Past is no guide

Sir, - Mr. K. G. Kannabiran's `Inquiry Commissions no substitute' (March 26) is vehement in denouncing the appointment of a judicial commission on the Tehelka tape disclosures and his averment that these disclosures enable the filing of FIR and start of a criminal procedure action forthwith seems far-fetched. He also imputes motives on the part of the NDA Government, based on the experience with similar judicial commissions in the past when the Congress was in power.

But there is no true comparison between the Congress regimes of the past and the present NDA Government. The latter has promptly proved its bona fides by dropping the alleged Tehelka tainted from party and official positions and suspending service officers. There is certainly a strong public need to establish what are the true evidential facts between the four hours' played tapes and 96 hours of tapes still unrevealed, their legally admissible factual evaluation and the victims' claim of conspiracy and framing directed against them politically.

K. Muthulingam

Madurai

Sir, - The ferocity with which Ms. Sonia Gandhi exhibits her sense of purity in public life in asking the Prime Minister, Mr. Vajpayee, to quit office in the light of the Tehelka revelation was conspicuously absent when her husband was embroiled and her relatives were implicated in the Bofors scam. She could have easily persuaded Rajiv Gandhi to step down. Where was her sense of purity and righteousness gone when Mr. Narasimha Rao and his son were involved in the MPs bribery and fertilizer cases? Further, the contention of the Congress that the chargesheet against Mr. Vincent George, Ms. Gandhi's private secretary, smacks of political vendetta, is mere escapist gimmick since the crux of disproportionate wealth is hardly controverted.

Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav and Ms. Jayalalitha stand bereft of any moral stance to talk about the BJP Government. Mr. George Fernandes and Ms. Jaya Jaitley have resigned unlike the `puritans' who did not give up their positions whenever they were entrapped in scams and scandals.

R. Venkataraman,

Chennai

Sir, - The Tehelka ``exposures'' seem to be so authentic that not only the Opposition parties like the Congress but even the close associates of the BJP - the RSS and the Shiv Sena - could not help but indict the NDA Government for its follies. The Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, resigned. Some Army personnel were suspended. The Trinamool Congress withdrew its support to the NDA Government and the BJP president, Mr. Bangaru Laxman, and the Samata Party leader, Ms. Jaya Jaitley, had no alternative but to quit.

Even the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, has blamed the ``system'' for the ``shortcomings'' exposed by the Tehelka tapes.

The hard-working Indian people for whom even a few thousand rupees are big money feel disappointed over the corruption of many crores of rupees involving people in high places.

V. M. Khaleelur Rahman,

Chennai

Sir, - There is nothing new about politicians playing a dubious role. At one time, our honourable Prime Minister said no one in his Government was involved in making money by unethical means. Recently, he said our system should be revamped. Whatever the findings of the Inquiry Commission, one thing is quite certain; there is something unscrupulous under the carpet which should be dirted out.

Kumar Amit,

Delhi

Sir, - If we go back to the Jain hawala scam, we will find that the only two persons who were not prosecuted were those who openly admitted to having accepted money from the Jains for party funds. The reference is to Mr. Sharad Yadav and late Rajesh Pilot. Interestingly, all those who denied having received money were prosecuted. The media and all others accepted their stand. In what way is Bangaru Laxman's and Jaya Jaitley's conduct different?

Raghunath Singh,

Jaipur.

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