Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Wake-up call

The editorial, ‘Alarm bells for legislators’ (Feb. 9), is timely. You are correct in stating that “parliamentary” is synonymous with incivility. That a code of conduct for legislators is the need of the hour, cannot be better emphasised. The figures you have provided, detailing the debating hours lost because of interruptions and adjournments in the Lok Sabha, sound incredible. If the situation continues, as you have said, “it will not be long before democracy itself is questioned by ordinary people.”

T.V. Ramamurthy,

Chennai

Indian democracy is on trial and one would wish to find some workable remedy to this pernicious malady of erosion of parliamentary credibility.

Political leaders should turn the searchlight inwards and desist from leading the party legislators to demonstrations and uncivil behaviour in the House, whatever be the provocation. Had Shakespeare been alive today, he would have said, “incivility, thy name is Indian legislator!”

Manikkath Balakrishnan,

Palakkad

Vice-President Hamid Ansari’s observation is a wake-up call for our politicians.

They should realise that their job in the House is to discuss burning national and State issues and not to settle scores.

Every time the House is adjourned, it is the taxpayer’s money that is being wasted.

Inamdar Ramachandra,

Bangalore

There can be no two opinions that the conduct of MLAs and MPs in the State Assemblies and in Parliament has touched rock bottom. What ails our legislators? Is the current electoral system which facilitates the election of MLAs and MPs deficient and defective? Suitable remedial measures should be taken to improve matters.

R.M. Manoharan,

Chennai

It is distressing that the parliamentary credibility of the world’s largest democracy has been continually eroding, thanks to the behaviour of some our legislators. A major part of the blame should go to the political parties, both ruling and opposition, for bringing unnecessary issues to Parliament, creating pandemonium and leading to the wastage of precious time. Our MPs perhaps assume that the more chaos they create in Parliament the more attention they will receive from both the media and the public.

B. Jayanna Krupakar,

Surathkal

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

But who killed Benazir?
Signs of a slowdown
Travelling while Pakistani
China bid to link up with Central Asia
The bygone golden age of the press is a myth
Claims of cultural shift in U.S. deep south put to test
Wake-up call
Nuclear deal
Shocking incident
On socialism
A true Gandhian
One old friend is better than two new ones: Viktor Zubkov

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu