Up against it Sir ? Would the oh-so-penitent Nitish Kumar have been half as keen to atone for his ?sins? following Gaisal had elections not been in the offing? A Lal Bahadur Shastri turn is no reason to forgive him for criminal incompetence. His resignation may have been seen as renunciation had the status of his government not been that of a caretaker. What?s so great about giving up office when he has so little to lose? He may gain much if the public is taken in by his ?I really care for the people? act. More so if reports that Kumar hopes to contest in Bihar?s assembly polls with an eye on the chief ministerial seat are taken seriously. He could present himself as the saint who has no lust for power. What greater contrast to the shameless Laloo-Rabri tribe that refuses to bow out no matter how many Dalits are slaughtered or financial scandals exposed? But that doesn?t take away from the fact that Kumar is responsible for the death of hundreds. Responsibility does not change colour, whether one is in the seat of power or out of it. Yours faithfully, Ashani Ghosh, Calcutta History?s cunning reworkings Sir ? So Calcutta is supposed to be better off as Kolkata, to emphasize its ethnic Bengali character. On this subject, Buddhadev Bhattacharya, West Bengal culture minister, has said, ?We have not only just freed ourselves from the colonial hangover but also rendered justice to history.? My own view is less grand. I feel India has lost its focus ? which should be on grave problems like poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, overpopulation, lack of foreign exchange . What does Indian democracy boil down to? Corrupt politicians and the countless scandals they are involved in. We have no problem if chief ministers of states go to Britain every year pretending to seek investment or for medical treatment. Neither do we mind the children of the corrupt being sent abroad for their studies. We have only one problem, and that is with our history. Has anyone ever taken the time to go to Kalahandi in Orissa? I have. Has anyone heard of babies being sold for Rs 25 each in modern India? I have. Does anyone still think about the murder of G.S. Staines, the missionary who worked with lepers? I do. But ask any politician what the problem with the nation is; he will say: its history. So Bombay becomes Mumbai. Madras becomes Chennai. Calcutta becomes Kolkata. Soon Delhi will become Hastinapur, Lucknow Magadh, Patna Pataliputra, Orissa Kalinga. We destroy the mosque at Ayodhya because we must correct historical wrongs. The Uttar Pradesh government changes history books because history needs to be rewritten. We persecute Muslims and Christians, for we want to take revenge for what their ancestors did in the past. My congratulations to the West Bengal government for thinking so much about colonial history. Save that in its enthusiasm, it has forgotten something crucial: the dismal present. Yours faithfully, Amitabh Singh, Calcutta Sir ? If the Left Front is to follow its own logic on the renaming of Calcutta, then it should also do something about streets and places named after V.I. Lenin, Ho Chi Minh and Karl Marx. Were not the latter as alien to India as the British? There is no reason Calcutta should be associated with a ?foreign? ideological legacy, more so when that ideology has been buried even in the countries it was linked with historically. At least the British contributed to the modernization of this nation and gave us our political institutions. Which is more than one can say for the heroes of India?s so called communist stalwarts. If we are compelled to take pride in ideological giants, there is no dearth of candidates in Indian history itself. If Calcutta goes, so should Lenin Sarani and Karl Marx Sarani. Yours faithfully, Indranil Bhattacharya, Naihati Sir ? English is the most popular and widely used language in the world. But members of West Bengal?s anti-English brigade refuse to accept reality. They do not want to get real even when they see that truth manifested in the proliferation of English medium schools in their state or when they find themselves sending their offspring to the same. They are so comfortable with the absurdity of their position that they can say no to a ?foreign? language even while they say yes to ?foreign? money in the form of investment to bail out West Bengal?s ailing industrial sector. Yours faithfully, Reba Bose, Jamshedpur Sir ? Buddhadev Bhattacharya claims to have ?rendered justice to history?. Yet the very office he sits in in Writers? Building was built during British rule. As were most of the city?s heritage buildings. Our judicial system is a colonial legacy as well as the language used in courts. People still spell their names Ray, Mitter and so on. The self-appointed guardians of Bengali culture send their children to the best of English medium schools. So the less we speak of history the better. Calcutta was a city to be proud of when the British were here. Its predicament and the state?s economic and cultural decline over two decades of Left Front rule are there for all to see. Yours faithfully, Sathi Goswamy, Calcutta Sir ? Instead of changing names, the ruling communists should change the work culture and administration they have given West Bengal for 22 long years. Particularly offensive is the state health minister?s periodic lectures to the health department to be ?alert?. This, while people are still being afflicted with malaria and other diseases that the government is supposed to be fighting on a ?war footing? every other day. Has Partha Dey visited the state hospitals for which he is responsible? It does not seem Buddhadev Bhattacharya, on his part, knows about the murders and dacoities that hit the headlines every other day. Perhaps he thinks law and order will miraculously improve if Banglabashis start referring to the city as Kolkata. Yours faithfully, M.G. Kumar, Calcutta Sir ? The editorial, ?City on the cross? (July 25), rightly says the Left Front government is distracting itself from the task of ensuring social welfare with its useless renaming of Calcutta and West Bengal. People cannot be won over by gimmicks, whatever the rhetorical gloss. No one wants anything as intangible as the so called freedom ?from the colonial hangover?. What they want is their daily demands be fulfilled. Besides, is it possible to replace the mother tongue for English in all official work? And can everyone be forced to wear dhotis, kurtas and panjabis instead of T-shirts, trousers and jeans? Marxists should be concerned with socioeconomic problems. A city or a state by any other name is hardly a burning issue. Yours faithfully, Niljoy Sinha, Azimganj Sir ? Not all eminent Bengalis support the change of the city?s name to Kolkata. Mrinal Sen, well known film director, for instance, has wondered how such a change can make a difference to Bengali culture. But there is some justification for the switch to Bangla. East Bengal (East Pakistan) was renamed Bangla-desh. So Bangla in place of West Bengal is acceptable. Yours faithfully, Naren Sen, Howrah Sir ? The world will refer to us as ?Kol-katans?. Will Buddhadev Bhattacharya tell us if that word is Bengali, or another anglicized derivation from Kolkata? And if we are to throw off the British legacy in its entirety, why not demolish the Howrah Bridge and Victoria Memorial while we?re at it? Yours faithfully, Meraj Ahmed, Calcutta Letters to the editor should be sent to: The Telegraph 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street Calcutta 700 001 Email: the_telegraph_india@newscom.com Fax: 225 3240/41