Letters: A cause for concern

This refers to the article “When the media gets hold of a cause” (April 10) by Sreelatha Menon. Standing up for social causes seems to have become the latest fashion statement. Even as hundreds of people protested against corruption at the Jantar Mantar, most of them remain ignorant about the larger political issues that India faces today. If the people who are part of the India Against Corruption (IAC) campaign were really concerned with growing corruption they would have expressed their outrage on the findings of the Shunglu Committee report too.

I would like to ask Anna Hazare and his supporters a question — What kind of a mass struggle has only elitist and well-connected people for its leaders? The Kejriwals and Agniveshs of the world are part of the more glamorous civil society and do not represent the common man.

We must ask ourselves: what will happen once the agitation over the Lok Pal Bill is over? Will the masses continue to sleep before another “revolution” sprouts? Will we continue to ignore people like Irom Sharmila just because they do not have the Khans and Khers of the world backing them or because their struggles do not attract the attention of the mainstream media?

Swasti, New Delhi

Readers should write to:
The Editor, Business Standard,
Nehru House,
4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi 110 002,
Fax: (011) 23720201;
letters@bsmail.in