Ballot power

• Hats off to the people of Jammu and Kashmir who have understood the essence of democracy.

— G. Sriniwasan Adelaide

Hazy priorities

• The recent NASA pictures showing a dense haze over Bihar is an alarming finding (‘What Laloo doesn’t know of Bihar, Larry does’, IE, January 30). But our politicians have no time to discuss such matters during the heat of elections. Among the various sources of pollution, one possible source which everyone has missed is the legal/illegal brick kiln.

— Shitanshu Mumbai

Evasive at best

• Salman Khursheed’s statement that “we (the Congress) supported the formation of a government (in Uttar Pradesh), not its running” is meaningless as always (‘Heartland trouble’, IE, January 31). Should it be presumed that the Congress supported Mulayam Singh Yadav only to improve their statistics? The role of the Congress in Laloo’s Bihar also is vague at best.

— F.S.K. Barar Jodhpur

Little reminders

• You have rightly highlighted the admirable role played by schoolchildren in Bihar to pressurise the Bihar government to take action against the kidnappers of small children (‘Desperate measures’, January 29). I am however surprised to see the total absence of any action on part of the elders. In fact they must also come forward to support their children, lest the agitation of the children be ignored by the powers that be.

— N.G. Gogte On e-mail

• Bihar’s law and order problem has moved from worse to worst. The flourishing kidnapping “industry” in the state has spread wide enough to abduct innocent, school-going children who do not belong to the elite class that has been most vulnerable to kidnappings until now.
What is most ironical in all of this is the fact that while students across the state have risen in revolt against such kidnappings, not only has the administration looked the other way but more children have been abducted — as if to show the young agitators that their protest would not serve any purpose!

— V. Rajesh Mumbai