If according to RSS leader Mohan Bhagwat, > Mother Teresa’s agenda was conversion (Feb.24), the whole of Calcutta’s population, if not the entire West Bengal State’s, should have been converted to Christianity. Mother Teresa was concerned about the destitute, the sick and the dying. Can Mr. Bhagwat and his ilk personally care for a leprosy patient or anyone of those people abandoned on the sidewalks in our cities even for a day?
T. Geetha,
Chennai
The irrational remarks against a Nobel laureate and a person who has dedicated her entire life towards the welfare of the destitute, the diseased and the terminally-ill deserve to be condemned. Had Mother Teresa intended to spread Christianity through her peerless social service and transferred millions of dollars of funded money to the Vatican Bank for general use, she wouldn’t have felt it necessary to serve the needy in our country.
The episode shows that so-called responsible citizens of India lack the courage to question Ministers who stash away their loot in tax havens as well as raise their voices against those who cast aspersions against an icon who selflessly served the dispossessed.
Ippili Santhosh Kumar,
Hyderabad
We must note that organisations for charity and political parties and religions which claim special concern for the poor have a stake in the existence of poverty and misery, because if they ceased to prevail, their own raison d’être would cease. Their main objective is to make poverty and suffering bearable so that the poor and those who suffer do not rebel against the powers that have an interest in maintaining status quo. Corporates — they belong in this category — are not reluctant to contribute fair amounts for charitable work, as an investment or for creating an image of social responsibility. Governments, which irrespective of their hue have a stake in protecting the interests of corporates, view with satisfaction the work of charitable organisations. From this it is clear that what we need is not charitable work but the creation and maintenance of an equitable government which ensures as a right of the poor what charitable organisations do in pursuit of their own interests. To the extent that such governments come to exist, the need for charitable organisations would cease. Though undoubtedly difficult, this is the only really effective strategy for eliminating poverty and suffering.
A. Ramachandran,
Ottapalam, Kerala
