A sad joke

8226; In an interview recently broadcast over All India Radio, Tarlochan Singh, chairman of the minorities comm...

8226; In an interview recently broadcast over All India Radio, Tarlochan Singh, chairman of the minorities commission, said that he would not speak of politics, and indeed he mentioned no political party. The line he took was that in the last five years the 8216;8216;government8217;8217; had done nothing which went against the interests of the minorities. Precisely what did the central government do when, in 2002, thousands of Muslims were butchered in Gujarat? What is it doing today, when Muslims inthat state continue to be harassed, hounded and denied the very means of livelihood? Does the Minorities Commission 8212; a constitutional body 8212; not recognise crimes of omission as crimes? Or does it need, as many suggest, a pair of dentures to keep it from remaining a sad joke?

8212; Mukul Dube Delhi

Mandal8217;s angry men

8226; All the young people who were involved in the anti Mandal Commission agitation will always remember the contribution of Rajeev Goswami 8216;Mandal8217;s angry face was fading, now gone8217; IE, February 25. He made everybody, including the impervious politician, sit up and take notice. For a brief moment, he showed how powerful youth power is. If in the time to come, in this 8216;India Shinning8217; era, the concept of equality as laid down in the constitution is applied, Goswami8217;s aim will have been fulfilled.

8212; Pradeep Kumar Mishra On e-mail

8226; Rajiv Goswami8217;s action will go down in history as a great act. Long live his memory.

8212; Raghavendran Nagarajan On e-mail

Good work, CBI

8226; The CBI slaps Gujarat cops for wrongful actions in the Bilkis case. These reports prove that the CBI works free from governmental interference. It is also a slap on the face of those in the Congress and RJD who often question the CBI8217;s working. Hats off to the CBI and shame on its critics.

8212; Varinder Sarin On e-mail

Hurriyat8217;s friends

8226; The lowest levels within the army and security forces are being accused by the Hurriyat of human rights violations in Kashmir. The Hurriyat needs to look at its own violations that are an outcome of its close association with Pakistan and the terrorists it sponsors. Thousands of Kashmiris who were murdered in these troubled years lost their human rights at the hands of the Hurriyat8217;s friends, the Pakistani terrorists.

8212; Arvind Amin On e-mail

Handle with care

8226; All explosives, from highly sensitive ones down to the lowly composite propellants, are quite safe if handled with due care. But once there is a violation of the regulations or any mishandling, accidents are a natural corollary. It can happen during storage in the ammo depots, while manufacturing in the factories, in experimentation and mixing at labs or during assembling and transportation. The possibility of any thing other than perhaps an innocuous compromise having caused the accident in the time tested HTPB/AP propellant appears remote. However it would be quite premature to pass judgment into what could have gone wrong in the recent Sriharikota tragedy. How about having independent non-government inspections to ascertain the safety of explosive handling and storage?

8212; Raghubir Singh On e-mail