Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Welcome, Ms. Patil

Hearty congratulations to Pratibha Patil on becoming the 12th President of India. All political parties should accept her in true democratic spirit. The election of a woman to the top office of the nation should send the signal to the international community that in India, progress of women is real. The nation wishes Ms. Patil every success in her new endeavour.

Vaidehi Badrinarayanan,

Chennai

It is indeed a proud moment for women across India to see a woman occupy the highest post in the country. Her victory in the presidential election was a fitting reply to her critics. But will her election make any difference to the millions who continue to be deprived of basic amenities, and are victims of dowry deaths, child marriages, and sexual harassment?

I hope Ms. Patil will use her coveted position to make a difference to the lives of the common women.

S. Priyamvada,

Bangalore

What does the nation expect from Ms. Patil? Not to function as a rubber stamp of the ruling party; to uphold constitutional propriety; and, most important, to ensure the uplift of women. Rich and educated women can take care of themselves. Ms. Patil should focus on the rural women and ensure that there is improvement in their literacy and employment. Speeches and spot visits alone will not help. She will have to do ground work.

Only then will she be remembered as the Madam President who made a difference to the plight of oppressed women in the country.

Madhu Singh,

Ambala

Praise for the first woman President would have been more meaningful had we elected a woman from the marginalised and vulnerable section. Does election of a woman from the socially, economically, and politically advanced section reflect women’s empowerment?

Across India’s villages, thousands of directly elected women presidents belonging to the Dalit and tribal sections have been working under the supremacy and supervision of the so-called ‘upper’ strata of society. How optimistic can we get about the indirectly elected woman President?

Sambi Reddy Endreddy,

Hyderabad

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