The editorial “Offence as defence” (Dec. 15) has rightly highlighted the need for the Congress-led UPA government to go for a detailed probe into the 2G spectrum issue. It is surprising that the Prime Minister, the head of the government, was unable to prevent the former Telecom Minister from running a freelance spectrum allocation policy. There is no justification in blaming the Opposition for stalling Parliament, considering the huge money involved in the scam.
A. Murugan,
Tuticorin
The question on every common man's mind is: why is the government afraid of constituting a JPC? The more reluctance it shows, the more we believe it has something it does not want the Opposition to know.
K. Venkataraman,
Coimbatore
The reference to a “college debater's trick” was apt. Spectrum allocation, the CBI's role, the CVC issue, the government's ‘no' to JPC and now a one-man committee … In a nutshell, the editorial brought out the ‘true' face of good governance. By questioning the BJP's telecom policy too, the editorial did justice to the issue. A fine piece of balanced journalism.
SGT Sachdev (retd.),
New Delhi
The editorial was an honest assessment of the UPA government's indifference to the 2G spectrum scam. Adding insult to injury was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance to India Inc. that solutions should be found to prevent telephone tapping leaks. It is the Radia tapes leaks which exposed the murky deals in the spectrum issue. Dr. Singh should actually be telling us how the government proposes to act on the leaked contents of the tapped conversations.
S. Srinivasan,
Chennai
The Opposition's demand for a JPC probe is valid but obstructing Parliament for an entire session on the issue was not particularly beneficial to the nation. The JPC, a democratic institution, has been reduced to a mere talking point. The common man is not concerned with who wins or loses. He wants the taxes paid from his hard earned money used for good governance, and not to end up in somebody's Swiss bank accounts.
Kumar Varun,
New Delhi
Anyone with an elementary knowledge of the Constitution knows that the PAC is no substitute for a JPC, which has wide powers of investigation and can summon anyone including the Prime Minister, if necessary. It is obvious that there is an attempt to protect some people.
P.G. Krishnamachary,
Chennai
The Hindu has written a series of editorials demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the 2G spectrum scam. The latest editorial is excellent and forthright. It is the UPA that should stop denigrating the Prime Minister.
The Supreme Court pointed out that the tenor of the former Telecom Minister A. Raja's reply to the Prime Minister's letters was disrespectful. Mr. Raja even said he tendered his resignation because his party chief asked him to do so. The Congress should appeal to its coalition partners, not to the Opposition.
S. Nagarajan,
Chennai
It is not the Opposition but the UPA government that has denigrated the institution of Prime Minister. It was his own Minister who ignored his objections and those of other Ministries on spectrum allocation. The government should accept the demand for a JPC probe and prove its claim of clean governance.
Shankar Raman,
Madurai
Our humble appeal to The Hindu and other independent entities is to keep the spotlight on the mega spectrum scam until those guilty are actually punished and the losses recovered to the extent possible. A JPC is a must and should result, among other things, in legislation that sets up an independent investigative agency with the power to arrest and prosecute, and is totally free of political interference and manipulation.
V.K. Raghavan,
Chennai
