Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Unfortunate

The suspension of two officials of the Archaeological Survey of India for filing in the Supreme Court a factual and scientific affidavit on the Ramar Sethu is most unfortunate. It gives the impression that bureaucrats are expected to prepare documents according to the wishes of politicians, and not on the basis of facts, even if they are not true.

C.S. Ranganaikulu,

Visakhapatnam

The government should not have withdrawn the affidavit. One would expect it to back scientific findings rather than give undue importance to religious sentiments. Sentiments do not help in the development of a country.

Pamidi Suneel,

Bangalore The affidavit was exploited and politicised by the BJP to force the government into changing its stance. It is disconcerting that the absurd drama was enacted dragging Rama into the controversy with an eye on Hindu vote-bank.

V.K. Sathyavan Nair,

Kottayam The Hindutva brigade should indeed be ashamed of itself for mixing religion with anything and everything. It would have been more worthwhile had it opposed the Sethusamudram project on some logical ground. Its agitation is nothing but vote-bank politics.

Aminah K. Padmavalli,

Hyderabad

The BJP is up to its old trick of politicising emotive issues again. Unfortunately, though not entirely unexpected, the Congress did not stick to its guns obviously for electoral interests. Instead of locking horns with the BJP, the VHP and the RSS politically, it meekly withdrew the ASI affidavit.

Tarsem Singh,

New Delhi It is deplorable that the opposition which is expected to play a constructive role is obstructing the government’s functioning. First, it held up Parliament over the 123 agreement. Now it is crippling the government’s development project by invoking Hindu sentiments. Using religion for the sake of opposing the ruling party is indeed objectionable.

G. Ramesh,

Chennai

True, religious sensitivities should be respected. But to what extent and at what cost? The Ramar Sethu issue has nothing to do with Lord Rama. It has more to do with those who claim to be the guardians of Hindutva.

S. Chinnadurai,

Chennai

What is troubling the world is not faith as such but its superstructure called religion. Religions have outlived their purpose and lost their original structure. They have gone into the hands of fundamentalists. When the zealots of a religion cause harm to society, what is immediately needed is a quick and strong disapproval from the persons of the same faith, especially moderates. The worrying factor is that it is not forthcoming in India today.

V.R.K. Raj,

Hyderabad

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

The new thrust on education
Coveting the Arctic resources
U.S. ramps up confrontation with Iran
Concerns and complaints beyond the routine
What I saw in Darfur
123 Agreement: a response to Brahma Chellaney
An ‘expert’ unmasked
Unfortunate
ASI’s overreach
On the project
Mob violence

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu