Minority concerns
In an interview on Thursday (Inside pages, “Obama says India may ‘pull apart’ over minority rights”, June 23), the former United States President, Barack Obama, has revealed his concerns about minorities in India.
I believe India is entering the third stage, as articulated in the work, On the Postcolony, by Cameroonian philosopher, Achille Mbembe. He proposed three stages for postcolonial countries: the construction of a state over peaceful coexistence between majorities and minorities, majoritarianism, and the annihilation of minorities. Attacks on people by accusing them of carrying beef, rights violations in the name of the lower class, demolition of mosques, and other such incidents demonstrate how India is moving to the last stage. In a nutshell, if people start fighting over religion and castes, it would ruin India’s peace and order.
Musthafa Zubair,
Cherooppa, Kozhikode, Kerala
India is a stronghold of democracy where the rights of religious and ethnic minorities are well protected. A strong rebuttal from India may be in order.
K. Sivankutty Nair,
Thiruvananthapuram
Shorter course
A shorter medical course with a view to create a workforce of good primary-care doctors is certainly a good idea (Opinion page, ‘Parley’, June 23). A variant of this course, with inputs from Ayurveda too, can be considered. A carefully designed four-year course with the best aspects of both Ayurveda and conventional medicine would be a game changer in the primary care system.
G.L. Krishna,
Bengaluru
P. Sabanayagam
P. Sabanayagam was a giant among civil servants, who spoke little, wrote only what needed to be recorded, and made quiet but decisive action his watchword. In his departure (Tamil Nadu, “Former T.N. Chief Secretary P. Sabanayagam dies at 101”, June 23) governance loses a stalwart who will be remembered with gratitude for his fairness, firmness and fastidiousness in administration.
Gopalkrishna Gandhi,
Chennai
