For a real democracy every citizen as individual or in a group of like minded people should feel bold to express her/his views. She/he must also be honest to accept the outcome of the election and respect the opinion of the majority giving the verdict in elections. For healthy democracy both winners and the losers should be ready to rethink about accommodating the opponents views partially to have bonhomie in the society.
The problem of a fragmented society is that the fighting groups do not accept the right of their opponents to think differently. They consider their side is just and continue to fight without any compromise or give and take.
A superstar getting paid to endorse a Cola or a cologne one can understand. Everyone sees it as a little pocket money for them. Personally I have never bought a product because Zeenat Aman endorsed it. Trust only Nike with my feet, and in the store would see the gods and goddesses who are their ambassadors. 2. The two sets of stars referred to in the column are doing two very different things. One lot is supporting a political party, which is fine. It is for voters to judge how much their endorsement means. The other group is expressing anguish, pointing out to things that trouble them. No one is paying them to do it. Nor is there any political agenda, in a partisan sense of the term. In a way, each one of them, apart from being a fine artiste whose work we have enjoyed and admired, also has a certain social relevance, based on a lifetime of personal conduct. Many would take them seriously. 3. My 900 vs your 300 is not the issue. Another group of 450 retired military officers writing an entirely different letter would not nullify the effects of the first one. Some important issues are being flagged by people who are credible.
If is entirely possible that some of the compulsive letter writers are doing it for publicity.
For a real democracy every citizen as individual or in a group of like minded people should feel bold to express her/his views. She/he must also be honest to accept the outcome of the election and respect the opinion of the majority giving the verdict in elections. For healthy democracy both winners and the losers should be ready to rethink about accommodating the opponents views partially to have bonhomie in the society.
The problem of a fragmented society is that the fighting groups do not accept the right of their opponents to think differently. They consider their side is just and continue to fight without any compromise or give and take.
A superstar getting paid to endorse a Cola or a cologne one can understand. Everyone sees it as a little pocket money for them. Personally I have never bought a product because Zeenat Aman endorsed it. Trust only Nike with my feet, and in the store would see the gods and goddesses who are their ambassadors. 2. The two sets of stars referred to in the column are doing two very different things. One lot is supporting a political party, which is fine. It is for voters to judge how much their endorsement means. The other group is expressing anguish, pointing out to things that trouble them. No one is paying them to do it. Nor is there any political agenda, in a partisan sense of the term. In a way, each one of them, apart from being a fine artiste whose work we have enjoyed and admired, also has a certain social relevance, based on a lifetime of personal conduct. Many would take them seriously. 3. My 900 vs your 300 is not the issue. Another group of 450 retired military officers writing an entirely different letter would not nullify the effects of the first one. Some important issues are being flagged by people who are credible.