Chiefs’ revolt

This refers to ‘Chain of command, demand’ by Shekhar Gupta.

• This refers to ‘Chain of command, demand’ by Shekhar Gupta. Grave injustice has been done to the armed forces by devious bureaucrats and insensitive politicians. The representations by the Service Headquarters were totally ignored.

Having exhausted all avenues for just redress, the chiefs were driven to this state. You have called this legitimate action as shocking and an act of indiscipline. Would you have rather liked the chiefs renege from their sacred responsibility of standing up for the welfare of their subordinates?

How can their action be categorised a “shocking and a dangerous precedent”?

— Brig B. S. Lamba (Retd)

Noida

• Your article on the protests over pay by the defence chiefs has put the relationship of the armed forces and the government in the right perspective. The developments surrounding the sixth pay commission recommendations have revealed the government’s inability to be fair to servicemen. Patriotism is necessary but not sufficient to inculcate professionalism into the forces. Farmers’ suicides have shown that the agriculture sector has also suffered in the same manner. Both the Jawan and the Kisan have been ignored by this government.

— Ashwani Sharma

Ghaziabad

Na, No Bengal

• Your editorial ‘Singur elegy’ has rightly pointed out that the withdrawal of the Nano project from West Bengal is a “lose-all” affair. Unfortunately industrial development has been held hostage by populist politics and rigid stances, which is hardly conducive to growth and prosperity. The lesson of Singur demands that this trend be reversed in the national interest.

— J.M. Manchanda

New Delhi

• Referring to the news report ‘As Tata bids goodbye to Singur, Deshmukh hopeful’, why are state governments falling over themselves to help Ratan Tata? The obvious answer is that Tata needs the state government to arm-twist people into selling their land to him, and shameless state governments are only too eager to help. Tata has obviously not yet learnt the lessons of Singur: that it is not the state governments that he must approach, but the people whose land he wants to buy if they are willing to sell.

— Sherna Gandhy

Pune

Asif’s embrace

• Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari’s statement that Pakistan no longer considered India as enemy number one comes as a whiff of fresh air. Terrorism is threatening to tear apart Pakistan. Once Pakistan severs links with the terrorists in Kashmir, peace will return to the Valley and this will help ease tensions between Pakistan and India. Having burnt its fingers in dealing with Pakistan, India will now keep its fingers crossed till Pakistan makes the next move to put Zardari’s ideas into concrete form.

— R.J. Khurana

Bhopal