Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 18 June 2018

letters INBOXED might only lead to a counter consolida- tion and make Modi stronger. DELHI H.C. Pandey: It must have been educating for the country’s young voters as they glued on to the unfolding drama of the Karnataka hung assembly after the results were declared. S. Kashyap, ex-secretary-general of the Lok Sabha, was right when he said that we need to revisit and, if necessary, ref orm our Constitution. Outlook must emphasise this point forcefully, as many tenets of the Constitution are out-of- date. Moreover, current leaders think nothing of stooping low and habitually breaching the lofty ideals in it. Let there be a code to be followed in case there is a hung assembly in the Constitution. It’s likely to happen more in the future. ON E-MAIL K.R. Srinivasan: The BJP’s unprecedented success in 2014 was largely due to winning big in new social constituencies, with even Dalits reposing faith in the party. In the past few months, that trust seems to have declined and the blame lies at the party’s doorsteps for turning a blind eye to the AT LAST A new CM for Karnataka WHERE TO FIND Hard-pressed For Freedom HYDERABAD J.N. Bhartiya: This refers to your editorial comment (Truth as Touchstone, May 28). The press, often referred to as the watch- dog of the society, is not expected to be a lapdog, but as the polity has been turning increasingly criminal, the haz- ards in doing genuine journalism have been rising by the day. As you men- tioned in your comment, even countries like Afghanistan and Chad fare bet- ter than us when it comes to freedom of press. This is not to say that these two countries are inferior to us, but only to point out that we need to seri- ously introspect when even nations which have been thrown into chaos and instability due to geo-political games have a better press rating than ours. All of us who value the freedom of press need to stand up for the lost lives of journalists else the sinister side of the system will soon overtake and rob us of the remaining freedom that we have left. atrocities heaped on Dalits and Muslims by ‘cow vigilantes’. Though Modi’s pop- ularity has taken a dip, the BJP losing one seat one after another comes as a surprise. It is true that Modi is the first towering all-India leader India has seen after Indira Gandhi. He has been the most voluble and visible leader. Yet, communalism and overconfidence have pushed the BJP back, signalling the need to rethink its values. In fact, con- tinuing with its core ideology has not only made matters worse for the party, but also weakened its position, credibil- ity and fortunes. Modi, however, cannot be written off with a few bypoll losses. If the BJP engages more with allies, dis- playing flexibility in its dealings and seriously introspecting its failures, it can reinvent itself to win back the confi- dence of voters, especially among Dalits and the minorities, and give a befitting reply to the opposition. A Fresh Start BIJNOR Ishsar Saran Agrawal: This is in response to the fine editorial on the state of journalism (Truth as Touchstone, May 28). I want to congrat- ulate Ruben Banerjee, the new edi- tor-in-chief of Outlook magazine. This comes from an Outlook subscriber since the very beginning. Bullets for Stones MUMBAI S.P. Sharma: This refers to your story on civilian killings and stone-pelting in Kashmir (Killing Fields of the Nation, May 21). Contrary to what some jingoists may feel at times, the Indian armed forces are not as weak as they seem in front of the stone-pelters. If the establishment snaps further and lets them retaliate to stones with real guns, not mere pellet guns, the scene will change in the streets of Kashmir. instagram.com/Outlookindia facebook.com/Outlookindia VIRTUALLY twitter.com/outlookindia youtube.com/user/OutlookMagazine www.outlookindia.com MORE THAN JUST THE NEWSMAGAZINE 8 OUTLOOK 18 June 2018

Outlook English - Print Subscribers Copy Outlook English, 18 June 2018 | Page 8