Claim to fame
Sir — “What’s in a name?” Shakespeare had famously asked. But the bard seems to have underestimated the significance of names. Just ask Madhab Sarkar, a candidate for the Communist Party of India in the upcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal. His father’s unique name, Rajya Sarkar, which translates to ‘state government’, is opening doors for the CPI leader. Young people are also lining up for a quick selfie with Sarkar senior. Perhaps this is a testament to the fickleness of politics — anything which gives a candidate his 15 minutes of fame is welcome. Ironically, Rajya Sarkar is campaigning against the rajya sarkar.
Sanjay Goswami,North Dinajpur
Valued voice
Sir — Common causes like the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the abolition of Article 370, and the introduction of a uniform civil code have long united various organisations within the sangh parivar. These issues are only meant to polarise voters. They cannot improve the average citizen’s access to quality healthcare and education. The Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, is right to criticise the notion that there can only be one way of solving the nation’s problems (“Sen: Fraud inherent in UCC”, July 6). India is a mix of complex cultural customs; streamlining them under a single law is unwarranted.
Jang Bahadur Singh,Jamshedpur
Sir — The remarks made by Amartya Sen on the proposed UCC deserve attention. The Bharatiya Janata Party always seems to be on the lookout for a controversy to garner votes by fomenting tensions in society. The myopic government has prioritised such polarising issues instead of tackling rising prices and increasing poverty.
Tanuj Pramanick,Howrah
Sir — The Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, has critiqued the attempt to enact a UCC, even terming it fraudulent. Some BJP leaders have already labelled the opponents of the UCC anti-national. The question now is whether the UCC will be truly secular or attempt to promote Hindutva customs and traditions. Will it be progressive enough to correct inherent caste and gender biases in the Hindu personal law?
G. David Milton,Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu
Sir — Although I wholeheartedly support the views expressed by Amartya Sen on the UCC, the push for a Hindu rashtra and on Barack Obama’s comment regarding minority rights in India, it was disheartening to see him deflect the question on poll violence in West Bengal. Clearly, he does not wish to tick off the Trinamul Congress dispensation.
Ashoke Basu,South 24 Parganas
Locked horns
Sir — It is disappointing to read that the governor of West Bengal, C.V. Ananda Bose, continues to lock horns with the state government. He has done so again by unilaterally appointing a former chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, as the vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University (“Uproar as former judge helms RBU”, July 7). Mukherjee has made disparaging comments against Tipu Sultan in the past. What is also astounding is the fact that a non-academic has been appointed to the top post of a university.
Arun Gupta,Calcutta
Parting shot
Sir — The questions raised by the editorial, “Eye on science” (July 6), about the National Research Foundation are valid. Unlike the National Science Foundation in the United States of America, the NRF will not be a non-governmental body. Although India needs to invest heavily in research projects as it lags behind China and the US in the number of patents recorded, research interests should not be hijacked by the government.
Sukhendu Bhattacharjee,Hooghly
