The cover image of the THE 2G SCAM TAPES (November 29, 2010) mistakenly included a photograph of Financial Express managing editor M.K. Venu with a caption that read, ‘In The Ring’. This appeared to imply that he was part of a group that worked to perpetuate the then telecom minister A. Raja in power, resulting in the scam. This was not our intention and we regret the impression created. We are happy to draw our readers’ attention to M.K. Venu’s consistent criticism of Raja’s Telecom Policy in his various published articles since 2007. Readers will bear in mind the foregoing clarification when viewing the November 29, 2010, cover page and cover story of Outlook. Readers may also bear in mind that because of technical limitations, this clarification may not accompany every online reproduction of the story anywhere else, where Outlook may not have control. In view of a resolution of the matter and issuance of this clarification, M.K. Venu has withdrawn the litigation filed against Outlook.

Apropos of your cover story, A Foreign Hand from the East (Sep 3), illegal migration is a problem but so is the militant parochialism of the Bodos. To excuse these riots as somehow ‘caused’ by Bangladeshis would be self-deception. And as the ‘Playing with fire’ quotes prove, our national parties are muddying the troubled waters of Assam further.

Anwaar, Dallas

Why don’t they try a ‘guest worker’ visa programme with Bangladesh after sealing the borders as best as they can? This is something that would serve both India’s and the immigrant’s interest, since we ultimately want them to go back. Unfortunately, our political discourse comes down to emotional and communal narratives even when facts and solutions stare us in the face.

Puneet, San Francisco

Your ‘Mexican immigrant to US’ analogy saying migrants do work “locals are unwilling to do” would require a stretch of imagination the Outlook team has but which others may not share. Another point: I worked in Murshidabad in West Bengal from 2008-10, a Muslim majority district, and I can tell you that the assumption that all Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants will be mollycoddled by Indian Muslims in some weird Islamic Umma argument is untenable. There’s also the issue of the Bangladeshi government’s stout refusal to take back their own, unmindful of this causing a humanitarian crisis in a soft state like India.

Gaurab Banerjee, Calcutta

Assam is going to be our next Kashmir. Let’s not forget that the inclusion of the whole of undivided Assam was an ‘unfinished agenda’ during the creation of Pakistan. It was due to the timely intervention of Congressmen from the state like Gopinath Bardloi that the plan was scuppered.

Anil, Delhi

I read a lot about ‘Bengali-speaking Muslims’ but do you know that the Bengali spoken in West Bengal is very different from that in, say, Sylhet in Bangladesh? The same holds true about the ‘illegal migrants’ in Assam. But our armchair journalists, who excel in shooting themselves in the foot, would very likely be confused on whether they are from Bengal or Bangladesh.

Rupjyoti Bhagawati, Pune

India’s existing population is already a problem for us, we we can scarcely afford to play host to more of the “poorest of the poor”, as you put it.

Sreemoy Ghose, Jamshedpur

The Constitution recognises the linguistic nature of Indian federal polity, so the Centre and the state government have a duty to ensure that it is not altered, especially in sensitive regions like the Northeast.

B. Virupaksha, Pondicherry

People in the Northeast are fighting to save their lands. Increasingly, Indians all over will do the same. If the state fails, ordinary citizens will act.

Ali Akbar, Allahabad

The column There We See Only the Stumps (Sep 3) makes serious allegations about Sri Sri Ravishankar. As per published evidence, Sri Sri, during his Assam visit, had met representatives of the absu, bpf and also the minority students union. He also put out a statement: “The migrants have to live with the rest of the population in an amiable manner and the indigenous people have to understand that some of them were born here over 30 years ago. This has become their land as well.”

Apropos of The 50-50 Shot, it’s hard to believe this was written by the same journalist who broke the Bhagalpur blindings story. His heart bleeds for the dead illegal migrants but he has no compassion for the dead Bodo Indians. And why this note of hatred when he talks of Bodos making it to top posts? Also, what’s with the veiled hints about the more radical among the illegal migrants turning to jehad?

Pijush Basumatary, Calcutta

S.N.M. Abdi’s piece says the undersigned ‘is a retired chief secretary of Assam and that he is known to liaise with the BPF leadership on behalf of the Sangh parivar’. The facts are that I was neither the chief secretary nor have I till date received any advice from any authority to liaise with the BPF.

C.K. Das, Guwahati

The first line itself: “First things first, thrice as many Muslims have been killed...than Hindu Bodos...”. What kind of illogical, demented logic is this for starting an article?

