrests. This is what happened with Manish Sisodia in Delhi. Are there no corrupt ministers in BJP-ruled states? Perhaps the Centre is taking revenge on the AAP government in Delhi because it failed to win the assembly and the municipal elections. Such a blatant crushing of any opposition to the BJP is alarming.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Careless remark

Sir — While campaigning for the upcoming assembly polls in Karnataka, the prime minister, Narendra Modi, launched an attack upon the Congress leadership, alleging that the party’s president, Mallikarjun Kharge, is only a ‘namesake president’. Coming from the prime minister of the country, such comments are uncalled for. One can similarly mock the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, J.P. Nadda, for being a figurehead while the actual power is in the hands of Modi and the Union home minister, Amit Shah.

Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Out of turn

Sir — The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, has said that civic volunteers may be hired as regular constables. This would be illegal. In the well-known case, Secretary, State of Karnataka and Ors. vs Umadevi and Ors., the apex court directed that the initial appointment to public service posts must be made by a competent authority, implying that appropriate recruitment rules must be followed for the same. Shortcut methods of recruitment must be eschewed as they may deny equal opportunities to other deserving candidates.

Amit Brahmo, Calcutta

Old ties

Sir — Long before the release of the report by Hindenburg Research, Opposition parties had been criticising the prime minister, Narendra Modi, for his close ties with Gautam Adani, and his contribution to the latter’s burgeoning wealth. The editorial, “Cloudy picture” (Feb 27), has rightly pointed out that the nervous responses of Union ministers to questions about ties between Modi and Adani have given rise to further speculation about their friendship.

K. Nehru Patnaik, Visakhapatnam

Broken link

Sir — The half-finished railway line between Tarakeswar and Bishnupur needs immediate attention. It is unfortunate that two popular pilgrimage sites in West Bengal, Kamarpukur and Jayrambati, are still not connected to Tarakeswar via the railways.

Mausumi Ghosh, Hooghly

Meat in moderation

Sir — It is unfortunate that meat consumption continues to rise with each passing year in spite of the realisation that it is unkind to animals and damages human health as well as the planet.

Pinky Pradhan, Ujjain