Love’s labour lost
Sir — Glow boards proclaiming love for a city or a ward do precious little for a neighbourhood. Perhaps this is why Bapan Badyakar from Siuri, West Bengal, thought it would be alright to steal the illuminated heart from the street installation to declare his love for his wife. When his theft was discovered, Badyakar was given a bouquet of roses by the authorities to give to his wife instead. However, one hopes that now that Badyakar has removed part of the unnecessary glow sign, light will finally dawn on municipal authorities about the uselessness of these decorations. After all, while garish glow signs are eyesores in cities, vast stretches of roads in the suburbs remain dark and dangerous without even street lamps to illuminate them.
Amaresh Maiti, Birbhum
Steady rise
Sir — Sudheendra Kulkarni’s article, “The rising” (Dec 29), which argued that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is the only Indian political organisation that has grown from strength to strength without any split, provided food for thought. The Indian National Congress and the Communist Party of India have suffered multiple splits, ideological and organisational, that reduced their relevance in national politics.
The Grand Old Party could not also escape the clutches of hereditary politics, which contributed to its steady decline. The RSS, despite its claim of being a cultural organisation, has sought to shape the political landscape of India by controlling the erstwhile Jana Sangh and now the Bharatiya Janata Party through sister organisations like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram. Its tallest leaders, K.B. Hedgewar, M.S. Golwalkar and V.D. Savarkar, are known to have preached extremist Hindutva ideology. Its present chief, Mohan Bhagwat, however, has made efforts to reach out to the Muslim community in a bid to promote social harmony and strengthen national unity. The future of the RSS will now depend on its ability to modify its brand of Hindutva politics in accordance with the demands of a secular polity.
Jahar Saha, Calcutta
Sir — As it celebratesits birth centenary thisyear, the time has come for the RSS to introspect and adapt itself to the changing social views. It needs to recognise the diversity of India and preach communal harmony. Mohan Bhagwat has recently advised people to stop looking for mandirs in mosque complexes. This is a welcome move and might imbue a new kind of ideology amongst the Hindutva brigade.
Gurnoor Grewal, Chandigarh
Poor remark
Sir — Recently, the mayor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Trinamool Congress leader, Firhad Hakim, allegedly remarked that with the grace of god, Muslims could become the majority in India. This is a blow against India’s secular ethos. The TMC should be cautious of what its leaders say in public.
K.V. Seetharamaiah, Bengaluru
Sir — Firhad Hakim seems unfazed by the backlash caused by his statement in spite of his party censuring him. Has the ruling party in Bengal become so dependent on individual leaders that they are automatically absolved of all sins? Strict action should be taken against Hakim.
Tusar Kanti Kar, Howrah
Sir — It is hypocritical of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders to point fingers at Firhad Hakim when almost all of them have engaged in divisive rhetoric in the past (“Trinamool condemns Hakim’s remarks”, Dec 17). From labelling Muslims as “jinke zyada bachhe hain” to shouting slogans like 'Go back to Pakistan', the ruling party has left no stone unturned to hurt the sentiments of Muslims. Have Hindu leaders not asked people to procreate to outnumber the Muslim population? However, Hakim’s alleged remark cannot be supported and the TMC has rightly censured him. The BJP, on the other hand, usually refrains from admonishing its truant leaders, indirectly encouraging their anti-secular remarks.
Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta
New low
Sir — A student was raped within the premises of Anna University in Chennai. The assailant was allegedly affiliated with the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the Madras High Court admonished the Chennai police commissioner, A. Arun, for his handling of the case and raised questions about his conduct during the investigation. The court formed an all-woman special investigation team to probe the assault and the subsequent leak of the first information report, which exposed the survivor’s details. A rise in incidents of crime against women in Tamil Nadu might spell doom for the ruling party.
Gopalaswamy J., Chennai
Sir — The Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party president, K. Annamalai, flogged himself to protest against the sexual assault on a student at Anna University and declared that he would not wear footwear until the DMK government was ousted from power. This is childish. After his earlier gimmicks failed to garner votes for the saffron party, Annamalai has now stooped even lower.
Tharcius S. Fernando, Chennai
Sir — The BJP has been quick to blame the DMK government regarding incidents of rape and murder in the state. But the BJP cannot accuse the DMK of gross inaction when its lack of sympathy for the women of Manipur and its refusal to take steps to mitigate the situation there have stoked ethnic fires in the state. K. Annamalai’s vow to not wear footwear until the DMK is no longer in power in Tamil Nadu is just a gimmick to stay in the political limelight.
M.C. Vijay Shankar, Chennai
