The Hindu : Not unsecular

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Feb 25, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Not unsecular

Sir, — This has reference to the unwarranted row created over the Prime Minister's statement on Muslim votes. What is so `unsecular' about the statement? What he said is the truth. The parties should not exist for a particular community, but the State(s), and ultimately the nation. The furore that the likes of Mulayam Singh, marginalised Leftists and issueless Congress leadership has created is in utter `bad taste', not the PM's statement.

Alok Srivastava,

New Delhi

* * *

Sir, — Your Editorial `Sectarian musings' can only be considered as an exercise in pre-judgment and serves the purpose of getting into the quagmire of political skirmishes, inasmuch as the flipside of the Prime Minister's statement at Varanasi is blown out of context. Political parties and leaders of religious communities are primarily responsible for fomenting the sectarian divide, touching upon highly sensitive religious issues.

It is not always easy for the PM, who also represents a political party, to accomplish a balancing feat in the face of the inequitable and infectious gimmicks of political leaders for their selfish ends, segregating the society on the lines of religion, caste and language. The public at large often tends to get carried away by such utterances, particularly during election time. It is time everyone gave up mocking the liberty of speech and forged a realistic and responsible society.

J.V.P.S. Somayajulu, Vijayawada, A.P.

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