Pakistan politics
The trajectory of Pakistan’s politics shows Pakistan’s ugly record with its Prime Ministers. Imran Khan may have always been on a sticky wicket on the political field. He pushed Pakistan into an economic quagmire and its diplomatic isolation. Perhaps, it was for this specific reason that the Army had silently backed the no-confidence motion, enabling the worst of enemies in the Opposition to join ranks. Leader Shehbaz Sharif has mountainous challenges before him.
R. Sivakumar,
Chennai
The Hindi line
Knowing fully well the very sensitive nature of the issue of a link language in India, especially in South India, it is not pragmatic to bring up the language issue, even if done with good intentions. Since Independence, the nation has been witness to many serious agitations opposing the imposition of an “official language”, Hindi, as a “national link language”. When a large part of the country, which is progressive and innovative in its thinking, is not in favour of accepting Hindi as the ‘lingua franca’ of the country, there is no reason why the authorities should think in terms of hurting them and impeding their progress by imposing Hindi. Moreover, with the advent of information technology, the world has become a global village and English has consolidated its pre-eminent place.
Kosaraju Chandramouli,
Hyderabad
I am 78, a postgraduate in English, well-versed in Hindi and served in the Indian Air Force (IAF) where all the languages in India are spoken.
Most areas in the IAF function using the English language. If one needs to answer the Home Minister’s argument that Hindi is widely spoken, does the Minister agree with his mentor’s oft-repeated praise of Tamil being “the oldest language in the world”? India won freedom because Gandhiji, Nehru and other giants knew, among other things, the language of our “enemy”. Why create a problem when there are so many other serious issues before the country?
C.K. Prem Kumar,
Palakkad, Kerala
