HT Editorial

Respected Madam,
On 16th January, 2010 I read your article ‘Idiot is as idiot does’ in Hindustan Times newspaper which highlighted the ironic situation that how a movie can lead to a wrong path as it was merely produced to nurture big profits and was never intended to give any messages. You have rightfully said that it only talks about scientific ingenuity but never about the gradual development of these skills through rigorous hard work. It is utterly true that there will hardly be one or two born scientists in the crowd of lacks.
Sometimes I wonder why does everybody talk only about higher and prestigious Colleges which are doing great even without any media attention. This colleges are the eye candies of Ministry of HRD and their alumni base is very strong also the faculty is very autonomous so that no harm can be done to the glory of these institutions. Madam, you may be well aware that these institutions neither need any further validation nor do they require anymore support from public (thanks to our politicians). Everyone is dying to get their siblings in any of these professional colleges; but there are many other universities which need proper attention that they are not getting it and students study there just to gain a valid degree not for any quality education. The main reason is not the crunch of resources but it is the affection of the students and the government which they don’t get because of not being the ‘Institutions of National Importance’.
I am very much sure that our first P.M. Jawaharlal Nehru never envisaged these institutions just for overshadowing others but to create a healthy competition. Now it has become a culture that if a person is not studying in these colleges his/her study has all gone in vain. It further makes students disenchanted from their studies and their alma mater.
It is a bare truth that our IITs and even IIMs don’t stand anywhere among the best universities of the world because they have never looked upon their respective humanities departments as the other top colleges of the world do. For example – Sulmaan Rushdie is a professor of Humanities at M.I.T. and faculty of Stanford University includes four Pulitzer Prize winners (sixteen Nobel laureates are also there); definitely if it is not possible for the development of these departments upto this level then we should turn towards the colleges which have remained neglected throughout their lifetime but are capable of leapfrogging in these areas.
My personal belief is that there is no meaning of being a scientist or an engineer or a doctor if you are not socially well aware. The greatest scientist of all time Albert Einstein was a great philosopher and also was a good friend of Rabindranath Tagore similarly Nicola Tesla was so keen about poetry and literature that he became almost mad after the death of his friend Mark Twain and during his old age had illusions about his friend as if he was living with him. This shows that it is not right to neglect other art and humanities colleges in the flash of these high profile colleges.

HT Editorial

My letter has been written as a reply to a letter by Mr. Amrik Singh, printed in the editorial page. Mr. Amrik Singh shows a great concern towards the Chinese incursions in Ladakh region but my question is ,”has it really happened”. If anyone can remember the Sino-India war of 1962 then he can also remember how the Chinese army withdrew from the region of Ladakh after claiming one part known as ‘Aksai Chin’ which was never inhabited and was claimed by China from much earlier times. Before this all happened there was an offer from Chinese side to talk over the matter; it was rejected by Nehru. Confrontation was result of intelligence failure when Indian troops were assigned to fight with Chinese troops without going for any talks or negotiation. Outposts were made across the McMohan line also. This all heated up the situation as China was cynical about Indian role in Tibetan uprising.
On one side Nehru was not ready to spend money on military and on other side he was making the clash imminent. The war started in Thangla, the territory about which, India was not sure, was hers. Some Indian troops, including Brigadier Dalvi who commanded the forces at Thag La, were also concerned that the territory they were fighting for was not strictly territory that "we should have been convinced was ours". The announcement of ceasefire came from Chinese side otherwise results could have been worse.
In present time Indo-China relations are fairly good and these need to be strengthened further by positive bilateral talks, not by being paranoid about a word written on a stone. Indian Army has also denied any breach of International border so these claims are baseless. China is already leapfrogging in every field. India should take cues from its neighbour. We are already having a troubled border with Pakistan and relations are deteriorating with Nepal also so this hullabaloo should be avoided. China is too big a country to keep bad relations with.

Letters to Ramachandra Guha (HT)

Dear Ramachandra Guha Sir,

I have been a keen reader of your articles in Hindustan Times which come under the heading ‘History Matters’. Your articles really give an insight of any situation. I especially liked the one that was concerned with the situation in Manipur because of the provision of extra powers to security forces. This matter is of the type that never comes in the notice of a common man unless he goes deep into the affair. Getting to read these articles in a national newspaper is an utter delight.

On Monday January 04, I happened to read your article ‘The fitness test’ about the appointment of Governors in the states. Sir, I want to ask you a thing that why the media (except for the print media), which blows every small issue out of proportion, did not raise these issues in that amount before the nation.

Secondly, the Andhra Raj Bhavan issued a statement that Governor was in the evening time of his life and was not doing very well on health grounds, then why was he there even after being so incompetent.

The integrity of Jharkhand Governor Syed Sibte Rizi was also questionable at the time when he did not allow the BJP to form a Government even when they were in majority. These incidents raise serious questions about the appointment of Governors. There is a need of thorough revision of the process by a nationwide discussion but the main hinderance will be the lagislators themselves. Could you suggest any solution?