A general truth

• Several of the soldiers of the Sambhaji Brigade who ransacked the Bhandarkar Oriental Rese...

• Several of the soldiers of the Sambhaji Brigade who ransacked the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute have been arrested. That is certainly a good thing. We must remember, though, that none of them is likely to have even seen the book by James Laine which triggered the attack. They were no more than weapons employed for two excellent reasons: one, to show their power to the world; and two, to keep them occupied. Their generals, who too will probably not have seen the book, are safely above the law.

— Mukul Dube Delhi

About excellence

• Apropos of ‘Excellence is not exclusivity’ by J.S. Rajput (IE, February 2), the IITs and IIMs were established by the government with the taxpayer’s hard-earned money. But governments, the world over, are adept at breeding incompetence. The managements and the faculty need to look at the objectives for which these institutes were created. IIT, IIM students graduate at a fraction of the fee charged at similar schools and colleges abroad but these graduates land plum first-world job offers with large salaries. It is appreciable that the government does not want to remain a passive donor. But it should concern itself with ensuring an environment at these places so that they can attract the best of the faculty and students from around the globe.

— Ashwini Kumar Awasthi On e-mail

Mani words

• This refers to Mani Shankar Aiyar’s ‘Six years in verse’ (IE, February 3). I write this to convey my deep anguish at the vituperative language used to comment on some of the legendary figures of our freedom struggle. It comes as no surprise that as we come closer to election day, people like Aiyar stoop to make a point. We would surely encourage well-researched debates on, say, Vajpayee’s performance or his numerous flip-flops or on the efficacy of spending public money on the ‘India Shining’ campaign.

— Sabyasachi Dutta On e-mail

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• This article makes you think. The blind followers of Vajpayee should read it closely. This is the real face of the India-born prime minister. We await Pramod Mahajan’s views on this article.

— Raish Malik On e-mail

• I don’t understand why a reputed newspaper like yours prints gibberish written by this stone age man who is out of sync with the issues of today. The article tasted like stale fish.

— Vamsidhar Reddy On e-mail

• It is better to concentrate on figures, statistics and numbers rather than wild accusations. Did the BJP-led government construct more highways than previous governments — yes. Is GDP growth on the right track — yes. Are foreign exchange reserves going up — yes. Publish articles that give us numbers and statistics.

— Venkat On e-mail

Stop it

• Apropos of ‘Uma’s development agenda ranges from absurd to the weird’ (IE, February 3), it’s time for the people to rise, and stop these so called elected jokers from making a mockery of idea of governance.

— Shrikant Joshi On e-mail

Rifle recovered, suspect ‘fired from rooftop’: Trump ally Charlie Kirk shot dead

World9 min ago

US authorities are searching for the suspect who fatally shot conservative activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. The FBI has recovered a high-powered rifle believed to be used in the shooting, and the investigation is ongoing. This is part of a recent increase in politically motivated violence in the US, with over 300 incidents since the Capitol riots in January.

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