The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Withdrawal of support

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Thursday, Jul 10, 2008
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Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Withdrawal of support

The Left parties have done the right thing by withdrawing support to the UPA government. It is strange to see a Prime Minister who is more worried about his commitment to the U.S. than to his own people. That the government refused to disclose the details of the draft of the safeguards agreement with the IAEA even to its allies is disturbing. If the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal is meant to benefit India, what is wrong in sharing its details with the Indians?

M.S.R.A. Srihari,

Khammam

* * *

Why should the government keep the contents of its proposed agreement with the IAEA a secret? Are the people of India, on whose votes it is in power, not entitled to know the terms and details of the agreement? The Narasimha Rao government signed the WTO agreement without taking the nation into confidence, as a result of which we are suffering today. The Congress has chosen yet again to give transparency the go-by. An agreement, whose life is determined not on merit but on the annual certification by the U.S. President, is surely a threat to our sovereignty.

P. Venkatesh,

Salem

* * *

The government acts on behalf of the people. Therefore, its claim that the text of the agreement cannot be made public, nor even shared with the Left parties who were its allies, is nothing but undemocratic. Is democracy not a government of the people, for the people and by the people?

S.S. Rajagopalan,

Chennai

* * *

The people of India, I am sure, would have dreamt of a government par excellence under Manmohan Singh. With the same hope, the Left parties offered support to the government led by him. Today, all our hopes seem to have gone up in smoke. There can be no two opinions on the fact that the 123 agreement is one of slavery. When many political leaders oppose it tooth and nail and the President of America leaves no stone unturned to get it signed during his tenure, the government ought to reconsider its stand.

M.A. Mohamed Sahul Hameed,

Vellore

* * *

The Left parties committed a big mistake by withdrawing their support to the UPA government. They have provided scope for horse-trading. With the Samajwadi Party pledging support to the government, it is likely to survive but the Left’s electoral prospects in the next Lok Sabha election have dimmed. As for the nuclear deal, without it India cannot become a developed country as energy is crucial for development.

S.N. Thiruvazhiode,

Kochi

* * *

Be it the Left, the centre or the Right, political opportunism is gaining currency with all political parties vying for power at all costs. Ideology has taken a backseat while commitment to the masses is the missing link. The political manoeuvres at the Centre and horse-trading in different States have made a mockery of parliamentary democracy. The unholy alliance between the SP and the Congress, hitherto bitter enemies, is taking politics to its nadir.

N. Divakar,

Mysore

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