Shachindra, Hyderabad

LOL, the man is quite the master of warped logic. Isn’t this Abdi the same chap who claimed that arrested Urdu journalist Syed Kazmi (A Burnt Out Charge, Jun 11) must be innocent because a) Abdi can read Kazmi’s mind since both come from a similar background, and b) both of them are journalists and hence Kazmi must be innocent?

Prasanth, Melbourne

Apropos of Exodus 2012: Rout Cause (Sep 3), it’s a failure of the state that law-abiding citizens are not able to work and live our cities, but are forced to return to even riot-affected regions for safety.

Kiran, Grenoble, France

The polarisation of people on communal lines helps only one party, the BJP. Of course, in Karnataka no one can touch them! Some Muslims are sure to be framed, of course.

Nasar Ahmed, Karaikudi

The real reason for people fleeing is the old Indian habit of panicking. Nearly a 100 years ago, there was panic in Madras when a German ship docked in the harbour. More recently, there was panic when swine flu hit some people in Pune.

Anil P., Akola

The authors try hard to frame the bjp and Gadkari as being responsible for the ugly incidents involving Northeasterners in Bangalore. It only shows your biases, nothing else.

A.K. Aggarwal, Ahmedabad

This article is full of half-truths. Even when the facts are out, Outlook can’t name the culprits, but blames it all on the police, politics, elections, ‘racial profiling’....

Novonil Guha, Delhi

Apropos of Loops and Holes in the Narrative (Sep 3) and your comment: “Bangladesh has done better than India on most social indices”, thank you for it. Even educated Indians staying in the West aren’t aware that their country lags behind Bangladesh on many socio-economic parameters.

Shobuj N.Z., Auckland

It’s convenient for right-wing parties like the BJP and the AGP to bring up the Bangladeshi bogey and pass themselves off as nationalistic and not communal, in the hope of getting more acceptance.

A. Sen, Los Angeles

India will have little security when thousands of foreign citizens stay on even after their visas expire. We’ve to think this over—how not to create insecurity among citizens when foreign nationals barge in.

Gayatri Soni, Lucknow

This is just a continuation of the false propaganda. However, all Hindu apologists and Muslim jehadis can see from your chart that in Bangladesh, Hindus are a persecuted lot. From 1974 to 1991, the Muslim population in Bangladesh grew by 35 per cent, while the Hindus grew by just 14 per cent. Both Hindus and Muslims there are subject to the same socio-economic conditions. So, there is only one way to explain the divergence—forcible conversions, killings etc. It’s safe to say that in any Muslim-majority area, non-Muslims are at a grave risk.

Gaurav Gupta, Richmond, US

The issue of the rapid increase in the Muslim population in Assam has been consciously avoided by Outlook in its articles. The defenders of the Bengali-speaking peoples are also silent on this. Just look at the population statistics of the Brahmaputra valley districts and ponder: how can small tribes and indigenous people survive this massive onslaught from across the border.

Nikku, Bangalore

Branding Raj Thackeray’s mns a communal party is fallacious—given that hundreds of his Muslim followers joined the August 21 rally.

Bharat Gothoskar, Mumbai

Apropos A Political Alternative To Alternative Politics (Sep 3), like-minded people can form a political association, but with the sole intent of curbing corruption. Once the task is accomplished, though, it must disband. There are too many parties taking the nation closer to chaos as it is.

Col Ranjit Sinha, Delhi

I’d be mighty surprised if the ex-Team Anna members win even a single seat come the elections. Cantankerous casteism, religious mumbo- jumbo and regional jingoism are too effective tools in the practised hands of the corrupt. The people are too invested in such practices as well to support an honest candidate at the hustings.

Ravi, Hyderabad

What exactly is corruption, Mr Bhushan? How is buying land in a state where outsiders aren’t allowed to—and at lower rates—not corruption, while a scam-tainted minister being exonerated is?

Rishi Vyas, Kangra

Mr Bhushan, in trying to banish corruption, one must not ignore the deep roots it has grown in Indian society over thousands of years. One has to bring about a drastic change in the Indian mindset—lest you become a King Canute, commanding the tidal waves to stop.

R.V. Subramanian, Gurgaon

I’m interested to know how a ‘chaara ghotala’ happens. The Yadav community would take this to mean, doing ghotala with cows. And why would a Yadav—say Laloo Prasad—take the chaara of his cows and sell it in the market? Was he financing his party in this manner? The Yadav in Bihar shows great restraint in not laughing.

