Red bully

Sir — It seems that the time has come for the Congress and the United Progressive Alliance to take a tough call on the arrogant and uncompromising stand taken by the Left parties on the Indo-US nuclear deal (“Congress tests Left nuclear nerve”, June 19). It is most disappointing that even after a number of meetings between the two sides, the Left has refused to take a practical view of things and give the government the go-ahead for finalizing the deal. In fact, throughout the tenure of this UPA government, the Left parties have behaved more like an opposition than an ally, be it regarding financial reforms, privatization proposals, or modernization of airports. If it has learnt a lesson from this, the UPA should make alternative arrangements to get the nuclear deal through and then politely show the Left parties the door, so that they can go and shout to their heart’s content in the maidans of Calcutta.

Yours faithfully,
Kalyan Ghosh, Calcutta

Sir — The Indo-US nuclear deal is a great opportunity for India to get rid of the ‘nuclear pariah’ tag, and that too without having to give up its nuclear weapons. The shortage of uranium is already having an adverse impact on our nuclear plants. The prime minister, Manmohan Singh, has said several times that the 123 agreement is governed by international law and overrides the American law, Hyde Act, which the Left parties have objections to. And in any case, political parties like the Communist Party of India (Marxist) are not obliged to safeguard the nation’s interest. That is the strict preserve of the prime minister and the cabinet committee on security. So the prime minister and the CCS should be allowed to decide what is best for the country. If Barack Obama wins the American presidency, as it seems likely he will, India will have a tough time pushing through the deal, given that Obama’s opposition to it is well known. Time is running out for India, and the sooner the Left can be brought around to seeing this point, the better it will be for our national interests.

Yours faithfully,
Bijay Singh, Hyderabad

Sir — It has been heard that Manmohan Singh has threatened to resign on account of the stagnation of the Indo-US nuclear treaty. But it is no use being a gentleman in the un-gentlemanly sphere of politics. If the Left does not support the nuclear treaty in Parliament and the UPA is reduced to a minority government, then Singh’s resignation will be nothing but political suicide for his party.

Yours faithfully,
S. Kamat, Alto Betim, Goa

Sir — The wheels are finally turning and the much-delayed delinking of the UPA government from the Left is looking like a real possibility. Given the severe power deficit projected for the next decade, and given the environment-friendly nature of nuclear power, the choice of the nuclear option should have been above politics. Unfortunately, the politics of coalition has delayed an obvious and logical decision and done the country great harm. The Left’s brazen blackmailing of the government is about to lead to its demise. I wonder if the leftists would have been as intransigent had China, and not the US, been on the other side of the table. The implications of this falling out for an industrializing Bengal are ominous. Few other men at the helm would be as supportive of the state as Manmohan Singh was. Expect a return to the days when all failures of the state were attributed to the Centre. The combination of arrogance, ignorance and some hubris is indeed deadly.

Yours faithfully,
Bhaskar Majumdar, Kuwait

Sir — The now-on-now-off negotiations between the UPA government and the Left parties on the civilian nuclear deal with the US is getting too much for the patience of the ordinary Indian citizen. One has lost count how many times the government’s chief interlocutor, Pranab Mukherjee, has met Prakash Karat, the refusenik-in-chief, and still found no way to end the impasse. In the process, the image of the Manmohan Singh government has been battered by the repeated blows from the Karat-Burdhan duo.

Ever since Singh dared the Left to withdraw support in August last year, the latter has been dragging his government by the noose. But this could well be a blessing in disguise. From this position of long-suffering underdogs, it will be easy for the Congress to turn the tables on the already-disgraced Left. Public sympathy is swelling for the helpless-looking prime minister. Now is the time to call the Left’s bluff. Can Manmohan Singh play the masterstroke?

Yours faithfully,
Sarat Pattanayak, Bhubaneswar

Hi-tech game

Sir — As technology brings changes in the modern world, things are being made obsolete with each passing moment. It would not be fair to expect sports to remain outside the realm of change. Twenty20 cricket exemplifies how cricket has evolved. Or take the International Cricket Council’s willingness to try out the new rule whereby a batsman can ask for a review by the TV umpire if he is unhappy with the field umpire’s decision (“Trial to enhance game: ICC”, June 18). This will certainly please the Sourav Gangulys of the world, but won’t the credibility of the field umpires be compromised?

Yours faithfully,
Ashish Kumar Mohanty, Calcutta

Sir — The MCC’s green signal to “switch hitting”, coupled with its argument that “the shot is fair to both batsman and bowler”, is another glaring instance of the batsman unfairly dominating the game (“MCC allows switch hitting”, June 18). This bias has consistently exposed itself, with the restriction on number of bouncers, the leg-side rule for wides, fielding restrictions, and the recently introduced ‘free hit’ for line no balls.

Pietersen’s sixes off Scott Styris were incredibly, nay magically, real, and such improvisations can resurrect the flagging fortunes of one-day cricket. I don’t object to switch hitting per se, and even oppose the purists’ cry for a ban on it. But need the game become more and more unfair to bowlers? The ICC should strive to bring a balance between bat and the ball by suitably amending the laws. To begin with, it can scrap the law that binds bowlers to inform batsmen which arm they are bowling with and from which side of the wicket.

Yours faithfully,
Abhigyan Prasad, Guwahati