In the role of the overseas man
Sir — It is heartening to see that many young Indian actors are making it big on stage in the West, Raj Ghatak being one of the most recent success stories (“East side story at the West End”, Dec 25). But all good news is tinged with irony. Actors are seen as more successful even when they find bit roles in plays in the West, rather than when they land meaty roles in English plays in India. Moreover, Asian actors should know — and examine the moral of — the fact that some talented actors like Roshan Seth have come back dejectedly from the those golden shores. The Indian English theatre is suffering not merely because of the lack of a proper theatre audience, but because good actors are keen to move to greener pastures in search of fame and money, often burning themselves out. There has hardly been any Indian actor in England who is seen on an equal footing with theatre stalwarts like Anthony Hopkins or Kenneth Branagh. Are we to believe that no Indian actor performing on the British stage has ever been as talented?
Yours faithfully,
Abhimanyu Dasgupta, Calcutta
Bill of contention
Sir — It is difficult to understand what prompted the government and political parties to moot a bill on women’s reservation since women in India already enjoy equal rights and privileges that has long been guaranteed in the Constitution. In fact, in most cases women do enjoy more privileges than their male counterparts. Once the bill is passed in Parliament, reservation is bound to be extended to education, business and service sectors.
Taking the pretext of reservation, many incompetent women will be selected, thereby depriving competent men. Since competent women already get their due recognition in different fields, there should not be a need for another legislation for women’s reservation.
If a bill is to be passed at all, it should be for making women shoulder equal responsibilities as employees of both government and private organizations, along with enjoying equal rights and privileges with their male counterparts.
I suggest the following provisions to be incorporated in the bill if it is to be passed at all. First, women officers and employees of government departments, banks, insurance companies and other private bodies should also be transferred like their male counterparts. Second, women officers and employees are to be allocated equal responsibilities in line with male employees and be made accountable.
Yours faithfully,
Debasish Mukherjee, Cuttack
Sir — The progress of a nation depends upon its attitude towards women. In the last Lok Sabha elections, participation of women was quite low. Women’s reservation bill, if passed, would not only increase their involvement in politics but would encourage them in other fields as well.
Yours faithfully,
Ranjan K. Joarder, Dhanbad
Sir —The women’s reservation bill was finally introduced in Parliament amidst unruly scenes on the last day of the winter session . The envisaged 33 percent reservation do not seem to have any chance of being passed in Parliament in its present form. The Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party are against the bill. These caste-ridden political parties want reservation for women of other backward classes, Dalits, and other minority communities as well.
The question is how to select the constituencies for women. Will the 33 percent constituencies be selected by lottery before each election? Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee may have to move out of the Lucknow constituency if it becomes allotted to a woman candidate. Even Sonia Gandhi may have to lose the right to contest from Bellary and Amethi if these constituencies are not allotted to women by lottery. Reserving particular constituencies for women may see the end to many politicians’ dominance over one particular constituency.
Instead of reservation of constituencies, why don’t the proponents of the bill opt for reservation among candidates of registered parties?
Yours faithfully,
Indu Bhusan Bose, Howrah
Sir — There has been a series of protests and demonstrations against the recent Supreme Court judgment barring reservation in promotion. I would like to draw attention to the fact that in spite of the reservation policy being followed for the last 50 years, there has not been any significant improvement in the condition of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The reason is that the benefits of reservation in jobs has been cornered by a small percentage of SC/ST.
This is the group which is most vociferous in protesting against the recent Supreme Court judgment. Those really in need of the benefits have been neglected. By denying the rights to the poorer sections of the reserved category, are the affluent classes not oppressing the countless unemployed youth?
Yours faithfully,
Pradeep Munda, Ranchi
Sir —The reservation policy followed by the government is open to the public today. The SC/ST, along with the other backward classes, enjoy all the benefits due to reservation made for them in employment and education. Moreover, their application fees are either exempted or reduced to half.
They are also paid travelling allowances for interview calls. This does not benefit the needy. This has only benefited a small group of people who are already well off. In fact, it could also be argued that this has done a great deal of harm to the rest.
Those benefiting from the quota system find employment irrespective of their knowledge or technical qualification whereas a better deserving candidate outside the quota may not find employment. The quality of work is also deteriorating because of this.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for candidates from the general category to find employment in public sector organizations. While there are special training programmes for the SC/ST candidates, an economically weak person from the general category cannot avail himself of this training.
It would do great harm to our nation if such reservation policies continue to operate. A time may come when the Brahmins and Kayasthas may demand reservations. I would ask the government to withdraw the biased reservation policy immediately.
Instead, reservation can be based on annual family income. This would help the poor get education at a cheap rate and hence find better employment opportunities.
Yours faithfully,
K. Mukherjee, Calcutta
Sir —The women’s reservation bill brought to the fore how our elected representatives behave when it comes to challenging their chauvinism in the domain of politics.
It took a long while for Indira Gandhi, the only woman prime minister in our country, to prove that she was no less than her male counterparts. It becomes difficult for men in politics to come to terms with the fact that women can compete with them in the areas traditionally denied to them.
Notwithstanding the fact that work at home might be equally, if not a more, demanding task for women, it is felt that women have never really done well in politics because they are not “made” for the job. Thus, any encroachment into that realm is being vehemently opposed to by sexist politicians.
It is a welcome change in the Indian political scenario that the women politicians have come together in spite of differences in their party ideologies. Generally they find it extremely difficult to come out of the shadows of their political father figures.
That the likes of Mulayam Singh Yadav continue to protest against the bill indicates that some politicians feel a threat coming their way. This potent fear is all the more reason for the proponents of the bill to feel that their efforts, after all, might not be entirely wasted.
Yours faithfully,
Nupur Bose, Calcutta
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