The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : A shock to the nation

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Wednesday, Dec 14, 2005

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

A shock to the nation

The nation is in shock. After 11 MPs were accused of taking money for raising questions in the House, the reputation of the august body, that is supposed to discuss and debate issues of national import, has taken a beating.

While a few parties have suspended and disowned their members among the 11, the Lok Sabha Speaker's swift action of barring those worthies from attending the House is appreciable.
H.P. Murali,

Bangalore

Leaving aside all other engagements, the enquiry committee should go into the details of this sordid episode and submit it report by December 21. The report should be made public in accordance with the spirit of the Right to Information Act, and the law should be allowed to take its course under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The parties concerned should immediately expel all the members involved and other parties should not give them membership.

On its part, the Election Commission should bar them from contesting any election, even as independents, for the rest of their lives. Only then can our fragile faith in our parliamentary democracy be sustained.

M.S. Rajasekaran,
Chennai

The alleged action of the 11 MPs has put a question mark over the very integrity of Parliament as an institution and a pillar of our democracy.

Megha A.,
Hyderabad

Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee's suggestion for a debate on the electorate's "right to recall" elected representatives needs serious consideration in the light of the present episode. However, how many members will Parliament be left with eventually if this right is really exercised?

Ramachandran V.N.,
Boise, Idaho

Mr. Chatterjee has done the right thing in requesting the 11 MPs not to enter Parliament for the time being. It is but natural to demand that the persons involved in the bribe case should be expelled from the House with the full vote of both the Houses.

C.P. Velayudhan Nair,
Kochi, Kerala

The voters must have the right to recall such MPs to teach them a lesson. This will cleanse our polity. It is an irony that the exposé has come at a time when India is signing the anti-corruption treaty with the United Nations.

Tamilisaisoundararajan,
Chennai

Our political system is fast eroding with every such exposé. This episode will definitely fetch a bad name for our parliamentary system. Already, India figures high on the list of the world's most corrupt nations.

R. Seenivasan,
Nawalgarh, Rajasthan

I sympathise with these MPs. The election campaign has become scandalously expensive and they probably were left with no alternative but to earn money in this manner. Also, there is no point in punishing a few MPs. The entire system must be changed.

Jagannathan B.,
New York

So far we only saw astrologers quoting their fees for the questions they answer. Now, some lawmakers are demanding money for the questions they raise in Parliament!

Bh. Subrahmanyam,
Vizianagaram, A.P.

It is a real shock that some of our representatives have been accused of taking money for doing their duty: raising questions in Parliament. Can we really say ours is a democracy?

Balaji K.,
Coimbatore

How could the MPs even think of accepting money for asking questions during question hour? This shows that they are not worried about the nation, Parliament or its image. They deserve the strictest punishment.

Hansraj Bhat,
Mumbai

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