— Vitull K. Gupta

Bhatinda

AIIMS lowered

• Apropos of the news item, ‘Law in his pocket, Ramadoss gets Dr. Venugopal sacked’, the undue haste with which Union health minister Ramadoss went ahead to sack Dr P. Venugopal, director, AIIMS, soon after the president signed the controversial AIIMS Amendment Bill, speaks volumes about his “real intentions” — which are little else than settling long pending personal scores. He lost no time in getting rid of Dr Venugopal even when the matter had been listed for urgent hearing on Monday in the Supreme Court. One thing has become clear now: the minister is bent on destroying the “autonomous status” of AIIMS and converting it into just another government department so that he can foist his whims on it.

— S.K. Gupta

Delhi

Think India

• IT would be better for Pranab Mukherjee, M. Karunanidhi and the like to worry about the problems facing our country, rather than commenting on the alleged crackdown on ethnic Indians in Malaysia, where such incidents are extremely rare.

In India, these are daily occurrences. Moreover, consider these facts and figures. This country ranks 128 in the human development index, which is worse than Botswana. We rank 92nd in the global hunger index —-below some sub-Saharan African countries, in spite of surplus foodgrain. In human rights too, India has an appalling record with communal riots and violence against the lower castes on the rise. When India’s own cup of woes is overflowing, how can politicians have time and energy to worry about problems or wrongs allegedly done elsewhere?

— Deepak Joshi

Mumbai

Rights overwritten

• IT is a sad day for secular India, which constitutionally guarantees the freedom of expression, that Taslima Nasreen should have been prevailed upon to delete three pages from her book (‘Taslima deletes three pages, Jamiat says she may now return’). Those who disagree with her book or what it carries in three of its pages, have full right to publish their contrary views, but they have no right to compel the author to back down under a threat of violence or for her safe stay in India. If the West Bengal government has no courage of conviction to uphold the Constitution in respect of the rights it guarantees, at least the Central government should have provided Nasreen security without abridging her rights.

— Sameer Kumar

Mumbai