Aditya Mookerjee, Belgaum

The author’s intent of providing a political alternative is praiseworthy, but it’s been done before. The Loksatta Party, ring any bells? If today the country is a quagmire of corruption and ordered anarchy, much of the credit goes to the Indian middle class, which has become very comfortable in its amoral pursuit of money and spinelessness.

Arun Kumar, London

Curb social media (Delhi Diary, Sep 3)! What a shame! VM is showing his true colours. So, who decides what is to be shared on Twitter, Facebook etc? VM, PM or the cji? If we were to ban these, shouldn’t we also outlaw blogs? And maybe the Net itself? A poor view, Mr Mehta.

Priyadarshi, Bangalore

Mr Mehta’s support for censorship of social media is interesting. But the ill-effects of these—violence, perverse opinions—are traits it shares with many TV channels as well. I strongly recommend censorship of TV too.

K. Ragavan, Chennai

This support for censorship, coming as it does from a member of the English-speaking elite, confirms that democracy does not sit well on India, and that the principles of democracy have not grown organically here, but were transplanted by the British (and accepted eagerly by western-educated Indians). Actually, as our hideous caste conditions prove, inequality of the most horrible sort is our inheritance.

Arun Kumar, Lucknow

At a time when more effort seems to go into promoting films than in making something of lasting value, Salman Khan takes a lazy kick and puts the ball plumb through the goalposts. And VM joins Katrina Kaif in having underestimated the man.

Ashok Lal, Mumbai

Apropos of The Tourist Isn’t An Endangered Animal (Sep 3), the lead photo clearly outlines the problem. One poor tiger surrounded by six jeeps. Given the behavioural pattern of the average Indian tourist, it’s hard to imagine large numbers of them not being a problem. And then there are the hoteliers, the builders and the other sundry opportunists wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

Your headline for the UPA-CAG story was apt (Sing, Canary, Sing, Sep 3). The phrase, living like a canary in a coal mine, where limited oxygen could prove fatal, is fair warning. As long as the bird kept singing, the miners knew they were safe. That said, the upa’s tryst with cag audits seems to be never-ending.

Shyamal Barua, Calcutta

The UPA is blaming the Opposition by highlighting a similar scheme during their regime, and in states ruled by them. Actually this government will never admit to any wrongdoing, which is untenable in democracy.

Ranjit Sinha, Delhi

Congress leaders have been repeatedly defending coal block allotments, saying many CMs of BJP-ruled states had opposed the auction route. It sounds as if the Centre has been very receptive to the demands of the states!

Pramod Srivastava, Delhi

Apropos of Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid (Sep 3), the root cause of malaria, dengue or cholera is the unbelievable amount of filth lying around exposed in urban India. Overall, the shocking lack of civic sense in the country is really cause for despair.

For V.V.S. Laxman, it was  the right decision at the right time (A Velvet Fog Falls, Sep 3). Had the BCCI and state cricket associations done more to provide better pitches in India, we would have seen more like him.

Thank God for Jump? How High? (Sep 3). At least someone said it: six medals does signify progress. Especially if you take into reckoning the gross neglect our sports (persons) are cursed with.

Apropos of Mhow Diary (Aug 20), it amazed me to note while visiting Mhow’s army areas development aplenty—roads, playgrounds—but no significant changes to the civilian area. If works can be undertaken in one part of town, why not the other?

The Independence Day issue was very special (Aug 20). The cover story on Dr Ambedkar was a fitting tribute to a genius whose vast contribution in shaping modern India is underestimated.

G. Anuplal, Bangalore

The Independence Day special deserves praise for bringing Ambedkar’s philosophy to the fore. Especially because in our tradition-bound country, the Brahminical orthodoxy does not allow reason, logic to have much play.

Mahendra Kumar, Jaipur

Nations are made by personalities. The many worthies mentioned (and many that weren’t) in Outlook’s Independence Day issue made India a great nation.

Sunil Pedgaonkar, Akalkot

The issue paints an image of our law-giver that a majority in India aren’t aware of.

V.P. Munghate, Varangaon

After coming to power, most politicians consider themselves nothing less than gods (Sugardaddy Dunnit, Aug 27). Womanising comes naturally, an unhealthy trend that merits a strong campaign to defang the perpetrators.

The Planning Commission must be entertaining lots of idle brains to come up with such devilish schemes.

