Old political tool

Apropos of ‘The raid’, we are yet to see a raid on any BJP leader or supporter by Central agencies, which act more as the arms of the government than autonomous entities. It is astonishing that the CBI has not deemed it necessary or fit to investigate how liquor worth Rs 10,000 crore is sold every year in dry states. The recent raid could well be aimed at stalling AAP’s political advance. In the upcoming elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, the AAP could well mount a good fight against the BJP. Raids are an old tactic.

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RAMESH GUPTA, NARWANA

Neutrality must

The modus operandi of raids by Central agencies is not new, the previous regimes also resorted to them. Shifting of affiliation to the ruling party may provide immunity as long as the party is in power. Even in the US, investigation agencies like the FBI are not always unbiased and neutral. We should keep these agencies free of government influence by enacting a robust mechanism of laws involving the Chief Justice of India, Chief Justices of states, Opposition leaders and prominent dignitaries and intelligentsia of the Central and state governments.

Dilwar Ali Meerak, TOHANA

Bodes ill for democracy

When only the Opposition is the target of investigation agencies of the country, the so-called decisive fight against corruption, besides being seen as a farce, has far more serious and damaging consequences for democracy. The common man is fast losing trust in the watchdogs of democracy and the credibility of the nation’s premier agencies is waning fast. If people stop depending on the democratic process as the only tool for the change they desire, what could that lead to?

HL Sharma, Amritsar

Investigate charges

Refer to ‘The raid’; the charges against Manish Sisodia are of a serious nature — he caused a huge loss to the exchequer when implementing the excise policy by providing undue benefits to some licencees after receiving kickbacks. Even if it is true that the BJP government is showing undue haste in proceeding against political rivals, its strong actions are welcome in that they strengthen the principle of ‘equality before the law’.

V Jayaraman, Chennai

Congress lethargy

Refer to ‘Self-respect not negotiable’; senior leaders are leaving the Congress, expressing dissent over its functioning, but the party leadership has not taken any remedial measures despite several electoral defeats. The presidential elections in the party being postponed time and again, with no one prepared to take on the onerous task of rebuilding the party at the ground level, shall make its task to remain on the Indian political scene more difficult. The party must re-energise itself after electing a regular president, focus on real issues and rebuild the cadre at the ground level if it has to survive.

Dinesh Kumar Verma, Panchkula

Recipe for mediocracy

Reference to ‘58 law officer’s posts reserved for SCs’; on the one side Punjab’s AAP government is show-casing the Delhi model of schools and excellent education to produce meritorious students, but by reserving jobs for some categories, it is sacrificing merit for votes. It renders merit meaningless if jobs are reserved for those who have just managed to pass the qualifying exam in school or college. With such a political race for reservations to get votes, we will be producing mediocre engineers, doctors, teachers, administrators, law officers and other professionals. If we keep sacrificing merit for political gains, we can never become a country which will attract global investment in any enterprise managed by mediocre professionals No wonder our highly educated students from IITs, IIMs and medical and law institutes look for employment abroad. With all sorts of reservations, they find it difficult to get suitable jobs in their own country.

MS KHOKHAR, by mail

Nationalism in words

Destroying any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs. It only requires lowering the quality of education. The poor quality of students which it will produce will collapse the whole system. Every year crores of rupees are spent on the education sector and several schemes are introduced. But no policy can yield positive results unless teachers — not by chance, but by choice — are inducted into the education framework. All talk about nationalism, yet very few render service to the nation by doing justice to their jobs. Singing the National Anthem and hoisting flags, and then teaching without dedication fails nationalism.

ARTI SHARMA, PATHANKOT

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