There is no doubt that the quality of political discourse in India is on the decline (Editorial — “Adding injury to insult”, July 26). Abuse is met with abuse instead of intelligent repartee and quick wit. For instance, BSP leader Mayawati would have been on surer ground had she chided Dayashankar Singh for casting aspersions on a ‘community’ which is compelled to enter the profession he referred to due to social inequities rather than abusing his family using equally unparliamentary language. The fact is that we lack mature leaders who are suave and polished even while criticising their opponents. Where are the likes of an Atal Bihari Vajpayee, an Indrajit Gupta and a Jawaharlal Nehru who silenced their detractors with their sharp retorts? Our present-day leaders appear to be guided by the short-lived glamour of instant publicity even if it means stooping to the lowest level of discourse. One hopes that our younger leaders, who are also better educated, will be able to turn round the level of discourse.
Y.G. Chouksey,Pune
What should be a healthy democracy made vibrant by debate and discussion is instead being denigrated by politicians who do not think twice about using unparliamentary language. An acrimonious exchange of words between political parties and their leaders with an aim to derive short-term political mileage seems to be the order of the day. Language must be used with care.
Jitendra G. Kothari,Mumbai