The cover image of the THE 2G SCAM TAPES (November 29, 2010) mistakenly included a photograph of Financial Express managing editor M.K. Venu with a caption that read, ‘In The Ring’. This appeared to imply that he was part of a group that worked to perpetuate the then telecom minister A. Raja in power, resulting in the scam. This was not our intention and we regret the impression created. We are happy to draw our readers’ attention to M.K. Venu’s consistent criticism of Raja’s Telecom Policy in his various published articles since 2007. Readers will bear in mind the foregoing clarification when viewing the November 29, 2010, cover page and cover story of Outlook. Readers may also bear in mind that because of technical limitations, this clarification may not accompany every online reproduction of the story anywhere else, where Outlook may not have control. In view of a resolution of the matter and issuance of this clarification, M.K. Venu has withdrawn the litigation filed against Outlook.

Apropos of your cover story, A Foreign Hand from the East (Sep 3), illegal migration is a problem but so is the militant parochialism of the Bodos. To excuse these riots as somehow ‘caused’ by Bangladeshis would be self-deception. And as the ‘Playing with fire’ quotes prove, our national parties are muddying the troubled waters of Assam further.

Anwaar, Dallas

Why don’t they try a ‘guest worker’ visa programme with Bangladesh after sealing the borders as best as they can? This is something that would serve both India’s and the immigrant’s interest, since we ultimately want them to go back. Unfortunately, our political discourse comes down to emotional and communal narratives even when facts and solutions stare us in the face.

Puneet, San Francisco

Your ‘Mexican immigrant to US’ analogy saying migrants do work “locals are unwilling to do” would require a stretch of imagination the Outlook team has but which others may not share. Another point: I worked in Murshidabad in West Bengal from 2008-10, a Muslim majority district, and I can tell you that the assumption that all Bangladeshi Muslim immigrants will be mollycoddled by Indian Muslims in some weird Islamic Umma argument is untenable. There’s also the issue of the Bangladeshi government’s stout refusal to take back their own, unmindful of this causing a humanitarian crisis in a soft state like India.

Gaurab Banerjee, Calcutta

Assam is going to be our next Kashmir. Let’s not forget that the inclusion of the whole of undivided Assam was an ‘unfinished agenda’ during the creation of Pakistan. It was due to the timely intervention of Congressmen from the state like Gopinath Bardloi that the plan was scuppered.

Anil, Delhi

I read a lot about ‘Bengali-speaking Muslims’ but do you know that the Bengali spoken in West Bengal is very different from that in, say, Sylhet in Bangladesh? The same holds true about the ‘illegal migrants’ in Assam. But our armchair journalists, who excel in shooting themselves in the foot, would very likely be confused on whether they are from Bengal or Bangladesh.

Rupjyoti Bhagawati, Pune

India’s existing population is already a problem for us, we we can scarcely afford to play host to more of the “poorest of the poor”, as you put it.

Sreemoy Ghose, Jamshedpur

The Constitution recognises the linguistic nature of Indian federal polity, so the Centre and the state government have a duty to ensure that it is not altered, especially in sensitive regions like the Northeast.

B. Virupaksha, Pondicherry

People in the Northeast are fighting to save their lands. Increasingly, Indians all over will do the same. If the state fails, ordinary citizens will act.

Ali Akbar, Allahabad

The column There We See Only the Stumps (Sep 3) makes serious allegations about Sri Sri Ravishankar. As per published evidence, Sri Sri, during his Assam visit, had met representatives of the absu, bpf and also the minority students union. He also put out a statement: “The migrants have to live with the rest of the population in an amiable manner and the indigenous people have to understand that some of them were born here over 30 years ago. This has become their land as well.”

Apropos of The 50-50 Shot, it’s hard to believe this was written by the same journalist who broke the Bhagalpur blindings story. His heart bleeds for the dead illegal migrants but he has no compassion for the dead Bodo Indians. And why this note of hatred when he talks of Bodos making it to top posts? Also, what’s with the veiled hints about the more radical among the illegal migrants turning to jehad?

Pijush Basumatary, Calcutta

S.N.M. Abdi’s piece says the undersigned ‘is a retired chief secretary of Assam and that he is known to liaise with the BPF leadership on behalf of the Sangh parivar’. The facts are that I was neither the chief secretary nor have I till date received any advice from any authority to liaise with the BPF.

C.K. Das, Guwahati

The first line itself: “First things first, thrice as many Muslims have been killed...than Hindu Bodos...”. What kind of illogical, demented logic is this for starting an article?

