Letters to The Editor — March 18, 2025

Podcast with Fridman

It was a BJP government, led by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, that was in power at the Centre when the Gujarat riots took place in 2002, and Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the State at that time. It is also said that Mr. Vajpayee had strong views about what had happened but was persuaded not to act against the Chief Minister. It was then that Mr Vajpayee sent out a strong message with the advice of the need to follow ‘Raj dharma’.

In the podcast with Lex Fridman, the top leader has said that the “discourse around the 2002 riots was an attempt to create a false narrative about his involvement and his political opponents in power at the Centre wanted him to be punished but the courts cleared his name” (Inside pages, “False narrative created over Gujarat riots, courts found us innocent: PM”, March 17). When it was Mr. Vajpayee who was the Prime Minister, one wonders who the so-called “political opponents” are being referred to.

Tharcius S. Fernando,

Chennai

E-reading versus p-reading

The writer of the article, “An odyssey of the mind” (‘Education Plus’, March 17), seems to have taken a biased view despite justifications of his contentions. E-reading is admittedly bad for physical health, especially eyesight. But, what an electronic gadget provides is eclectic. The reader can discard what he does not need or like and move on to what he prefers — an advantage a book cannot provide. But, this does not mean that book reading has become almost obsolete. There is still a section of avid readers who prefer books, and this may even be termed ‘habitual’. Another perspective is that the amount of information which e-reading provides is staggeringly phenomenal while p-reading may make the reader one-dimensional. E-reading gives readers different and differing viewpoints while the readers of p-reading may have to be content with the ideas of the author alone. For these reasons, among others, it is to be admitted that electronic reading has come to stay and is likely to make further inroads into the reading habit.

V. Lakshmanan,

Tirupur, Tamil Nadu