The CPC
It is an intellectually unproductive exercise to try to build a halo of greatness around the CPC or the Communist Party of China (Editorial page, July 1). What is so awe-inspiring about an organisation that enjoys a monopoly over political power? What is so exciting about its longevity when it buys people’s obeisance and unquestioning loyalty? It made mistakes such as imposing the single-child norm. Its so-called adaptability is odd because it considers changing course only under the compulsion of adverse circumstances. The CPC does not offer any mea culpa for its acts of omission and commission; it has zero accountability and admission of failure will undermine its authority. The CPC uses its trump card — Chinese nationalism and pride — whenever it senses murmurs of disgruntlement among the people. And, the tide can turn.
V.N. Mukundarajan,
Thiruvananthapuram
Meets and their hues
I write this as a retired bureaucrat. In recent weeks, there were three meetings which caught the attention. The West Bengal meeting over cyclone/flood ravages could have had a different ending, had non-participation by the State government been avoided. Right now, the immediate repercussion is the plight of the top civil servant.
The second meeting was preceded with a lot of hype. An octogenarian leader of acclaimed eminence made his premises and hospitality available to another octogenarian, who has apparently a grouse that his eminence has not received due recognition, for the latter’s Manch to hold a get together of like-minded persons drawn from different walks of life, though the political veneer was barely concealed. The outcome of the meeting was a ‘damp squib’. The participants in the meeting were dubbed second-rank leaders. So, another outcome was rank consciousness. Herein lies the rub. The gerontocracy is wary of vacating its position to the next generation. The sooner the transition takes place, the better will the nation’s interest be served.
The meeting between the Union Government and the Jammu and Kashmir leadership stands out for the meet’s cordial atmosphere. Leaders with diverse backgrounds, and of different generations, sat for a few hours discussing contentious issues without acrimony, the sole focus being only the welfare of people of J&K and the integrity of the country.
There is a message for the country. Those in public life who trade charges against each other, in language most foul, should learn from the J&K leadership that courtesy begets courtesy.
V.I. Rajagopal,
Jaipur, Rajasthan
Driving force
One recalls The Hindu’s write-up on Sudharma in its ‘Friday Review’ section (September 2020), commemorating its jubilee. Mr. Sampath Kumar carried forward his father’s legacy in running the Sanskrit daily with grit in spite of a lack of patronage for the newspaper and for the Sanskrit media as a whole.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