Shachindra, Hyderabad

LOL, the man is quite the master of warped logic. Isn’t this Abdi the same chap who claimed that arrested Urdu journalist Syed Kazmi (A Burnt Out Charge, Jun 11) must be innocent because a) Abdi can read Kazmi’s mind since both come from a similar background, and b) both of them are journalists and hence Kazmi must be innocent?

Prasanth, Melbourne

Apropos of Exodus 2012: Rout Cause (Sep 3), it’s a failure of the state that law-abiding citizens are not able to work and live our cities, but are forced to return to even riot-affected regions for safety.

Kiran, Grenoble, France

The polarisation of people on communal lines helps only one party, the BJP. Of course, in Karnataka no one can touch them! Some Muslims are sure to be framed, of course.

Nasar Ahmed, Karaikudi

The real reason for people fleeing is the old Indian habit of panicking. Nearly a 100 years ago, there was panic in Madras when a German ship docked in the harbour. More recently, there was panic when swine flu hit some people in Pune.

Anil P., Akola

The authors try hard to frame the bjp and Gadkari as being responsible for the ugly incidents involving Northeasterners in Bangalore. It only shows your biases, nothing else.

A.K. Aggarwal, Ahmedabad

This article is full of half-truths. Even when the facts are out, Outlook can’t name the culprits, but blames it all on the police, politics, elections, ‘racial profiling’....

Novonil Guha, Delhi

Apropos of Loops and Holes in the Narrative (Sep 3) and your comment: “Bangladesh has done better than India on most social indices”, thank you for it. Even educated Indians staying in the West aren’t aware that their country lags behind Bangladesh on many socio-economic parameters.

Shobuj N.Z., Auckland

It’s convenient for right-wing parties like the BJP and the AGP to bring up the Bangladeshi bogey and pass themselves off as nationalistic and not communal, in the hope of getting more acceptance.

A. Sen, Los Angeles

India will have little security when thousands of foreign citizens stay on even after their visas expire. We’ve to think this over—how not to create insecurity among citizens when foreign nationals barge in.

Gayatri Soni, Lucknow

This is just a continuation of the false propaganda. However, all Hindu apologists and Muslim jehadis can see from your chart that in Bangladesh, Hindus are a persecuted lot. From 1974 to 1991, the Muslim population in Bangladesh grew by 35 per cent, while the Hindus grew by just 14 per cent. Both Hindus and Muslims there are subject to the same socio-economic conditions. So, there is only one way to explain the divergence—forcible conversions, killings etc. It’s safe to say that in any Muslim-majority area, non-Muslims are at a grave risk.

Gaurav Gupta, Richmond, US

The issue of the rapid increase in the Muslim population in Assam has been consciously avoided by Outlook in its articles. The defenders of the Bengali-speaking peoples are also silent on this. Just look at the population statistics of the Brahmaputra valley districts and ponder: how can small tribes and indigenous people survive this massive onslaught from across the border.

Nikku, Bangalore

Branding Raj Thackeray’s mns a communal party is fallacious—given that hundreds of his Muslim followers joined the August 21 rally.

Bharat Gothoskar, Mumbai

Apropos A Political Alternative To Alternative Politics (Sep 3), like-minded people can form a political association, but with the sole intent of curbing corruption. Once the task is accomplished, though, it must disband. There are too many parties taking the nation closer to chaos as it is.

Col Ranjit Sinha, Delhi

I’d be mighty surprised if the ex-Team Anna members win even a single seat come the elections. Cantankerous casteism, religious mumbo- jumbo and regional jingoism are too effective tools in the practised hands of the corrupt. The people are too invested in such practices as well to support an honest candidate at the hustings.

Ravi, Hyderabad

What exactly is corruption, Mr Bhushan? How is buying land in a state where outsiders aren’t allowed to—and at lower rates—not corruption, while a scam-tainted minister being exonerated is?

Rishi Vyas, Kangra

Mr Bhushan, in trying to banish corruption, one must not ignore the deep roots it has grown in Indian society over thousands of years. One has to bring about a drastic change in the Indian mindset—lest you become a King Canute, commanding the tidal waves to stop.

R.V. Subramanian, Gurgaon

I’m interested to know how a ‘chaara ghotala’ happens. The Yadav community would take this to mean, doing ghotala with cows. And why would a Yadav—say Laloo Prasad—take the chaara of his cows and sell it in the market? Was he financing his party in this manner? The Yadav in Bihar shows great restraint in not laughing.

