Parallel universe
Sir — A grocer in Birbhum recently made headlines for being Narendra Modi’s namesake. Originally from Rajasthan, he says the name was given to him long before the other Modi became famous. The bigger coincidence here is that his elder sister’s name happens to be Mamata. His sister, Mamata Agarwal, lives in Calcutta and gets along splendidly with her brother. Locals love the coincidence. Even the
political parties cannot resist the humour. There is peace between Modi and Mamata in Ward No. 13 of Dubrajpur municipality. One hopes that this harmony reaches the other Modi and Mamata as well.
Rimjhim Bose,
Hooghly
Problematic view
Sir — Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, recently said that everyone can join the organisation irrespective of caste and creed but must first proclaim themselves to be ‘Hindu’ — this, according to him, means being responsible for Bharat (“Great divide” Nov 11). We all must remember Indians like Gopal Krishna Gokhale, M.K. Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose and others, who did not set such conditions for those who helped them achieve the dream of Independence.
Mohammad Arif,
Dhanbad
Sir — Mohan Bhagwat’s statement is an indirect way of prompting people from other religious communities to convert to Hinduism. It has always been the RSS’s ideology to turn the country into a Hindu rashtra.
Murtaza Ahmad,
Calcutta
Sir — The RSS chief has stated that Muslims and Christians in India are descendants of the same ancestors and that the core culture of the country is Hindu. He further added that “No Brahmin is allowed in Sangh. No other caste is allowed in the Sangh. No Muslim is allowed, no Christian is allowed in the Sangh. Only Hindus are allowed.” This is an affront on the secular fabric of India.
T. Ramadas,
Visakhapatnam
Sir — When the RSS supremo was asked why his organisation had not yet been registered, Mohan Bhagwat responded with “Even Hinduism is not registered.” This could be interpreted to mean that Hinduism is the RSS. If this were true, crores of Hindus worldwide would all be members of the RSS. This is a mala fide proposition.
Jang Bahadur Singh,
Jamshedpur
Rights delayed
Sir — The delay in implementing the Women’s Reservation Act is not merely a bureaucratic failure but a political one — especially of the women parliamentarians already in power. The editorial, “House them” (Nov 10), rightly notes the irony of the predominance of women voters and their under-representation in legislatures.
Harsh Pawaria,
Rohtak, Haryana
Sir — The Supreme Court’s recent observations in response to a plea for the immediate implementation of reservation for women in politics underline an uncomfortable truth — despite forming nearly half of the population, women still remain on the margins of political power.
Kiran Agarwal,
Calcutta
Fake news
Sir — The rumoured demise of the veteran actor, Dharmendra, shattered the hearts of millions but turned out to be fake news. The media must double-check facts before causing such pain. We should celebrate the legend’s timeless films, be it the action-packed Sholay or the romantic Chupke Chupke.
T.S. Karthik,
Chennai
Sir —It is unfortunate that the media has begun treating celebrity illness as an opportunity to boost TRP. The ministry concerned must take corrective steps.
N. Mahadevan,
Chennai