The government’s remedy is worse than the CBI’s malady (“Midnight rumble”, October 25). While the government has sent CBI Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana on leave to apparently restore confidence in the CBI, it has had the opposite effect. The government could have facilitated a meeting of the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition to take stock of the situation instead of making the affair murkier. The CBI looks like not only a caged parrot but also a chained one.

Vizianagaram

When there are so many allegations of corruption at the top level of the country’s premier investigating agency, how can people be expected to repose any faith in the CBI, especially in cases where financial fraudulence is being investigated? All the major cases go to the CBI in the belief that the truth will be exposed. Instead, the CBI seems to have become a punching bag for the Opposition and a tool in the hands of the ruling dispensation.

Chennai

One wonders how the Centre was oblivious to the happenings in the agency all this while. Are we expected to believe that it was caught unawares till the recent developments surfaced?

Chennai

The law and order situation in Sabarimala is deeply concerning (“Kerala police plan to turn Sabarimala into fortified zone”, Oct. 25). It is attributable largely to the doublespeak on women’s rights by many so-called progressive political parties. With the Lok Sabha elections round the corner, these parties would obviously never risk losing a sizeable chunk of their vote bank by openly supporting women’s entry into the temple and incurring the wrath of many people. They are quite happy to play it safe by using phrases like “maintaining sanctity”, “respecting beliefs” and inserting all their ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ in their statements. All their big talk on espousing gender equality is a sham. It is crucial for the Kerala government to uphold the court’s verdict.

Chennai

I condemn Union Minister Smriti Irani’s statement (“Everyone has the right to pray but not right to desecrate, says Smriti Irani”, Oct. 25). How can women be deprived of worshipping their gods? This is not a matter of desecration of places of worship; it is politics that has compelled her to speak against her own gender. If women themselves defend such regressive beliefs against them, what can the apex court really do?

Mumbai

On the one hand, the government is worried that there are no Indian universities in the top 100 universities of the world; on the other, it shows a lack of understanding regarding the difference in the role played by teachers and other public sector employees (“An ‘anti-national’ regulation”, Oct. 25). University teachers are expected to teach students how to analyse critically, think logically and approach issues rationally so that they emerge as scholars, thinkers, writers, administrators, inventors and innovators. But if the teachers are subjected to civil service conduct rules and a suffocating atmosphere is created in universities as a result, what critical thinking training can possibly be given to the students? It looks like educational reforms are going in the reverse direction. After the implementation of these rules, no teacher who is a public employee can engage in public discussions on government policies through lectures, articles, or even letters to the editor.

Chennai