Parliament's say

This refers to the article “Parliament's say extends to the classroom” (May 22). There is no doubt about the supremacy of Parliament but are our MPs true representatives of an egalitarian society? When we have experts in every field, why not leave matters to them?

Sowmiya R. Prasad,

Coimbatore

I respect Prabhat Patnaik's views on the ideal egalitarian nature of Parliament but I also disagree with some of them. It is perhaps true that Parliament is “the only institution in the country which constitutes an expression of the principle of equality.”

But when it comes to solving problems in specialised areas, the opinion of experts should be given more importance over possibly a less authoritative one emerging from the general consensus in Parliament.

J.S. Harikumar,

Hyderabad

The argument that Parliament represents people's right to an egalitarian society and can, therefore, have a say in what is taught in classrooms is unacceptable, especially in present times when intolerant behaviour among politicians is explicit.

Just because political leaders are democratically elected does not mean they have the right to teach, educate, and transmit ethics to the next generation.

I don't think a voter will vote for the person he/she voted if told that he/she will determine what is going to be taught in schools. India has a host of educated, internationally reputed and learned academicians. It is they who should nurture education.

Adhip Agarwala,

Bangalore

The cartoon controversy should not have happened. Parliament should have kept away from the matter as the whole purpose of education is to provide an unbiased view of things. The so-called ‘leaders' of Dalit politics have hijacked the issue for their own selfish ends.

Parliament's interference can result in the politicisation of textbooks or cancelling anything that would deem to hurt the interests of the political class, as was evident from the debate on the cartoon controversy in Parliament.

B.P. Sidharth,

Thrissur