Democracy at risk

Refer to ‘The season of saam, daam, dand, bhed’ (The Great Game); the Chanakya doctrine has become the global grammar of politics. Leaders and parties, whether in democracies or authoritarian regimes, openly or clandestinely use persuasion, inducement, coercion and division to get power. If accepted as an international norm, it will only legitimise manipulation and erode the very spirit of democracy. The antidote lies in reviving strong institutions that safeguard transparency, accountability and ethical politics. A free media, proactive civil society and independent judiciary must act as counterweights to unchecked authority. True leadership today lies not in clinging to power, but in restoring faith in values of truth, justice and fairness. Without such course correction, democracy risks being reduced to a mere façade.

Amarjit Singh, Mohali

Leaders must uphold dignity

Refer to ‘The season of saam, daam, dand, bhed’; the piece aptly shows how Chanakya’s doctrine dominates contemporary politics. AAP’s Manish Sisodia has openly urged party workers to employ every trick to win the 2027 Punjab polls. Mohan Bhagwat has bent the 75-year norm to keep himself and PM Modi at the centre of RSS-BJP politics. Trump has imposed high tariffs on India as dand for buying Russian oil. Modi’s outreach to China and AAP’s flood-relief initiatives in Punjab exemplify strategic manoeuvres. Instead of such machinations to retain power, leaders must uphold ethics, restraint and dignity.

Chanchal S Mann, Una

Only the shrewd will survive

Chanakya’s timeless mantra reverberates through India’s political landscape. Whether it is AAP or the BJP, every party plays this game, covert or overt. From Punjab’s scrapped land policy to Rahul Gandhi’s march for the marginalised, politics thrives on pure power. Trump’s tariff war on India sums up a quest for domestic and global dominance. In this strategic battle, only the shrewd will survive.

Gurdev Singh, Mohali

World in Dalai Lama’s favour

Apropos of ‘Why is China afraid of the Dalai Lama’; the spiritual leader is a harbinger of peace, compassion, love and universal brotherhood, whereas Xi Jinping promotes confrontation, hatred and war. Both are like opposite poles. The Dalai Lama has declared umpteen times that Tibet is a part of China, but it must give compete freedom to Tibetans in religious matters and other ways. He is not ready to fall in line with China’s authoritarian regime. China is in a fix on how to find a way to win over other Buddhist nations and their people. Global opinion is on the side of the Nobel laureate who envisages a world without borders, a philosophy that doesn’t suit any autocratic state. Ahmed Faraz’s couplet puts it lucidly, ‘Bastian chand sitaro pe basane valo, kura-e-araz (on earth) pe bujhe jaate hain chirag’.

BM Singh, Amritsar

Path difficult but not invincible

India and China’s initiatives at the SCO summit in Tianjin to have cordial relations are small but significant steps. Both have had strained ties for decades and India has tasted the unpredictable and deceitful behaviour of the dragon on many occasions. Now PM Narendra Modi has stressed upon Chinese President Xi Jinping that the relations can be strengthened on the basis of mutual trust, respect and sensitivity. The path ahead may be difficult, but it has to be trodden carefully in view of China’s support to Pakistan.

Subhash Vaid, New Delhi

Grains damaged knowingly

Refer to the news report ‘CAG: 80,000 MT wheat stock damaged in 2017-21’; at some places, employees of HAFED and FCI deliberately damage wheat stocks by spraying water on them with hosepipes. During rains, they remove tarpaulin sheets instead of covering the stocks. When they start getting infected with fungus, officials sell it to poultry farmers at throwaway prices, causing huge losses to the government. No action has been taken against such erring officials who let down poor farmers.

Ramesh Gupta, Narwana