Bowing before a Non-Entity-I
IT was strange to note that the Union Agricultural Minister and former BCCI chief, Mr Sharad Pawar called on the Shiv Sena supremo at the latter’s residence, pleading with him to lift the ban imposed on the Australian cricketers playing in IPL-III. What was the need for the Union Minister to approach a non-constitutional entity? This has unnecessarily elevated the image of Mr Bal Thackeray, who was relentlessly cornered by one and all for his unwarranted stance on the Australian and Pakistani cricketers. It is important that our functionaries learn to act with guts. When a person is known for issuing threats on and off, the proper course of action is to deal with him as per the law. Many of us must have viewed the various debates aired on the different TV channels on Shiv Sena’s high-handedness as related to the IPL league. Almost every spokesperson of any political party, former bureaucrats, noted editors and columnists of national dailies, renowned cine stars etc were on a rampage snubbing the Shiv Sena for their narrow outlook. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that even without Mr Pawar’s intervention the beleaguered party would have toned down its stand.
MICHAEL VAZ, Merces

Bowing before a Non-Entity-II
THE Home Minister of the country, who controls the entire internal security apparatus of the nation, has assured full protection to the cricketing teams who would like to participate in the tournament, anywhere in India. The Chief Minister of the state where threats of disruption have emanated has also guaranteed foolproof protection to the teams and yet a senior member of the Union Cabinet goes to the residence of a non-government functionary and pleads with him to allow the smooth conduct of the games. Is it not a mockery of the majesty of the law? Moreover, by his inexplicable behaviour, knowingly or unknowingly, Mr Sharad Pawar has cast doubts over the abilities of his own party colleagues.
SND POOJARY, Miramar

Racism in Australia
The advice of the Victorian police chief, Mr Simon Overland to the Indian students in Australia to keep a low profile and ‘try to look as poor as possible’ to avoid attacks is ridiculous and should be condemned in the strongest terms. This only shows that racism down-under is not only related to the colour of the skin but is also based on the economic background. This advice comes at a time when the Australian government has been harping that the attacks on the Indian students are non-racial. It seems absurd that the Indian students should be advised to look as poor as possible. Does Australia still consider India as a poor country?
ADELMO FERNANDES, Vasco

Declaration of Judges’ Asssets
THIS refers to the Delhi High Court placing details of assets and wealth of its judges on its website. Chief Justice of Delhi and his fellow judges including Justice S Ravindra Bhatt, Justice Murlidharan and Justice Vikram Jit Sen deserve special compliments on the issue of transparency in judicial administration. However it is surprising that details of movable properties like jewellery and vehicles of judges are not included in the list of assets. The Union government should bring a comprehensive bill in this regard to make system of declaration uniform for all courts.
SUBHASH CHANDRA AGRAWAL, Delhi

Mumbaites must decide for Themselves   
A SHOW of anger stemming out of frustration at being sidelined by his own protégé, may have brought out Mr Bal Thackeray and his Shiv Sena with all guns blazing, targeting iconic figures from the field of sports and film industry for their seeming irreverence to the state of Maharashtra. The habit, which seems to have passed on to the nephew and his MNS, of treating Mumbai as a ‘Thackeray constituency’ has had both factions raising cudgels against anything that challenges their supposed self-granted right over it. Raising jingoistic fervours and inciting the locals into acts of violence in the name of opposition may have gained them cheap publicity, but an ordinary Mumbai citizen is yet to decipher the intricacies of the chauvinistic jargon preached by them. Let us take the hate-politics against ‘outsiders’. Between them, they succeeded in projecting, first the South Indians and then the North Indian migrants as intruders who were depriving the locals of jobs. According to a columnist, what is ironic is that if the unresolved issues that was the fulcrum of their tenacious stand when the Shiv Sena was formed still persist, is it not a pointer to a fact that the organisation has been a total failure in its 50 years of existence vis-à-vis the welfare of the Marathi manoos? Maybe the saffron party has a sizeable following amongst the locals who feel that the Shiv Sena is safeguarding their interests. But the rather bawdy resentment shown by the Thackerays for any individual who dares to cross swords with them  has irked quite a few.  It is high time the Mumbaites and all Maharashtrians thought and spoke for themselves without having such xenophobic elements claiming to be the soul-representatives of the city, and the state, causing mayhem all over!     
PACHU MENON, Margao