— Subhash C. Agrawal

Delhi

Award monopoly

• L.K. Advani insists that the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, should be conferred on Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The Bharat Ratna should be awarded on the basis of merit, and not through someone’s lobbying. But the fact remains that the Congress, which has ruled free India for the most part, has managed to make it a politically motivated honour. The fact that three successive generations of the same family were all awarded the Bharat Ratna testifies to the extent that it has become a party monopoly.

— V. E. Venkataramani

Chennai

Clean Sydney slate

• That Steve Bucknor has been removed from umpiring in the remaining Test matches is technically enough to strike off the result of the Sydney match from the record book. Such an exception is the need of the hour, since his wrong decisions have been witnessed by cricket lovers all over the world. This has been the rarest of rare cases. Will Ricky Ponting act as a gentleman now and request the match referee to strike off the Sydney victory from the record book? There is dignity in penance and seeking forgiveness.

— Kedarnath R. Aiyar

Mumbai