Aditya Mookerjee, Belgaum

The author’s intent of providing a political alternative is praiseworthy, but it’s been done before. The Loksatta Party, ring any bells? If today the country is a quagmire of corruption and ordered anarchy, much of the credit goes to the Indian middle class, which has become very comfortable in its amoral pursuit of money and spinelessness.

Arun Kumar, London

Curb social media (Delhi Diary, Sep 3)! What a shame! VM is showing his true colours. So, who decides what is to be shared on Twitter, Facebook etc? VM, PM or the cji? If we were to ban these, shouldn’t we also outlaw blogs? And maybe the Net itself? A poor view, Mr Mehta.

Priyadarshi, Bangalore

Mr Mehta’s support for censorship of social media is interesting. But the ill-effects of these—violence, perverse opinions—are traits it shares with many TV channels as well. I strongly recommend censorship of TV too.

K. Ragavan, Chennai

This support for censorship, coming as it does from a member of the English-speaking elite, confirms that democracy does not sit well on India, and that the principles of democracy have not grown organically here, but were transplanted by the British (and accepted eagerly by western-educated Indians). Actually, as our hideous caste conditions prove, inequality of the most horrible sort is our inheritance.

Arun Kumar, Lucknow

At a time when more effort seems to go into promoting films than in making something of lasting value, Salman Khan takes a lazy kick and puts the ball plumb through the goalposts. And VM joins Katrina Kaif in having underestimated the man.

Ashok Lal, Mumbai

Apropos of The Tourist Isn’t An Endangered Animal (Sep 3), the lead photo clearly outlines the problem. One poor tiger surrounded by six jeeps. Given the behavioural pattern of the average Indian tourist, it’s hard to imagine large numbers of them not being a problem. And then there are the hoteliers, the builders and the other sundry opportunists wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

Your headline for the UPA-CAG story was apt (Sing, Canary, Sing, Sep 3). The phrase, living like a canary in a coal mine, where limited oxygen could prove fatal, is fair warning. As long as the bird kept singing, the miners knew they were safe. That said, the upa’s tryst with cag audits seems to be never-ending.

Shyamal Barua, Calcutta

The UPA is blaming the Opposition by highlighting a similar scheme during their regime, and in states ruled by them. Actually this government will never admit to any wrongdoing, which is untenable in democracy.

Ranjit Sinha, Delhi

Congress leaders have been repeatedly defending coal block allotments, saying many CMs of BJP-ruled states had opposed the auction route. It sounds as if the Centre has been very receptive to the demands of the states!

Pramod Srivastava, Delhi

Apropos of Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid (Sep 3), the root cause of malaria, dengue or cholera is the unbelievable amount of filth lying around exposed in urban India. Overall, the shocking lack of civic sense in the country is really cause for despair.

For V.V.S. Laxman, it was  the right decision at the right time (A Velvet Fog Falls, Sep 3). Had the BCCI and state cricket associations done more to provide better pitches in India, we would have seen more like him.

Thank God for Jump? How High? (Sep 3). At least someone said it: six medals does signify progress. Especially if you take into reckoning the gross neglect our sports (persons) are cursed with.

Apropos of Mhow Diary (Aug 20), it amazed me to note while visiting Mhow’s army areas development aplenty—roads, playgrounds—but no significant changes to the civilian area. If works can be undertaken in one part of town, why not the other?

The Independence Day issue was very special (Aug 20). The cover story on Dr Ambedkar was a fitting tribute to a genius whose vast contribution in shaping modern India is underestimated.

G. Anuplal, Bangalore

The Independence Day special deserves praise for bringing Ambedkar’s philosophy to the fore. Especially because in our tradition-bound country, the Brahminical orthodoxy does not allow reason, logic to have much play.

Mahendra Kumar, Jaipur

Nations are made by personalities. The many worthies mentioned (and many that weren’t) in Outlook’s Independence Day issue made India a great nation.

Sunil Pedgaonkar, Akalkot

The issue paints an image of our law-giver that a majority in India aren’t aware of.

V.P. Munghate, Varangaon

After coming to power, most politicians consider themselves nothing less than gods (Sugardaddy Dunnit, Aug 27). Womanising comes naturally, an unhealthy trend that merits a strong campaign to defang the perpetrators.

The Planning Commission must be entertaining lots of idle brains to come up with such devilish schemes.