Oiled wheels

Sir ? Close on the heels of the Mitrokhin archives ? indicting the Congress and Marxists about money received from the Soviet espionage agency, KGB ? comes the Volcker committee report (?Stung Singh cries foul?, Oct 30). Paul Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, was appointed by the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan. Volcker is not George W. Bush?s appointee, nor his crony. Volcker?s agenda was to investigate whether the deposed Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, utilized properly the humanitarian oil-for-food programme. According to his report, Saddam earned 10 to 30 cent in kickbacks per barrel of oil sold. It is further alleged that Iraq sold $ 64.2 billion worth of oil to 248 companies around the world and spent only $ 34.5 billion on food and medicine contracts to companies which include several Indian ones such as Priyanka Overseas, Cipla, Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy?s, Alembic and others. The report also named non-contractual beneficiaries, and this is the list which includes Natwar Singh and the Congress party. Although the prime minister has defended his foreign minister, he can hardly be in peace since the United States of America, Saddam?s sworn enemy, is likely to put pressure on Manmohan Singh.

Yours faithfully,
Tapan Das Gupta, Calcutta

Sir ? Indian politics and politicians have sunk so low that when Bharatiya Janata Party ?s Arun Jaitley lambastes the prime minister for defending his tainted colleague, Natwar Singh, he forgets that not too long ago, during the BJP?s stint in power, the defence minister, George Fernandes, was accused of striking underhand deals with foreign arms manufacturers. There were also Tehelka, the UTI scam and so on. The pot calls the kettle black every now and then. Indians have mastered the art of accepting scandals in public life with great equanimity. But it is an unfortunate trend that ministers and public servants do not feel it necessary these days to ? nor are they forced to ? resign even when they are exposed in cases of corruption. Is there no longer such a thing as resignation on moral grounds? If there is, then Manmohan Singh should ask Natwar Singh to resign and order a CBI inquiry into Volcker?s charges.

Yours faithfully,
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad

Sir ? The Volcker committee report adds to the seemingly unending list of Congress woes. That Natwar Singh has denied every charge levelled against him is no surprise, since that is the practice in Indian politics. But his explanations do not hold much water. There is no evidence that the UN secretary general had anything against him. Besides, Paul Volcker?s report is based strictly on evidence. He has not named the Indian minister alone. Could Natwar Singh come up with explanations which are slightly more credible?

Yours faithfully,
Shubhajit Chakraborty, Calcutta

Sir ? Paul Volcker is not a member of the BJP that he will spread canards against the Congress and its leaders for political gain (?Natwar skids on oil scandal? and ?Congress defends itself, not Natwar?, Oct 30). The prime minister should have asked the defence minister to quit instead of defending him.

Yours faithfully,
Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Sir ? Manmohan Singh is technically right in defending Natwar Singh on the Iraq oil-for-food scandal; the facts mentioned in the independent inquiry committee report are indeed insufficient to arrive at negative conclusions against the external affairs minister. The prime minister will not find it difficult at all to thwart the opposition attack. But will he be able to maintain cordial ties with the Bush administration, especially with the external affairs ministry under Natwar Singh himself?

Yours faithfully,
A. Roy Mukherjee, Calcutta

New spin

Sir ? Ramachandra Guha is right ? the Australian team management was for once wrong in its calculations in not including Stuart MacGill in any of the Ashes test matches (?'The genius and the artist?, Oct 29). Ricky Ponting is yet to step into the shoes of Steve Waugh. With none of the young fast bowlers looking fit to replace the out-of-touch Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz, Australia might well look to include both Shane Warne and Stuart MacGill in their test side on a more consistent basis.

There is a lesson in this for India, which has always had a better crop of spinners than fast bowlers. But now, it seems, there are more promising pacers in our reserve benches than spinners. Maybe a spinners? academy, along the lines of the pace foundation in Chennai, is the answer?

Yours faithfully,
Arjun Chaudhuri, Calcutta

Sir ? I am full of admiration for Ramachandra Guha?s support for the underdogs. India too have had its MacGills in the past. The board?s stepmotherly role prevented the likes of Narendra Hirwani and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan from morphing into star players. However, I disagree with Guha on one point. During Michael Holding?s playing days, Roger Harper and Larry Gomes, both off-spinners, made their presence felt. Guha?s omission perhaps indicates that a spinner?s fate is to fade into oblivion.

Yours faithfully,
Arvind K. Pandey, Allahabad