Jyoti Basu should be lauded for the courageous acknowledgement of the truth (?Colour of the cat?, Jan 9). In the broader sense, socialism implies a theory, principle or scheme of social organisation that places the means of production and distribution in the hands of the community. Since the introduction of economic reforms in 1991, communists in India have been aligned with formations at the Centre in one way or another. Post-1991, contrary to the Constitution?s claim of India being a ?socialist republic?, capitalism was allowed to flourish in full bloom.
?SK Khosla, Chandigarh
Prickly prize
Am amused by the coverage on the ?excellent? success of performance contracts in Kenya under President Mwai Kibaki (?Kenya?s search for objectivity?, Jan 10). Bad timing, perhaps? These days, Kibaki is in the eye of a tribal storm in his country for?surprise, surprise?a notorious electoral ?performance?. Or maybe, the president?s high-performance election commission, which disregarded undeniable accounts of ballot stuffing, should take home a prickly prize. The article says, ?The fact that some of [Kibaki?s] closest colleagues were at the bottom of the [performance] list did not deter him from announing the list?. Really? Now, one might add that the defeat of almost all his ministers and decimation of his party in the concurrent parliamentary elections did not deter Kibaki from snatching victory away from his presidential challenger.
?Javed Aslam
