But he’s just a rookie

Sir — David Beckham has started speaking of Wayne Rooney in the same breath as Pele (“Pele maybe, Beckham not quite”, June 23). However, the English skipper’s praise comes a little early in the day. Pele, the youngest ever player to score in and win the World Cup final, went on to lead Brazil to three World Cup wins, and scored numerous international goals. As an administrator, he popularized soccer in the United States of America. On the other hand, Rooney is just a rookie who is yet to play in a World Cup, leave alone scoring in or winning it. Actually, Beckham’s comment exposes an ugly truth. Despite the money and the football academies, England has failed to produce young players who can turn the team into world-beaters. That England’s only soccer success came way back in 1966, proves the dearth of English players of Pele’s calibre. Scoring goals in the European championship makes Rooney good. But he needs to keep performing better than this to be among the great.

Yours faithfully,
Sachin Ghosh, Calcutta

With an iron hand

Sir — It is astute of Bhaskar Ghose to see the dominance of the Left Front in West Bengal as the result of the support of the large number of unemployed in the state (“A necessary ritual?”, June 9). Since a number of private sector companies left the state a long time ago, most people are employed in government or government-aided organizations — educational institutions, municipalities, electricity boards and public sector units. Thus the state government can keep a firm grip on them through appeasement and coercion. West Bengal was one of the first states to implement the recommendations of the fifth pay commission. It increased the salary of state employees and teachers, ignoring the pressure on the state exchequer. Their retirement age was also increased to 60 years. The hold of organizations like the All Bengal Teachers’ Association, CITU and the various state coordination committees on teachers, workers and government employees is absolute.

Despite a hefty salary, job security and little work, these organizations routinely disrupt normal proceedings. Dissidents are heckled and often transferred. In the transport sector, CITU employees monopolize jobs and break rules with impunity. In the villages, opponents of the front are compelled to shift their loyalties or leave the village. The pattas distributed to farmers are kept at party offices. During elections, the cadre ensures that the votes are polled in favour of the front. The government also lures the jobless with promises of employment. The bureaucrats and police play along. As pointed out by Ghose, the front’s success is also due to the absence of a significant political opponent in the Trinamool Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party. Thus the responsibility of forming a credible opposition now falls on the Congress. It should discard the present crop in favour of new leaders like Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who can rejuvenate the party and address the various problems of the state — starvation deaths, a high unemployment rate, and a non-existent healthcare system.

Yours faithfully,
Tamal Basu, Hooghly

Sir — In his article, Bhaskar Ghose has impressed upon the readers that the BJP may offer the only viable alternative to Left Front rule in West Bengal. Despite the BJP’s “distasteful antecedents and ideological moorings”, it has the potential to enlist the support of the Dalits who constitute a third of the state’s population. Ghose’s reasoning is too simplistic. Perhaps Ghose has overlooked the Left Front’s efforts at persuading these people against joining the BJP. Ghose does not realize that the present regime can only be replaced by a “better and improved Left Front”, and nothing else.

Yours faithfully,
Raghunath Bhattacherjee, Calcutta

Sir — The Left Front’s spectacular success in West Bengal reminds me of the communists winning the Russian polls virtually unopposed in the Soviet era. But these satellite states of the former Soviet Union are now a part of history — both Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia have been divided and Germany was reunified in 1990. The Soviet Union does not exist any more. Even Stalin’s dead body has been removed from Lenin’s mausoleum, to be given a quiet burial. Was the people’s anger reflected in the Soviet elections? Similarly, the Left Front regime is bound to crash in West Bengal, since the “only permanent thing in this world is change”.

Yours faithfully,
Asoke C. Banerjee, Cambridge, US

Fire sermon

Sir — The fire at the Rajbandh terminal of the Indian Oil Corporation should raise the level of public concern about the risks in under-managed petroleum storage points (“Blaze sparks force for safety”, June 8). A large number of retail petroleum outlets are located in crowded areas. While the scale of storage at such retail units is far less than any large installation, the risk of damage from fire is far greater because of the crowding. The fire department needs to be more vigilant while laying down new safety guidelines.

Yours faithfully,
Partho Datta, Calcutta

Sir — Petroleum storage units should be connected to underground airtight tanks fitted with carbon-dioxide cylinders. These should be constructed at some distance from the tanks. This will be a cheap precaution against fires.

Yours faithfully,
Govind Das Dujari, Calcutta