Save the best for the last

Sir — The Indian goalkeeper, Subrata Paul, deserves applause for helping India win the Nehru Cup in a breathtaking penalty shootout (“India retain Nehru Cup”, Sept 1). He was once rudely insulted by the East Bengal club. But his real mettle was tested recently in the Nehru Cup final, where he succeeded in securing victory by saving as many as three shots in the tiebreaker. At the same time, special appreciation should also be reserved for the Indian coach, Bob Houghton, who never lost his confidence in Paul’s abilities.

Yours faithfully,
Anindya Bhattacharya, Calcutta

Misplaced concerns

Sir — The government of Maharashtra is misusing huge sums of money belonging to the people. Spending as much as Rs 350 crore on a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji does not speak well of a developing nation like ours (“Swim against memorial tide”, Sept 12). To build grand monuments like the Statue of Liberty, India still needs to cross a lot many hurdles by investing money in proper projects first.

A country that has the majority of its people suffering from poverty, illiteracy, healthcare issues and calamities such as drought should not utilize the common man’s hard-earned money in an off-hand manner. If the government were to spend the entire amount that has been assigned for this particular statue on upgrading the police force, coast guards, or on the construction of hospitals and schools, then the people would have been proud of its achievements. Shivaji’s bravery no doubt inspires respect in many of us, but the real victory of Shivaji’s countrymen lies in transforming India into a developed nation by channelizing its resources in the right direction.

The protest by Bollywood personalities, especially by Vishal Dadlani, against such mismanaged funds is worth appreciating. However, the fear remains that the politicians may go ahead with their original plans without paying any heed to those opposing its decision.

Yours faithfully,
Siddhartha Sengupta, Calcutta

Sir — By speaking out against the Maharashtra government’s plans of spending Rs 350 crore on a statue, Vishal Dadlani, the music director, has indeed shown courage. There is no doubt that Chhatrapati Shivaji was a well-known ruler, and that people have great respect for him. Still, in spending of a huge sum of money for building his statue, the government has gone overboard. Diverting a part of this money towards the improving the lot of the backward classes and for the education of the deprived population would have been a more fitting tribute to the memory of a leader like Shivaji.

Yours faithfully,
Supriyo Joardar, Ranchi

Prayers unheeded

Sir — The arrangements for the Id-ul-Fitr prayers on Red Road this year were not up to the mark. The traffic police, unlike the previous years, put up a barricade near Mahatma Gandhi’s statue. So vehicles entering Red Road from Chowringhee could not proceed beyond the statue. This resulted in a serious bottleneck situation. Cars had to be left unattended some distance away. Children and the elderly had to walk quite a bit to reach Red Road, which was cause for inconvenience. Chaos ruled because of the inefficiency of the cops.

Since the government does permit prayers on Red Road, which sees one of the biggest congregations in eastern India, the police needs to chalk out a plan for the movement of vehicles well in advance and communicate it to the people through newspapers.

Yours faithfully,
Md. Badruddin Ahmed, Calcutta