Letter ( No.7) to the Public Editor

15 Jan 2008


Letter to the Editor

Sir,
Politics, Corruption and Welfare

Thank you for your timely and relevant Leader in today’s Statesman (15 Jan).
The blazing fire in Burrabazar points to the fact that for politicians, a choice between power and welfare of the people is very simple; they would invariably choose power – by hook or crook – in preference to the welfare of the people. And power in India means corruption.
The construction of the 13-storeyed building with a sanction of only four storeys is a stark example of corruption overcoming rules. And the illegal nine storeys could not be built overnight – as you have said. Now if you ask the Kolkata Municipal Corporation what they were doing while the nine illegal floors were being built, they would play politics, passing the buck, while the fact is that they were looking the other way while money changed hands, irrespective of which party occupied the seat of power.
The same thing happens during the annual deluge that Kolkata experiences during the monsoons, or during dengue and other epidemics. So, it is a vicious circle of politics, corruption and criminality. Look how the promoters fill the water-bodies with impunity – cocking a snook at the law and the law-enforcing agencies just because they have the backing of a Minister who is apparently in charge of the portfolio of illegal activities – so to speak. The only recourse left to the people is to approach the court of law, as was done in Delhi in the wake illegal use of residential areas for commercial purposes, in order to right the wrong. Then again, on the one hand, the court is accused of ‘judicial activism’, and on the other, the government quickly amends the rules so as to legalise the illegal activities. In this vicious circle of politics, corruption and criminality, what suffers is the welfare of the people about which the government couldn’t care less.
It will be cruel to say that the fire was a poetic justice to the illegality of the construction – cruel because so many traders have been rendered penniless. The ‘party’ is surely not going to blame it on “activism of Mother Nature”.

More letters to the Public Editor

12 July, 2008
Letter to the Public Editor (No. 6)
THE NUCLEAR DEAL
The Congress party has betrayed the country and the nation repeatedly in the past.
In 1947, they accepted the partition of India which was a great betrayal against their promise of never agreeing to the division. Gandhiji who declared that the country would be ‘divided over his dead body’, didn’t raise a finger when the ‘surgery’ was done – with massive bloodshed, and ushering in a catastrophic future.
In 1948, the Congress government led by Nehru stopped our gallant forces from recovering lost territory in Kashmir, again creating a permanent damage to the country.
In 1962, Nehru befriended China and was taken for a ride by Chou En-lai with consequences known to every Indian. Again in 1971 Indira Gandhi declared the unilateral ceasefire when our valiant forces were knocking at Lahore’s door, and ordered the winning forces to retreat! She also decided to cede all the territory own by our Army to Pakistan. What a betrayal !
Now in 2008, the Congress is ready to sell off the country to the USA by signing the agreement with the IAEA, exposing our Nuclear research to inspection by IAEA.
A pat on the back by George W. Bush means so much for Dr. Manmohan Singh that he is ready to lead the country to dig its own grave.
Let us briefly consider a few points of the agreement. That it “ensures an uninterrupted fuel supply for our reactors”(News item 11 July) is a lie, because one nuclear-weapon test by India – and all fuel supply will stop as per the provision of Hyde Act.
Then it says that India has to identify and separate its civilian and military nuclear facilities. Now, this is not possible, since all our nuclear reactors are for dual purpose. It means that all our N-facilities will be considered “civilian” and will be under IAEA scan, and all our research on nuclear weapons will stop totally; or else, IAEA (read USA) will harass us as they have done in Iraq, or are now doing in Iran and North Korea.
Stoppage of Nuclear research for defence (for example, the Fast-breeder reactor in Kalapakkam) will increase the comparative strength of our not-so-friendly neighbours.
The bottomline is that this Deal will increase our energy-capability minimally. But we will be in the good book of the USA and rest of the G-8.